Opening Sequence Comparison: 'Legally Blond' & 'Seven'

Legally Blond

Shots

• CU of nails, hair etc, in slow motion, which shows how much time she spends on her appearance.
• CUs at the start make it clear that this is the main character, but withholds information so we don’t find out too much about her.
• Long track through corridors gives audience a sense of setting and allows them to get a sense of the people on the campus; all female, rich, obsessed with personal image.
• At the end of sequence there is an MCU of the girl, finally showing us her whole appearance.

Character Information

• All very stereotypical: Girls spend all their time working on their appearance and the boys spend their time play fighting topless and only stop to cheer as a girl rides past on her bike.
• You don’t see anyone working on campus which indicates that everybody is there just to have a good time.
• Everybody is signing her card and you see a large homecoming banner on the wall, showing that she is very popular.

Narrative Expectation

• Everything is in different shades of pink, suggesting that this is going to be a very girly film.
• She has a picture of a boy by her bed, and she blows a kiss at the picture, which shows the audience that he is going to be central to the narrative.
• Everything is very bright; this is going to be a happy film.
• The card says ‘good luck for tonight’, suggesting that something major is going to happen that night.

Seven

Shots

• Establishing shots of Morgan Freeman at the start show that he lives alone and that he is very organised and is used to routine; the way he picks his equipment is very methodical.
• LA of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt shows that their meeting is quite important.
• LS of Morgan Freeman sitting in bed shows that he isn’t necessarily happy, and creates a sense of loneliness.

Character Information

• Contrast between characters: Freeman is old and methodical; Brad Pitt is young and energetic.
• Freeman is not very popular: he wants to take his time to solve the case, while his colleague just wants to finish up and leave.
• Freeman is retiring in a week.

Narrative Expectations

• ‘Monday’ signifies that something is starting, and also makes it clear that the film takes place over a week.
• The ticking just before the opening titles shows that something is about to happen.
• During title sequence, you see a killer cutting out newspaper stories, cutting out photographs etc, which shows that there is an organised killer on the loose.