The Cinematography of Fear: Se7en's Most Terrifying Scene

[00:00:00]this is the infamous gluttony scene from Seven a bashian nightmare trip into a waking hellscape the likes of which most police Thrillers don't even attempt to come close to however the atmospheric tension penetrating darkness and true horror on display in this scene are exactly what makes seven so terrifying released in 1995 seven is a neonuar psychological Thriller centering on two detectives the young and impulsive David Mills played by Brad Pitt and the on the brink of retirement restrained and calculating William Somerset played by Morgan Freeman we followed them on what initially appears to be a string of unconnected murders that eventually dovetail into a truly shutter inducing plot the scene in question serves as a perfect synecdo key of how seven stands apart from every other police procedural ever made Mills and Somerset are called to a crime scene where they're told that a man has been found dead this is the first victim that they're going to investigate as a team Nils has just transferred into the department and Somerset is none too pleased of being assigned this Brash partner I want you to look and I want you to listen okay now I wasn't standing around guarding the Taco Bell I've worked homicide five years not here I understand that as they're walking in Mills gets into an argument with A Beat cop whether they've properly investigated the scene and inspected the body to make sure that the victim is in fact dead Somerset is annoyed by this as he's become accustomed to the corruption and lack of care the police have sunk to this immediately shows you who these characters are how they rank on the internal hierarchy of the police force and how they relate to each other it also immediately heightens the tension of the scene because we know the characters We are following while technically being on the same team aren't in agreement with one another additionally the Brilliance of this scene is that as an audience member we see Mills asking if the character in question is actually dead wait a minute no one bothers the vital signs did I stutter as a setup for the jump scare within this scene however after watching the movie again we realized that this was a setup for the sloth jump scare much later in the film Andrew Kevin Walker's script is a master class in subtle structural elements that work to increase the uneasiness within a scene as Mills and Somers head into the crime scene we instantly realize that this isn't going to be a conventionally executed story we've all seen crime scene investigations and Exposition dump sequences in movies they're all the same it's a bunch of people in ill-fitting suits poking around a well-lit room and going well it's definitely homicide however director David Fincher and cinematographer Darius Congee don't take the conventional way into the scene they use the crime scene as a murky interior a well of Blackness they choose to light the majority of the scene exclusively with Mills and somerset's flashlights there could be anything lurking in this apartment it's already been established that the beat cops don't care enough to thoroughly investigate and now we're following two men who have a rocky relationship at best into a completely unknown pit garbed in Shadow and death the tension ratchets up almost as soon as Mills and Somerset entered the apartment the choice to light the scene almost exclusively with their flashlights serves as both a visual metaphor that these two characters are literally Illuminating the darkness and also subconsciously bonds them together for the audience they're the only thing pushing back against the evil that's surrounding the story it also helps to subconsciously Bond the audience to them and increases the audience's fear of the unknown everything about the film is thought out to the precise detail just like the antagonist in the film The filmmakers needed to make sure that nothing was out of place the difference between the two protagonists in the story is represented in their costuming Somerset a classically methodical character who represents a more mature thoughtful approach to crime fighting is wearing a traditional film Noir inspired costume he has a fedora trench coat and a dark suit he looks more like he'd be at home in the Maltese falcon or blast of Silence while Pitts Mills looks modern no hat just a well-tailored suit and Darko Overcoat as they continue into the crime scene the film unfurls itself and presents a case for why it's unlike anything else insert shots of cockroaches filth and grime rapidly establish the visual tone of what the rest of the film is going to have as Mills and Somerset move from room to room the tension builds we're all waiting for the payoff of the Beat cop altercation that opened the scene we're waiting for a cheap jump scare because something has got to be in this scene that's unexpected right anything could be lurking in the Untamed darkness of this hellhole eventually they discover the body of a balding man tied to a table dead he's eaten himself to death the dingy interior covered in bugs the atmosphere of the shadows and this newly discovered cadaver all work in concert to manipulate the viewer into being genuinely uncomfortable the scene is constructed with prolonged takes that make the audience peer out into the darkness trying to get ahead of the two investigators and then it gets even worse the detectives quickly discover that whoever is killing these humans is doing so in a deeply methodical and planned out way and they're ritualistically killing them in accordance to the seven deadly sins gluttony Pride greed lust Envy wrath and sloth this setup sounds like a million different serial killer procedurals or it could be an episode of Law and Order or a buddy cop comedy released in the 80s but it's far from that Venture was able to orchestrate every aspect of the filmmaking process to turn the horror up to 11. he uses editing sound mixing costume design and production designed to take a well-written script with a somewhat standard premise into a classic in the gluttony scene the sound of pattering rain the creaking house and Eerie footsteps are all played for horror additionally the soundtrack has a pulsing rising and falling tone that throbs through the scene giving every minor action the detectives take more and more importance as they move further and further into the apartment the soundtrack increases in half step octaves every few seconds using a minor scale to increase the Eternal tension it takes a director who is enthralled with the subject matter to make something like this how happen even though the film was released in 1995 it has a classic feel to it there's none of the stylistic Hallmarks of 90s Cinema there's no fish eyes bucket hats or dudes talking about how extreme something is check it out why is that because Fincher was desperate to prove himself as a director and he knew seven was his only shot at Redemption after cutting his teeth in the world of music videos Fincher made the jump into feature films however it wasn't a smooth transition after Alien 3 Fincher knew that if he was lucky enough to get another shot at directing a feature film it would be his last every element of the film is so finely tuned it rewards repeated viewings even the film's opening title sequence with its creepy dirty handmade quality the credits instantly set the viewer Up For What the rest of the film is going to feel like designed by Kyle Cooper they are arguably the most imitated main title sequence ever made the film grain the Overexposed photos the inconsistent shutter speeds and the creepy handwritten credits were revolutionary at the time the horror on display in the film is its key to success Fincher's Vision to see past the genre tropes and imbue every element of the film with a creeping sense of dread is the reason why it's so terrifying to this day the film practically vibrates with Mal less and antipathy toward both its characters and its setting in the best way possible the film might just be the most Catholic Film Production ever made every sequence is ballooning with guilt and fear the gluttony scene is a perfect example of how Fincher uses every tool in the toolbox to instill a scene with mood atmosphere and terrifying Ambiance every element of the filmmaking process works in concert to push the audience to a tangible sense of unease ultimately what makes seven so terrifying is a culmination of a million small decisions that Fincher had to make and each one of those choices was governed by the principle of how do we make this moment feel even more oppressive well that's all for today's episode what do you think what's your favorite David Venture project that centers on a serial killer there's a lot of them so you have some tough choices and of course please subscribe to the nerdstologic channel to stay up to date with everything we've got going on foreign