Se7en Trailer Analysis

Se7en Trailer analysis

The first thing we can take away from the trailer is that it is 2 minutes and 17 seconds long, following conventions as it is less than five minutes and does not give us enough time to have too much of the plot revealed to us. Trailers like this are generally more effective as it leaves a lot to the imagination and when we watch the movie we don’t know what to expect and are still surprised by features that are not shown in the movie itself. It is just enough time to summarise what the movie is about and give us a general feel as to what challenges the protagonists will have to overcome.

 When the trailer begins, the first shot is of the Production Company’s logo which happens to be “New Line Cinema” in this case. This particular production company is notorious for using big Hollywood film stars and producing a lot of successful films over the years, often being big hits with the box office. This gives an impression that the movie is going to be well made as famous Hollywood actors are starring in it, and a big production company such as “New Line Cinema” has decided to back the film. A big production company would not support films if they did not believe that it would be successful, they only pick ones that they think will appeal to people and make high profits so this leads us to the conclusion that the film is going to be well worth our time and we are more likely to watch it in a cinema. Film production logos are usually always within the first part of the trailer as it is a big influence of what makes us go out and watch a movie. The production company's reputation will hugely benefit the film trailer if it has a good reputation, for example if people have watched and enjoyed a film produced by the same company they may link it to other films they have watched by them. It also creates a basic idea of what film the trailer is showing us, for example if you were to see a Disney logo coming up at the start of a trailer, you would know that they have a reputation for family friendly films, and that their budget is large enough to make something to a very high quality.

Genre

The genre for the film is given away throughout the trailer as each different type of genre follows codes and conventions. For a thriller, which is what this particular movie is, there is often a fast paced action scenes, weapons, scenes of a violent nature and dark and mysterious settings. Through the trailer alone we can see lots of examples of this, with most of the action taking place in a dismal city environment. The low levels of lighting and colour in each shot sets the tone very efficiently as we associate it with a gloomy atmosphere, knowing instantly that it is not going to be a light hearted film as these types of things create a sense of danger. As for violence, we are not shown anything explicit in the trailer but are given hints about the murders and how each murder that has been carried out follows the pattern of the seven deadly sins.  Automatically the viewer will have their own preferences when it comes to movies as everyone has genres that they would be more inclined to enjoy, this trailer will allow the viewer to quickly come to a conclusion as to whether this would be something appealing to them as the conventions are obvious.

Narrative and characters

Se7en is about two detectives that are investigating and hunting a serial killer who bases his killings off of the seven deadly sins, using the flaws of the world to justify himself in this area. We are told about how the first killing is completed, which gluttony is where we get to know the extent of the violence of this film and how psychopathic the killer is. Conventionally, it is very obvious to tell that they are the main protagonists of the film as they are both trying to restore an equilibrium which is a common aspiration of a protagonist, they want to protect their cause in the name of justice. They also show aspects of bravery as they are not afraid to stand up for themselves, as is shown when Morgan Freeman’s character goes against the ideas of the other detectives in the workplace.

Representation

One of the most obvious forms of representation in the trailer is with age, we trust the judgement of Morgan freeman’s character much more as he is older and with more training than the new detective who is played by Brad Pitt. This plays on the stereotype that young people are not as professional in the workplace and are much more inexperienced than their older colleagues as the younger detective is being mentored by the older. We see more of this in the film where the younger detective is not taken seriously at all at first but later manages to regain himself later on in the film.