Analysis of "Seven" Thriller opening by Harry McHale

Seven
The non-diegetic sound (music) automatically conducts a thriller mood and atmosphere because it has a spooky feel to it. The opening scene is titles of the film credits and the font is editing in a spooky way, presented in way to conduct that it is a thriller. Also, the background is black and the titles are white which conveys a thriller. 
There is a transition to a drawing of two hands, with a red line down the middle of them - the colour red signifies death which is an inevitable event to happen in thriller films. The hands presented in the drawing are very dark, veiny and knobbly designed to scare, suitable iconography for a thriller.

There is non-diegetic foley sound of floorboards creaking, and a cut of a hand holding a metal tool (ECU) with non-diegetic sound of tools turning. There are a series of cuts of different metal tools, which is also appropriate iconography for the thriller genre and is designed to scare the spectator and construct the appropriate mood.

There is a cut to an ECU of a fingers holding a metal blade, with dark lighting and shallow depth of field where the focus is on the blade. This is a good technique for a thriller as it hints to the spectator what's in store for the rest of the film. As this is presented, there is non-diegetic sound of a noise designed to scare as it is increased in sound compared to the non-diegetic sound of the music, and there is non-diegetic sound which sound likes screams.

The sequence continues in a continuous pattern, with series of cuts of spooky scenes, and then to the titles and non-diegetic sound of creaking, and spooky music. There is a cut to a scene where there is a lot of red colouring, a colour often used in many thriller, along with black and white which is also used a lot in this opening of 'Seven'.  There is no introduction of any characters, therefore there is no protagonists or antagonists displayed, however there is a BCU of hands cutting a picture of a young child. This creates enigma, building tension for the spectator as it's the first sign of a possible story or meaning to the thriller. Also, on one of the fingers shown there is a plaster wrapped round it which suggests that he is injured, however its restricted narration therefore as a spectator we cannot view how badly injured. This foreshadows that later in the film there will be violence and characters will get hurt. The hand in the series of shots is the same one through-out, implying that it could be the main character/protagonist/antagonist. 

There is a cut to  black and white shot of a CU of a picture of somebody, with only their head in the frame. This builds enigma because it leaves the spectator guessing who this person is and whether they're a victim or what their role is in the film. 
A shot of paper is shown with blood splattered on it, which is perfect iconography to convey a thriller. Blood suggests death, largely seen in thrillers therefore the film language is suitable in constructing the mood appropriate for a thriller.

There' a cut to a shot of a book turning, the shot is in black and white with highly dark lighting therefore the shadow of  hand is shown on the page to give a eerie feel, commonly used in thrillers.

A shot is shown of a black pen, crossing words out on the page of the paper so that it is not visible, where a silhouette of the pen is shown over the page to create a spooky atmosphere. This builds suspense as it leaves the spectator wondering what the meaning of doing that is and what is being hidden. 
There is a graphic match as the pen is shown drawing over a picture of a mans eyes - symbolising a blind fold. This is also good iconography used in thrillers as it builds tension for the spectator and excitement as it leaves the character more helpless than the one in power. It cuts to a shot where the man in the pictures face is completely scribbled out by the black pen, and the back ground around him is red. This could signify the death of him or hint to the spectator that death will take place throughout the film as red signifies blood. There is a crescendo as this happens and the music (non-diegetic sound) becomes louder. 
The opening sequence continues with many different shots consisting of red, black and white colours and the book. This suggests that the book presented through-out the opening is significant to the film as a whole, as are the pictures being used in it. There is a dissolve to a shot of picture of  somebody with a sharp tool going into the back of their head - this is very gruesome which is the right effect for a thriller genre.

The pace of the shots are very fast to create enigma, changing with the use of dissolve and graphic matches. Many of the shots are of sharp nails and tools, which could be to construct the story of the film or just to set the mood appropriate for a thriller. 
The non-diegetic sound of the music changes and there is another crescendo. In one of the shots, the hand is seen binding the pages together, which supports my previous point that the book has relevance to the story of the film and is significant. The sequence ends with an establishing shot.