Comparison of 'Se7en' and 'Panic Room'

The openings to Seven and Panic Room give the audience very different expectations. Panic Room uses a more conventional way of presenting graphics and titles to the audience, whereas Seven uses a very original and unique way.

The use of camera in each sequence is very different. Seven uses close ups and extreme close ups throughout the entire scene, this could be used to create a sense of mystery. The less an audience know about their surrounding the more intense and unnerving the images become. Seven also uses high angle shots to show us a whole page of writing, placing us above the object means were forced to look down on it as thought we are superior. In contrast Panic Room uses one continual establishing shot of New York. It’s a recognizable city and therefore gives us an indication to the location of the film. The opening structure to Panic Room is far more linear than that of Seven.

Seven uses non diegetic sound throughout the scene. The music used is fast paced and intense, perhaps giving us an indication of the character and the movie as a whole. Diegetic sound is also used such as the turning of pages and thread going through a machine. In comparison their is hardly any diegetic sound in Panic Rooms opening sequence. The music used slow paced, it creates suspense and i sense of eeriness.

Editing plays a big part in Seven’s opening. The fast edits used to link each image could perhaps reflect the fast pace of the film and also helps add to the disorientation of the scene. Moreover the quick cutaways and use of abstract objects gives the scene a sense of mystery, the audience doesn’t know the relevance of the objects, it’s unsettling. There isn’t much use of editing in Panic Room. The editing is very slow, and there are no cutaways until the very end when we are introduced to the characters and there’s a voiceover.

The mise en scene of both openings contrast greatly. Seven uses colour as an indication to it’s genre. Seven uses a unique visual style and was very original in it’s time. It uses the typical conventions of a thriller film. The scene as a whole is very dark, creating a sense of mystery, and sincerity. It also uses the typical colours of red and black linking to darkness, violence and passion. All of these hint to an audience the type of film their watching. The mise en scene as a whole is abnormal, contrasting with Panic Room. Panic Rooms opening creates a sense of reality. It’s an obvious landscape and there seems to be nothing to give away the plot of the film.

The characters are presented to us in different ways. Though in Seven we only ever see the characters hands, we know he is male and we can get an indication of their state of mind. The images are filled with violence, horror and so we can assume that the character himself is rather disturbed. We also gather or can assume from this that the character is the antagonist, he is the villian. On the other hand Panic Room presents us with a woman. Due to the genre of the film we assume she is the victim, the vulnerable woman.

Panic Room tells us explicitly where the film is set in the continual establishing shot, New York. Seven on the other hand is much harder to work out. It appears to be in a dark room, perhaps an office or work space like a garage. There are no long shots or establishing shots, only close ups and so it’s hard to get any idea of location.

David Fincher directed both Seven and Panic Room. This is particularly interesting because although both films are in the same genre, the openings are presented and played in very different ways. Seven is much more abstract and unique whereas Panic Room is much more organized. Fincher also directed the film Zodiac, which shared a similar visual style to Seven.