Main task, research, RAILING: Se7en

Today we have started the research in to the main task of the media studies coursework, the first film opening credits i anaylsed was from the film Se7en directed by Kyle Cooper.

Representation	The opening credits of the film Se7ev suggests the representation of a mental disorder and psychopathic traits in serial killers, this is shown by close up shots of the removal of finger prints from the characters hands.
Audience	The film has a target demographic audience of Alan Betrock’s 19 year old male target audience, the hypodermic syringe theory suggest that the target audience are chosen by the fears in society from serial killers and mentally ill health which is represented in the title sequence.
Institution	The film was made by New Line Cinema.
Language	There are many close up angles and shots in the opening credits of Se7en to make the audience feel uneasy and their fears of stereotypical views of the mentally ill and serial killers are represented in great deal by these camera shots. The camera angles and shots are all close up images of what the character is doing, so far the audience are only aware that the character is a white character due to the close up of the finger tips being sawed off to remove finger prints, this means the audience are left wondering if the character is Brad Pitt. Non diegetic sound is used in the opening credits to create tension among the audience because the non diegetic sound if shown as a faint heartbeat and screams of the murder victims, who are shown in the opening credits by a close up image of pictures of the victims lying dead.
Ideology	Ideology in the opening credits represents mentally ill health which reinforces the dominant believe of fear towards the mentally ill, the ideology also suggests the fear of isolation towards the mentally ill in society. Levi Strauss believed that in an opposite, there is always a preferred opposite, this is shown in the opening credits by having Brad Pitts name shown before Morgan Freeman, which suggest the preferred opposite of a white male instead of a black male also the preferred opposite of a young male and a old male.
Narrative	The narrative of the opening credits suggests a psychopathic serial killer reliving his or hers crime through images of the murder victims, the opening credits also suggests that the character may be getting ready commit further murders by the removal of their finger tips which is shown to the audience by close up shots of the fingers.
Genre	The genre of the film from the opening credits it that of a crime thriller drama, the codes and conventions used are reflected in Leo Baudry’s statement of ‘genre reflect the fears of society,’ this is because the opening credits reflects the fears of the audience of serial killers by the stereotypical views of pictures of murder victims, the cutting of newspaper clippings etc.