"Se7en" Thriller Scene Analysis
"If you kill him, he will win."
"If you kill him, he will win."
"How is sound used to create suspense and other effects in the scene?"
Arguably one of the greatest ending scenes in thriller films is the ending from "Se7en". Se7en was directed by David Fincher and was released on the January 5th 1996 in the UK. Produced by New Line Cinema and Cecchi Gori Pictures, it had a budget of approximately $33.3M and box office returns of $316.4M Worldwide. The audience for "Se7en" would be a potentially younger audience due to element of the thriller/action, whereas the crime and psychological aspect would attract an older audience as well. The audience received it very well, with plenty of 10/10 user reviews on IMDb, with summaries such as , "Modern masterpiece" and "Possibly the greatest murder story ever." I will be focusing on how sound is used to create suspense and other effects in the final scene, where there is a showdown between the protagonist and antagonist in the middle of a desert.
The first sound we hear in the scene is a diegetic sound; the sharp flick of the pen knife. This noise, over the silence of the rest of the scene, quite literally cuts the tension with a knife; a very tense atmosphere is created from the offset. For the opening ten to fifteen seconds we hear nothing but the sounds coming from the location, such as the caw of birds and the sound of the wind, enabling the audience to have a better understanding of the setting for the scene, and the sound of the knife cutting the box. This creates the effect of a calm but suspenseful atmosphere.
A very important part of the scene is the sound in the dialogue. It helps to show the stance and motives of each of protagonist and antagonist. At around 0:24, the dialogue in the scene starts, with a very calm voice saying, "You should be very proud". He is greeted by the explicit retort, "Shut the f*** up you piece of s***" - this difference in the tone and choice of words of the characters creates the effect of a clear separation in the motives of the individuals and hostility towards one another.
The scene returns to the man at the box [Morgan Freeman], and once again there is very little sound here, which creates the effect of placing the audience in the scene itself; they only hear what the characters can hear. After the man jumps in shock at around 0:31, there is a long period of silence - the lack of sound here helps to emphasise a section important to the plot. Suddenly, at 0:40, we hear the diegetic sound of helicopter rotors, as it matches the action in the scene. Helicopters themselves would be associated with action and the audience then links the start of the helicopter rotors with the start of the action.
Also at this point is the start of a non-diegetic sound which makes up the most part of the sound in the sequence. A low frequency "dun" effect is created, that matches key movements in the scene, such as at 0:47 where the man turns his head back to re-inspect the box. Coupled with a whining effect as a backing track, the soundtrack here builds the suspense and has the audience questioning - what was in the box? This creates the effect of curiosity and captures the attention of the audience. The noise repeats in a regular pattern i.e. there are equal intervals between the sounds. This creates the effect of an almost "ordered chaos" in the scene. At 0:55 speech plays an important part, as when the man says, "California, stay away from here, now, now, whatever you hear stay away. John Doe has the upper hand." he slurs the clauses together and speaks in a worried, fretful tone, inducing many effects on the audience - what has caused this panic in his voice, and why does "John Doe" have the upper hand? This further intrigues the audience to watch the rest of the scene.
From 1:00 onwards, speech plays a very important role in the narrative and conveying emotion. We hear the man shouting, "Put your gun down!" as he runs back over, whilst [Brad Pitt] tells the bald man, (who is first shown in this section with a low angle shot to perhaps show power and superiority), almost painfully, to "Shut up". This further conveys his hostility towards this man and from his tone the audience can tell that he holds a position of dominance over this man. We may have been able to tell this from his body language and stance but the speech in the scene helps to emphasise and clarify this. However, the bald man's voice seems calm, as if to suggest he has the control in the scene. The difference in tones of the characters causes the audience to make several different assumptions about the plot, and hence builds suspense as to the revelation as to what has actually happened. This confusion is further aided by the confused tones of the characters in the scene, with the suited man saying, "What you f***ing say?" and the man in the helicopter saying "What the f***..." this creates the effect of the characters being just as clueless as to what's happened as the audience is. The non diegetic sound of the "dun" and the whining effect continued, becoming more regular (about 2 seconds between each noise) and louder too, to heighten the suspense, the regularity could show how everything is beginning to come together to form a conclusion in the scene. However, from 1:41, the sound effect stops, which creates the effect of an emphasis on this particular section of the dialogue, implying something significant will occur. A moody, dark score accompanies the section, suggesting a bad revelation to come, and the man speaks with absolutely no emotion in his voice to convey a dark, misguided character. The music seems to reach a mini-crescendo as he calmly speaks, "I took a souvenir. Her pretty head."
This section is dominated by the continuation of the dark soundtrack and panicked dialogue between the two men [Pitt and Freeman]. The man who was at the box tries to reason with him, to get him to put his gun down, whereas the other man calmly continues, almost taunting him. This could be a representation of the man's conscience, the voice of reason contrasted against his rage. He exclaims, "What's in the f***ing box?!?" showing anger and distress through his voice. When the man says, "He just told you." he seems confident yet mocking, provoking a sincere response of "You lie!". The contrast in voices here and the way in which the words are spoken are a huge part of the sound in the scene and contribute to creating suspense and emotion in the scene. At this stage, the non-diegetic sound returns, suggesting another period of action in the scene is commencing, with the interval becoming slightly shorter, quickening the pace of the scene and creating an "on-edge" atmosphere. The 'guilty conscience' effect is enhanced here with the other detective saying, "He wants you shoot him!" to try to reason with him to calm him down, yet the mysterious man continues to subtly taunt him, causing him to spiral out of control in anger. The strain in his voice when he yells, "Tell me she's alright!" makes the audience pity the man and creates a very emotional aura in the scene, which continues to grow shown by the distress in his voice when he yells, "No!", accompanied by the notes in the soundtrack becoming lower to show sadness and anger. The isolated location here also helps to portray his mind set at this stage, he has two options, to side with either one of the men, with nowhere to go. This is clearly shown where the other detective stands in between him and the antagonist. The taunts grow to such an extent that the other man lashes out, the sound of contact clearly emphasised over the growing whine in the background, which reaches a crescendo and dies off to show the importance in the dialogue to follow. The non-diegetic sound is very loud here to further add to the levels of suspense, suggesting something is about to happen, and the sudden silence of the man after his outburst also shows the significance of what he just said. When he says, "Oh.. he didn't know." he sound very sarcastic and condescending, to portray him as the 'evil mastermind' in the scene. through use of sound. At this stage, the soundtrack picks up, as the detective looks upwards in despair. The crescendo in the backing track here shows a culmination in the dialogue to indicate a revelation and creates the effect of the suspense being temporarily paused to allow emotion to be conveyed.
After this section, there is a prolonged period of silence in the dialogue, as the scene is dominated by the soundtrack. It accompanies the action on screen to create an atmosphere of sorrow; the strings in the soundtrack evoke pity and sadness in the audience, as the previous section of dialogue informs us that the antagonist has murdered his wife and killed her unborn child, evoking the sympathy of the audience. After about 20 seconds of the man alternating between holding his gun in a stance to indicate he is going to kill the man and backing away, to show this split conscience, once again the other detective sincerely asks him to give him his gun showing morality, and the sincerity in his voice when he says, "If you kill him.. He will win." helps to create the effect of suspense by implying a huge decision is about to be made in the scene - emphasised when David shouts, "Ah God!". This dialogue helps the audience to gain a better understanding of the character's psychology. At this stage, the non-diegetic sound returns, to show the action is resuming. After a quick flashback of a woman's face appears in the scene, the whining effect grows in loudness and pitch, enhancing the suspense, suggesting to the audience the action will reach a conclusion. We then hear the diegetic sound of a gunshot, and the sound matches the action on screen to clearly indicate what has happened. The gunshot stands out over the soundtrack to show their importance in the narrative. The scene then cuts back to helicopter and we hear the loud noise of the rotors with some panicked voices, coming from inside the helicopter, which creates an effect of confusion as to what the action taken in the scene will mean. The non-diegetic "dun" stops, and we then hear another 5 gunshots, at irregular intervals, which would indicate chaos and not order, and the whining effects' pitch has grown to a screeching loudness to perhaps show there will be a consequence to the shots fired at the antagonist to murder him in revenge. There is no dialogue during this section, which adds to the shock and confusion created by the scene's aftermath. At 4:27, the helicopter rotors return, but are quieter than the soundtrack, implying that the action is coming to a close. The man on-board the helicopter says, "C'mon set us down!" - the helicopter landing would suggest action in the scene/film is ending creating a sense of closure for the audience, but the tones of the men on-board the aircraft suggest that the story is not over for the two detectives, as the scene ends with, "Somebody call somebody!" being spoken, indicating to the audience that there will be an aftermath to the scene.
To conclude, the closing scene of "Se7en" uses a combination of non-diegetic sound and variation in dialogue to great effect to create suspense and convey emotion, with diegetic sound being used to match the action in the scene to help indicate the action to the audience. The variance in the tones of characters conveys more about their emotions and mind set than their actions do for the most part and therefore helps the audience to get a better understanding of the characters in the scene.
The first sound we hear in the scene is a diegetic sound; the sharp flick of the pen knife. This noise, over the silence of the rest of the scene, quite literally cuts the tension with a knife; a very tense atmosphere is created from the offset. For the opening ten to fifteen seconds we hear nothing but the sounds coming from the location, such as the caw of birds and the sound of the wind, enabling the audience to have a better understanding of the setting for the scene, and the sound of the knife cutting the box. This creates the effect of a calm but suspenseful atmosphere.
A very important part of the scene is the sound in the dialogue. It helps to show the stance and motives of each of protagonist and antagonist. At around 0:24, the dialogue in the scene starts, with a very calm voice saying, "You should be very proud". He is greeted by the explicit retort, "Shut the f*** up you piece of s***" - this difference in the tone and choice of words of the characters creates the effect of a clear separation in the motives of the individuals and hostility towards one another.
The scene returns to the man at the box [Morgan Freeman], and once again there is very little sound here, which creates the effect of placing the audience in the scene itself; they only hear what the characters can hear. After the man jumps in shock at around 0:31, there is a long period of silence - the lack of sound here helps to emphasise a section important to the plot. Suddenly, at 0:40, we hear the diegetic sound of helicopter rotors, as it matches the action in the scene. Helicopters themselves would be associated with action and the audience then links the start of the helicopter rotors with the start of the action.
Also at this point is the start of a non-diegetic sound which makes up the most part of the sound in the sequence. A low frequency "dun" effect is created, that matches key movements in the scene, such as at 0:47 where the man turns his head back to re-inspect the box. Coupled with a whining effect as a backing track, the soundtrack here builds the suspense and has the audience questioning - what was in the box? This creates the effect of curiosity and captures the attention of the audience. The noise repeats in a regular pattern i.e. there are equal intervals between the sounds. This creates the effect of an almost "ordered chaos" in the scene. At 0:55 speech plays an important part, as when the man says, "California, stay away from here, now, now, whatever you hear stay away. John Doe has the upper hand." he slurs the clauses together and speaks in a worried, fretful tone, inducing many effects on the audience - what has caused this panic in his voice, and why does "John Doe" have the upper hand? This further intrigues the audience to watch the rest of the scene.
From 1:00 onwards, speech plays a very important role in the narrative and conveying emotion. We hear the man shouting, "Put your gun down!" as he runs back over, whilst [Brad Pitt] tells the bald man, (who is first shown in this section with a low angle shot to perhaps show power and superiority), almost painfully, to "Shut up". This further conveys his hostility towards this man and from his tone the audience can tell that he holds a position of dominance over this man. We may have been able to tell this from his body language and stance but the speech in the scene helps to emphasise and clarify this. However, the bald man's voice seems calm, as if to suggest he has the control in the scene. The difference in tones of the characters causes the audience to make several different assumptions about the plot, and hence builds suspense as to the revelation as to what has actually happened. This confusion is further aided by the confused tones of the characters in the scene, with the suited man saying, "What you f***ing say?" and the man in the helicopter saying "What the f***..." this creates the effect of the characters being just as clueless as to what's happened as the audience is. The non diegetic sound of the "dun" and the whining effect continued, becoming more regular (about 2 seconds between each noise) and louder too, to heighten the suspense, the regularity could show how everything is beginning to come together to form a conclusion in the scene. However, from 1:41, the sound effect stops, which creates the effect of an emphasis on this particular section of the dialogue, implying something significant will occur. A moody, dark score accompanies the section, suggesting a bad revelation to come, and the man speaks with absolutely no emotion in his voice to convey a dark, misguided character. The music seems to reach a mini-crescendo as he calmly speaks, "I took a souvenir. Her pretty head."
This section is dominated by the continuation of the dark soundtrack and panicked dialogue between the two men [Pitt and Freeman]. The man who was at the box tries to reason with him, to get him to put his gun down, whereas the other man calmly continues, almost taunting him. This could be a representation of the man's conscience, the voice of reason contrasted against his rage. He exclaims, "What's in the f***ing box?!?" showing anger and distress through his voice. When the man says, "He just told you." he seems confident yet mocking, provoking a sincere response of "You lie!". The contrast in voices here and the way in which the words are spoken are a huge part of the sound in the scene and contribute to creating suspense and emotion in the scene. At this stage, the non-diegetic sound returns, suggesting another period of action in the scene is commencing, with the interval becoming slightly shorter, quickening the pace of the scene and creating an "on-edge" atmosphere. The 'guilty conscience' effect is enhanced here with the other detective saying, "He wants you shoot him!" to try to reason with him to calm him down, yet the mysterious man continues to subtly taunt him, causing him to spiral out of control in anger. The strain in his voice when he yells, "Tell me she's alright!" makes the audience pity the man and creates a very emotional aura in the scene, which continues to grow shown by the distress in his voice when he yells, "No!", accompanied by the notes in the soundtrack becoming lower to show sadness and anger. The isolated location here also helps to portray his mind set at this stage, he has two options, to side with either one of the men, with nowhere to go. This is clearly shown where the other detective stands in between him and the antagonist. The taunts grow to such an extent that the other man lashes out, the sound of contact clearly emphasised over the growing whine in the background, which reaches a crescendo and dies off to show the importance in the dialogue to follow. The non-diegetic sound is very loud here to further add to the levels of suspense, suggesting something is about to happen, and the sudden silence of the man after his outburst also shows the significance of what he just said. When he says, "Oh.. he didn't know." he sound very sarcastic and condescending, to portray him as the 'evil mastermind' in the scene. through use of sound. At this stage, the soundtrack picks up, as the detective looks upwards in despair. The crescendo in the backing track here shows a culmination in the dialogue to indicate a revelation and creates the effect of the suspense being temporarily paused to allow emotion to be conveyed.
After this section, there is a prolonged period of silence in the dialogue, as the scene is dominated by the soundtrack. It accompanies the action on screen to create an atmosphere of sorrow; the strings in the soundtrack evoke pity and sadness in the audience, as the previous section of dialogue informs us that the antagonist has murdered his wife and killed her unborn child, evoking the sympathy of the audience. After about 20 seconds of the man alternating between holding his gun in a stance to indicate he is going to kill the man and backing away, to show this split conscience, once again the other detective sincerely asks him to give him his gun showing morality, and the sincerity in his voice when he says, "If you kill him.. He will win." helps to create the effect of suspense by implying a huge decision is about to be made in the scene - emphasised when David shouts, "Ah God!". This dialogue helps the audience to gain a better understanding of the character's psychology. At this stage, the non-diegetic sound returns, to show the action is resuming. After a quick flashback of a woman's face appears in the scene, the whining effect grows in loudness and pitch, enhancing the suspense, suggesting to the audience the action will reach a conclusion. We then hear the diegetic sound of a gunshot, and the sound matches the action on screen to clearly indicate what has happened. The gunshot stands out over the soundtrack to show their importance in the narrative. The scene then cuts back to helicopter and we hear the loud noise of the rotors with some panicked voices, coming from inside the helicopter, which creates an effect of confusion as to what the action taken in the scene will mean. The non-diegetic "dun" stops, and we then hear another 5 gunshots, at irregular intervals, which would indicate chaos and not order, and the whining effects' pitch has grown to a screeching loudness to perhaps show there will be a consequence to the shots fired at the antagonist to murder him in revenge. There is no dialogue during this section, which adds to the shock and confusion created by the scene's aftermath. At 4:27, the helicopter rotors return, but are quieter than the soundtrack, implying that the action is coming to a close. The man on-board the helicopter says, "C'mon set us down!" - the helicopter landing would suggest action in the scene/film is ending creating a sense of closure for the audience, but the tones of the men on-board the aircraft suggest that the story is not over for the two detectives, as the scene ends with, "Somebody call somebody!" being spoken, indicating to the audience that there will be an aftermath to the scene.To conclude, the closing scene of "Se7en" uses a combination of non-diegetic sound and variation in dialogue to great effect to create suspense and convey emotion, with diegetic sound being used to match the action in the scene to help indicate the action to the audience. The variance in the tones of characters conveys more about their emotions and mind set than their actions do for the most part and therefore helps the audience to get a better understanding of the characters in the scene.
This is an excellent analysis of sound in your chosen scene. However, to improve refer more to the reaction of the audience.
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