Open Seven from Stephen Adams on Vimeo.
The film begins with an establishing medium shot
fading in of a Morgan Freeman’s character, Somerset, in his kitchen. We can
hear the diegetic sounds of a bustling city, such as traffic, sirens,
shouting/arguments and dogs barking, slightly faded because the kitchen window
is shut. This creates an atmosphere of chaos, impending danger and violence.
Urban areas typically have higher crime rates than rural areas, suggesting that
there is going to be some kind of crime committed. The kitchen looks neat and
clean. This juxtaposes the busy sounds of the outside world, as it is very
peaceful inside the house. In the foreground we can see a chess set and in the
background there are some animal statues, which suggests that this man is
intelligent and well-travelled.
There is
then an ellipsis edit to a close up over the shoulder shot of Somerset fastening
his shirt and adjusting his tie in the mirror. This shows that he is a tidy
character. The lighting is very low key, low contrast, making it seem dark and
dreary. The camera then tracks up so that we can see his face. He looks down at
his desk and the camera cuts to a close up of numerous things on his desk – his
detective’s badge, a small flip knife, a handkerchief, a pen and another item which
is hard to make out. The badge indicates that Somerset works for law
enforcement as a detective, and the flip knife could indicate that he lives and
works in a dangerous area. The items are arranged in a neat line, and his
handkerchief is neatly folded. This emphasises his neat and thorough, maybe
slightly obsessive, nature. He picks each item up separately, in a very
deliberate manner. As he picks up his pen we cut back to the close up and watch
him slide it into his shirt pocket.
We then cut
to a medium shot, where we can see Somerset from the waist down stood beside
his neatly made bed, which has his suite jacket neatly laid out on it. He
reaches forwards to pick something off it which is too small for us to see,
emphasising his attention to detail and again his obsession with neatness. He
picks up the jacket and puts it on, before moving towards his bedside table and
switching off his lamp. The camera tracks with his movement.
There is an
ellipsis edit to a medium shot of a room. We can still hear the diegetic city
noises. The lighting is chiaroscuro, and the scene looks dark and seedy. In the
centre of the frame is a man lying face down on the floor, with a pool of blood
beside him. The camera tilts slowly upwards so we can see more of the man. We
hear dialogue from a man which seems diegetic. He is explaining how an argument
ended with two gun shots, and the man on the floor was found dead. The sudden
cut from Somerset’s house to this scene makes the viewer feel tense and
uncomfortable. There is a cut to a long shot of Somerset walking down the
landing of a house. He is dressed in a long coat and hat, making him look like
a typical detective. He walks down the landing towards the camera, and the
camera tilts up slightly to keep his head in the frame. He speaks in a very
calm and controlled manner. The house is very dark and shadowy and this makes
the viewer feel uneasy and heightens the tension. Somerset stops to look down
at something on the fridge, which the viewer cannot see. He bends down and puts
on his glasses, and the camera tracks with his action. He asks if the kid saw
the murder happen, which makes us assume that he is looking at a child’s
drawing on the fridge, and shows that his is a caring, empathetic character. It
also emphasises once again that he is very thorough in his work and checks
every little detail. We can see a blurred figure in the background, and we cut
to a medium shot of this figure who appears to be another detective. He laughs
a little at Somerset’s comment and moves around a little in a restless manner.
He says that they will be glad when they get rid of Somerset. This tells the
viewer that the other detectives are not as thorough as Somerset and find his
obsessive ways aggravating. We also know that this must be Detective Somerset’s
last case which is often a convention of thrillers; having a last case or
deadline to meet.
We cut back
to a medium shot of Somerset as he stands up from looking at the fridge. Again,
the camera tracks with his action as he stands, and he removes his glasses. He
continues to stare at the fridge and looks thoughtful and worried. There is
another cut back to a medium shot of the other detective, who states that it
isn’t there job to worry about the kid. This shows he is very focused on his
work and emphasises how thorough and concerned Detective Somerset is. The man
turns and walks into the room at the end of the landing, as another character
comes up the stairs. We hear the enhanced diegetic sound of his footsteps just
before we see him. The camera tracks down a little to allow us to see this
character. The4 character walks towards the camera to a medium close up, and
addresses Detective Somerset, introducing himself as Detective Mills. Detective
Mills appears to be a young, keen detective, and he is new to the area. He
looks much more casual than Somerset, with his leather jacket and chewing gum,
showing that these are two very different characters.
There is
another ellipses edit to a medium shot of outside of the house, as the body is
being stretchered out of the front door. There is a blue filter to make it
appear downcast and dreary. We see that there are bars on the windows of the
house, emphasising the how seedy and dangerous the area is. It could also be
symbolising prison and being locked behind bars, which is what will happen to
the killer. The camera tracks up and around the door a little as Mills and
Somerset come out. The shot is low angle, emphasising the importance of these
characters. We can still hear the city noises, but this time they are louder as
the two men are outside. The rain is pathetic fallacy, and makes the area seem
even more downcast and dreary. We stay on this shot as the two men converse,
and then the camera begins to track backwards as the pair walk along down the
pavement continuing to talk and find out more about each other. The
conversation acts as narrative exposition. We discover that Mills is new in the
area but has done work elsewhere and so is not new to the job. He believes he
knows what he is doing however Somerset informs him that working in that area
won’t be like where he has worked before. It appears that Somerset is going to
be like a mentor for Mills, and he will have to rein Mills in a little, who
comes across as being a confident character. They are going to have to learn to
tolerate each other. We see more of the buildings on the street and lots of the
windows are barred. It looks like a very miserable place. There are people
walking in the opposite direction who bump into Mills and Somerset, making the
action more natural.
We then
have an ellipsis edit to Detective Somerset’s bedroom – back to where we began.
It is a long shot of him sat in bed reading. The lighting remains chiaroscuro,
and we still here the faint, diegetic city sounds coming from outside. But the
warmer glow from his lamps makes the room look more cosy and friendly. This
suggests that he needs time to relax and unwind at the end of his busy and
stressful days. We cut to an extreme close up of Somerset placing his glasses
down on his bedside table, and the camera tracks up with his hand as he starts
his metronome. We cut to a medium shot from the end of his bed, which slowly
zooms in to him. The sound of the metronome is steady and used to try and
‘fight’ the chaos and disorder. This is again addressing Somerset’s thorough
nature. There is a cut to an extreme close up of the metronome, swaying
steadily and calmingly. We then cut back to a close up of Somerset’s face, and
we can see how he is trying to ignore the sounds of the traffic and the
shouting and trying to sleep. We cut again to the shot of the metronome.
There is a
sound like thunder and the screen goes black. At this point the titles begin.
They are represented in a montage, with unsettling, scratchy sounding
non-diegetic music. The titles are very unsettling, with forensic images of
bodies, lots of sharp objects and cutting, razors and needles implying violence
and death. This is also reflected in the jerky text which looks scratched or
cut into the screen. There are picture of children with their eyes crossed
through, implying they have been killed. We see images of things such as
tightly packed, hand sewn journals implying psychotic and obsessive behaviour.
The killer seems to have a very similar obsessive nature to Detective Somerset
– he is the flipside of Somerset. Both are intelligent, organised and obsessive
but while Somerset is a very moral character the killer is psychotic. The
colour scheme during the titles is black, white and red, representing binary
oppositions, danger, blood and death.
Originally written by Hannah Cocklin, edited by myself.
