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The Dark Style of Se7en

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Abstract
This paper centers on the dark style of the film Se7en,which is christened as
film noir.What Se7en interests and impresses me most is its film noir characters,
surreal,nightmarish atmasphere and its disturbing visual style.This paper

introduces some basic knowledge of film noir and emphasizes on the analysis of the
dark style of Se7en from several aspects,including lighting,setting, and angle.
Key Words
film onir;dark; unease
1.Introduction
Se7en, a dark, grisly, horrifying and intelligent thriller, may be too disturbing for
many people, I imagine. But if you can bear to watch it, you will see filmmaking of a
high order. It tells the story of two detectives - one ready to retire, the other at the start
of his career - and their attempts to capture a perverted serial killer who is using the
Seven Deadly Sins as his scenario. Director David Fincher doesn't want his audience
to be comfortable for a moment while watching "Seven." Shaky camera shots, dark
sets and a disturbing script that takes its characters to the extremes of emotion all
contribute to the film creating a unsettled feeling that stays with you for a couple
hours after the credits roll.
2.Own analysis
Much of the distinctiveness of Se7en can be attributed to its skillful adaption of
the conventions of film noir to the contemporary world.There is a common moral amb
iguity,which casts heroes as potential villains and villains as potential heroes;a trepida
tion about the future and nostalgia for a more civilized world that exists only in the im
agination;a puzzling and disturding narrative which andermines ones expectations;an
d the characteristic noir style of perpetual rainfall,low-key lighting,and a subdued colo
ur palette dominated by dullish grays,murky browns,and putrid.It is a classic film noir
,but with a twista serial-killer narrative that raises import contemporary questions a
bout the respective roles of morality,culture,and the media in our postmodern urban w
orld.
A central feature of most film noir and neo-noir is moral contradiction.It is freq
uently difficult to draw clear lines between good and bad,or state with certainty who i
t is that occupies the high maral ground.This is certainly the case with Se7en,in that n
either Mills nor Somerset demonstrates unimpeachable standards.In their professional
lives,for example,both are prepared to take immoral (and even illegal)measures to ach
ieve their goal of arresting and prosecuting John Doe.Somerset bribes an associate in t
he FBI for access to the library records of borrowersof course,the fact that the FBI
even keeps such records is of questionable legalityand together they use this illegall
y gathered information to find out Does address.When they reach his apartment,Mills
simply kicksopen the door,rather than follow the correct and legal procedures,and first
get hold of a search warrant.Aware that illegally gathered information would be invali
d in a court of law,they then proceed to bribe an poor local resident to make up a story
that will exculpate them.
The victims of Does cruel crimes are definitely no better.The obscenely fat ma
n is an insult to human dignity;the greed of Elias Gould is fed by the money earned fr
om defending rapists and murderers in court;Theodore Allen,punished for sloth,is act
ually a drug dealer and maker of horrific sexual crimes;the blonde woman is a prostitu

te in a seedy sex club;and the model was so vain that she could not live without her go
od looks.
The over-riding noir theme is a passion for the past and the present,but also a
fear of the future.The noir hero dreads to look ahead,but instead tries to survive by the
day,and if unseccessful at that,he retreats to the past.Thus film noirs techniques emph
asize loss,nostalgia,lack of clear priorities,insecurity;then submerge these self-doubts i
n mannerism and style.In such a world style becomes paramount;it is all that separates
one from meaninglessness.(Schrader,Paul.1999.Notes on Film Noir.) Se7en employ
s many of the classic film noir/neo-noir techniques to create its disturbing visual style.
The main techniques and their effects are shown below.
The look of "Seven" is crucial to its effect. This is a very dark film, the gloom oft
en penetrated only by the flashlights of the detectives. Even when all the lights are tur
ned on in the apartments of the victims, they cast only wan, hopeless pools of light. G
ary Wissner, the art director, goes for dark blacks and browns, deep shadows, lights of
deep yellow, and a lot of dark wood furniture.
Film noir/neo-noir relies on the play of light and darkness for its characteristicall
y oppressive mood,and se7en is no exception.To increase the luminosity of light tones
and the density of the darks,director of photography for se7en,Darius Khondji,employ
ed the seldom-used method of silver retention.The contrast is further exaggerated by t
he use of mise-en-scene:shadows,silhouettes,and flashlights probing into the envenopi
ng darkness are the visual hallmarks of the film.Darkness thus becomes a symbol of t
hat which is hidden beneath the surface;as Amy Taubin remarks,the films visualslite
ralize the struggle of bringing things to light.Yet while film noir/neo-noir tends to us
e darkness to create its sense of unease,this is not inevitably the case.In the final seque
nce,se7en relies not on darkness but on brightnessthe scorching light of the desert
to induce asense of fearful anticipation.Khondji puts it this way,
Even in close-ups,fencher keeps an uneasy distance(he favours low-angled sho
ts,rather than eye-of-God overheads).The camera sometimes seems to float,sometimes
seems dragged as if by sn undertow.The extremely shallow focus is a way of controlli
ng the views eye,making you look at waht you dont want to see and suggesting that t
here;s something worse that you just cant get a grip on lurking on the periphery.(Tau
bin,Amy.2000.The Allure of Decay.)
3.Conclusion
All in all,Se7en deserves all the reputation it has received.It gives us such a sho
ck by successfully employing many of the classic film noir/neo-noir techniques.Its lig
hting,settings,shotting and scenes all together make the film worthy of the name of pe
rfection.
Bibliography
[1]Schrader,Paul. Notes on Film
Noir.Shanhai: Shanhai Foreign Language Education Press,1999 [2]Taubin,Amy.The
Allure of Decay.
Shanhai: Shanhai Foreign Language Education Press,2000

[3] (Ma Aiying)..,2006