The Shining in comparison with Se7en
Cast:
• Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance
• Shelley Duvall as Wendy Torrance
• Danny Lloyd as Danny Torrance
• Scatman Crothers as Dick Hallorann
• Barry Nelson as Stuart Ullman
• Philip Stone as Delbert Grady
• Joe Turkel as Lloyd
• Anne Jackson as Doctor
• Tony Burton as Larry Durkin
• Barry Dennen as Bill Watson
Year: 1980
Studio: Warner Brothers
Director: Stanley Kubrick
The title sequence opens with a wide shot of a beautiful valley, with still water and mountains on either side. If it weren’t for the immediate dark, booming, non-diegetic soundtrack the scenery would be pleasant but because of this juxtaposition we are instead filled with unease because the music makes us constantly question whether something is about to happen. The camera movements add to this uncomfortable feeling because it is an aerial shot moving rapidly toward a little island but then veers to the right and just keeps going which as an audience member makes you feel uneven and unbalanced because you automatically think the camera will straighten up but it doesn’t. The shot then dissolves into an incredibly high birds eye view of a road and the camera follows a little yellow car from behind. The fact that the camera stays behind for a while gives the shot a stalker effect and adds intrigue because we start to believe that whoever in the car must be the main characters and the constantly building soundtrack combined with the scenery of the car driving very close to a cliff, makes us feel nervous for them.
When the titles come up it is a bit of a surprise and our attention is drawn to them as they are in the centre of the screen and contrast the background and the atmosphere that has been built up because they are very simple and bright blue. However this has an interesting effect because just as out focus is drawn to the names in the titles the camera moves in on the car and then moves past it which confuses the audience because it starts to make them doubt whether the car had any importance at all. After the main title ‘the shining’ appears the car comes back into shot and the music builds with screaming and bizarre noises joining in. Throughout this we watch as the people in the car drive deeper into the mountains, further and further away from humanity and help. When the camera cuts to the hotel you can’t even see it at first because it blends in so well with the mountain but once you do spot it you can’t unsee it. The eerie screaming in the background intensifies as the camera moves around so that we can take in the sheer size of the hotel. The audience begins to fill with dread as the realisation of just how isolated the hotel is begins to sink in.
The brass instrument playing a minor key with the weird noises on top as the soundtrack would mean that sitting in a cinema you would be able to feel the bass vibrations through the floor, this in combination with the camera movements, height of the camera and movement of the titles all creates a sick feeling and plays on possible fears the audience might have (height, fear of falling, isolation etc) which sets up the perfect atmosphere for the film because subconsciously the audience is already afraid and on edge.
Se7en
Cast:
- Brad Pitt as Detective David Mills
- Morgan Freeman as Detective Lieutenant William Somerset
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Tracy Mills
- Kevin Spacey as John Doe
- R. Lee Ermey as Police Captain
Year: 1995
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: David Fincher
The opening title sequence of ‘Se7en’ starts with an eerie non-diegetic soundtrack that has almost hospital like sounds creating the rhythm with various different obscure noises over the top, it is steady throughout, repetitive and monotonous which eventually makes your head feel uncomfortable and all you want is for the sound to stop. The first shot is a short close up of book pages which then cuts to a black screen that has the titles on, written in scratchy handwriting text that jumps around, but they stay on the screen long enough to be able to read them so the jolty effect is successful and adds to the eerie atmosphere. We then cut to a close up of someone’s hands holding a razor and cutting off bits of their skin. This is also an introduction to a character, although we don’t know who they are we can tell a lot from just that image of their hands. The dryness suggests they work with their hands, maybe they are a bit old, perhaps they work with chemicals that dry out their hands or hard labour that causes them to become calloused. We then see as the person’s hands reach for a notebook while they have plasters on their fingertips and there is a close up shot of the writing inside the book. It is very close together and there is a lot of writing with very little space between it suggesting this person is obsessive and has a busy mind that they struggle to control.
The short close up shots start to build a sort of profile for the character as we get snippets of what they are doing. We don’t get a positive feeling from the character and instead feel uneasy and unsafe. The red flash of the red room tells us that this person has pictures they don’t want anyone else to see. Which raises all sorts of questions. The words that are noticeable to the audience are ‘fantasize’ ‘intercourse’ and ‘pregnancy’ which in combination with the shot of a little boys eyes being drawn over and then his whole face being scribbles out creates a sense of dread in the pit of the audiences stomach. We see a picture of someone having a brain operation of sorts which is deeply disturbing. And we then watch as the person sews up some pages and then cuts to an extreme close up of the word ‘GOD’ being cut out from a dollar bill. The soundtrack then synchronises with the shot as we hear a singer say the word ‘GOD’. The soundtrack speeds up as it goes along and then comes to a very abrupt end which leaves the audience in a shocked state for the opening of the film to start. Every shot in the title sequence doesn’t stay on screen for very long. It is fast paced and slowly speeds up as the soundtrack also speeds up, this creates a chaotic feeling but it is an organised chaos because although the imagery is obscure and difficult to make out it has a cumulative effect that tells us a lot about the character.
Comparison:
The two title sequences have both got loads of aspects that are both similar and different but create the same effect. For example they both share the repetitive bass to the soundtrack with the obscure ominous sounds over the top to create a tense atmosphere and in both we are sort of introduced to a character but not fully. In the ‘Shining’ we get the impression that whoever is in the car is the main character and although we don’t have any idea who they are we are already nervous for them and what fate awaits them. In ‘Se7en’ we are introduced to a character in a different way because we only see their hands but rather than feeling nervous for the character we start to feel afraid of them because we associate the images and jerky movement of the camera and words to the character which therefore makes us believe them to be unpredictable and dangerous.
The biggest difference between the two is the scenery and the pace of the editing. In the shining the editing is a lot slower and we have time to look at everything in the wide shots whereas in se7en the editing is much faster and your eyes and brain have to work a lot harder to try and see everything in each shot, all of the shots are close up as well which creates enigma because we don’t know where we are, only the objects the character has. There is more contrast in the shining with the beautiful scenery compared to the soundtrack but in se7en the soundtrack runs in parallel with the images. I think both openings lead the audience to assume that the narrative of the film will be dark, frightening and tense – for both of the openings to have this in common I would say that it is mostly due to the soundtrack as that is the one obvious component that they have in common. I would consider both very successful, I think se7en’s opening works better with the genre of thriller but I personally really love when films have a lot of contrast between the visuals and sound because I think it makes it more interesting to watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment