Se7en title sequence analysis

I can make presumptions from watching the title sequence to Se7en that it is a psychological thriller. I can come to this conclusion because of the use of the dark colours, blades and using sharp objects. These are all iconographic symbols for psychological thrillers.As an audience whilst watching this clip we are supposed to feel intrigued into what is happening as we are not told anything in the clip about what is happening. This adds to the feeling of mystery and creates a sort of enigma in the title sequence.

Kyle Cooper designed the title sequence. He is a renowned title sequence designer and Se7en is one of his most famous designed title sequences. When creating this title sequence Cooper had to think about typography, soundtrack, iconography and mise-en-scene to create a successful piece of work. 

Typography is an important part of a title sequence because if the typography for your title sequence looked artistic and flowery it would not suit a dark psychological thriller. We experience two examples of typography is this sequence. The first being the jagged hand-drawn lettering for the names of the cast and crew and the other being the sans serif block style lettering for the jobs of the cast and crew and titles. The sans serif style lettering could suggest law such as the police but the jagged hand-drawn lettering could suggest crime. This is called binary opposition. The typography overall fits with the mysterious mise-en-scene of the clip as we do not know nothing about who or what is happening in the clip so we make guesses towards what we think is happening, The colour of the typography also indicates a binary opposition as the font is white and the background is black this could once again suggest law vs crime.

 The soundtrack was by Trent Razor. He is part of a rock band called ‘Nine Inch Nails’. His rock tone and the song that he sings for the title sequence was probably chosen because it suits well with the dark and eerie atmosphere which is coming across in the sequence. The song appears to be of Christian music origin as it references god and the bible several times. Once researched Trent Razor, I know he had collaborated with Kyle Cooper before so that may have been a reason cooper chose him to sing in the title sequence. The soundtrack seems to appear to get faster paced as tension builds in the title sequence. There is a slight sound of what seems like a typewriter in the background, this may reference to something in the film.


The iconographic features in the clip are important to create this chilling effect. The use of razor blades and sewing needles suggests pain and torture to the body. The scissors are meant to show blades when he cuts the film. When he draws over the image of the persons eyes, this could suggests the disfiguration of the eyes in a future part of the film. These all could connote death or body horror. The title sequence has been edited in a way to appear freighting by making the video footage appear jumpy by using many cuts and fades. The fades create the effect of insanity of the mysterious man.