At the beginning of the opening sequence of Seven we see the character Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman). We see Detective Somerset‘s character through the use of micro features, mise-en-scene, performance, sound, editing and cinematography. At the start Detective Somerset is seen in the kitchen cleaning a coffee pot, from this we can see that he likes to keep thing clean and neat. We can also see from what he is wearing, a white shirt, to the colour of his flat, white paint, that this could represent a light versus dark situation where he is the good guy and then later on in the sequence we see a person who has barley any light on him, this person has been shown as the bad guy. From what we can see at the window the curtains look like they are bars locked onto his window, this may represent him not wanting any contact with the outside world or him being protective of himself because we have already established that if he is a good guy then there must be a villain. At the bottom of the screen there is a chessboard, which could represent that he is intelligent and a good thinker, who is always one step ahead of his opponent.
The camera then tilts up to Detective Somerset’s (Morgan Freeman’s) face, as he is tying his tie, from this we can see he is well dressed and also that he doesn’t smile or do any other facial expression other than a very serious face, which would also lead into the intelligence part of him and how it is shown. The next shot is a close up of a table that shows his badge, a pocketknife and a pen, all of the objects are in a straight row lined up next to each other, this shows us that he is an orderly and neat persons. The next shot is of him picking off a piece of dust or thread from his jacket that is folded neatly on his bed. This represents he is watchful because he cares about the little things that may make a big difference to him. Throughout this scene where Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is in his flat there is no non-digetic but with the digetic sound there is hardly any either. The only sound you can hear is him washing the coffee pot and getting dressed, this could represent that he is lonely.
Linking back to where Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) looks at the little details of things, in this scene he asks the other detective “Are the kids here?” and the other detective replies angrily saying why do you care about the kids when we can’t find the murderer. This shows that although a murder has taken place by his feet he cares about the little things that make a big difference. In the next part of the scene Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) is shown to audience for the first time, from the first few seconds we see him he is chewing gum, the way he walks up the stairs and talks to Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) shows that he maybe smug about himself, which is shown when Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) asks Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) about going to a bar to talk but then Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) overrules his decision and says what he would rather do something else.
As both Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) are walking along the street the camera is down low and tilts upwards towards them, this could show their authority in the streets that they walk, because they are detectives they are seen as the law and authority. The clothes that Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) wears suits the style of a detective, he is wearing a long coat with a hat, this can also be backed up because of the way he walks along the street with his arms crossed behind his back and his posture is very upright. As they both walk along the road people and objects seem to get into that ways of Detective Mill’s (Brad Pitt) way blocking him from walking in a straight line whereas Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) just walks in a straight line the whole way this shows the power of authority just between both of the main characters.
The next part of the scene shows Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) being very smug by saying that he ‘doesn’t want to be working outside guarding a Taco Bell’ because he has been working homicides for 5 years, but Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) then confronts him and says that the work is different around here than it is from wherever you previously worked. Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) then says an important point in this scene, about how for the next 7 days he will remember that. This is an important point about the plot because the each murder occurs each day for 7 days. The next shot is then of Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) reading a book in bed, which would also again represent him being intelligent. He then reaches over places his glasses on a table and starts metronome, the ticking of the metronome adds suspense to the scene because it feels likes something is going to happen to him because the camera zooms in on him this could be shown so it looks like we are then at a point of view of the murderer getting closer to Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman).
The next scene then cuts to the title sequence, which shows a close up of an empty book, there is also a blurry had flicking the pages slowly. The sound of the non-digetic music in the background creates a sense of evil because the music sounds very dark and gloomy. From this we instantly know that this person is the bad guy in the film. The typography of the writing is very vague, which could represent the murderous status that this person maybe is in.
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