Analyses of Psycho

Psycho

 

In this scene a very simple institution logo is shown. It is in black and white and contains no animations. This is due to the time this film was released in (1960) where computer graphics was not very big. There is no sound in this scene, which could have been done purposely to draw attention to the logo. 



 

 

The mise en scene of this clip is very similar to the rest of the opening sequence. It shows the directors name on a white tittle against a black background. In this scene a soundtrack begins, it's very disturbing and could easily put the audience on edge. The editing uses a line technique that pulls the text into the next frame. This builds the text together in a very interesting way.

 

In this next clip the tittle 'PSYCHO' is shown, it appears in all capitals. The background is made of small stripes which look quite chaotic, which links to the context of the film. The music throughout this opening sequence is very sharp and also feels very short. The instruments are very orchestral, and mostly string instruments. It is very rhythmic and repetitive which makes the audience anticipate a change or a shock, this music continues throughout the tittle sequence.

 

 

 In this last clip of the opening sequence the tittles distorts a little and then the vertical lines are revealed, they then begin to shrink towards the centre of the frame revealing a establishing shot of a city. The soundtrack comes to a resolution enthusising the end of the tittle sequence.

Se7en Opening Credits Analyses

 Sound

I had to analyse the sounds that accompanied the opening credits of the film 'Se7en'. The duration of the opening credits is two minutes and eight seconds; during this time I was able to pick up different types of sounds for example high pitched ‘screechy’ sounds that were there to purposely put the audience on edge. Most of the sound is non-diagetic and unrecognisable which gives the audience clues to the genre of the film. The disjointed sounds and spontaneous soundtrack gradually increase causing tension and keeps you wondering what will happen next. Although most sounds were non-diagetic there were also some diegetic sound such as typewriters and some machinery, these sounds give away clues that the film could be unpleasant or discomforting.

Mise-en-scene

On most horror films the killer or ‘baddie’ only gets introduced halfway through the film but with se7en the killer comes in right at the start of the opening credits, although we do not see his face at any point in the credits, there are a lot of hints that suggest he is the killer. The dominating colours throughout are red and black. Red gives the impression of blood and danger while black gives the impression of darkness and makes it more mysterious. These dominating colours give the impression that the film is very dark and it also helps the audience know that it is a horror film.

On the very first frame we see an extreme close up of a book and in the background there is a blurred out hand flicking though the pages.

Second we see hands that look like they’re being photo copied. They look quite old and wrinkly they also look distorted.

Next, we see a man holding a razor blade and scraping off the top of his fingers. Things like this are done so that there are no fingerprints. 

After that we see the title of the film, it starts off small, then gets bigger and then it goes back to small. This draws the audience’s attention to it.

 

The very last frame is off the word ‘GOD’ being cut out off a one dollar bill. This religious reference links in to the rest of the film, as the film is about the seven deadly sins.

The eerie colours and disturbing pictures confirm that this is a horror film and could make the audience a little on edge before the film has even started.