The film I have chosen explore is the 1995 crime film Seven by David Fincher, in particular at the famous heart pounding last scene of the film. The areas I have chose to focus my analysis on are performance, cinematography, and editing, as I believe these are the key micro elements involved in this scene, which makes it such a memorable and extraordinary end to a great film.
For the performance element of this task I have chosen to analyse Brad Pitt’s performance in the scene. The reason I have chosen to study Brad Pitt is as he is one of my favourite actors, as I feel he has gave countless great performances in many great films, which proves he is a great actor with outstanding versatility. In the film Brad Pitt’s character Detective David Mills is a short tempered cop who is strong minded and determined to impress his colleagues. In the scene I have chosen to study, Mills finds out his wife has been murdered, and to make it even worse he also finds out she was carrying his child. Throughout this scene Brad Pitt gives an exceptional performance conveying lots of emotions such as; denial; anger; guilt; sadness; relief; and regret.
I am starting the analysis at the point in the scene where John Doe (Kevin Spacey) first mentions Mills wife Tracey, (Gwyneth Paltrow) at this point in the scene Brad Pitt conveys a great sense of confusion through his facial expressions, and dialogue. Pitt repeats questions during this section and it is the first time we have seen him acknowledge and listen to Spacey, and it is this which convinces the audience he is confused, as his face becomes scrunched as he concentrates on Spacey and what he is saying. This confusion soon turns to denial when he begins to realise reluctantly that his wife has in fact been murdered, the audience can see this change in emotion through Pitts performance. He shows this denial through his facial expressions; body language; dialogue; and his interaction with the cast, during this section his facial expressions and body language become very aggressive as he swings his arms and paces around, and his face radiates with anger through his sinister looks towards Spacey. This along with his aggressive tone and delivery helps the audience understand how angry and upset Pitt is, this combined with his speech in which he repeatedly shouts “no”, and “liar” conveys the denial in which his character is undergoing. All these techniques have been used in order for Pitt to communicate with the audience as the producers want a response from the audience, they want the audience to understand and empathise with Pitt’s character and characters feelings.
Pitt never loses the anger that has already been built up throughout the rest of the scene until the very end, the next emotions we see conveyed from Pitt’s performance are sadness and guilt, he becomes very sad when he is informed not only has his wife been murdered but she was also pregnant with his child. The audience can instantly see the sadness within Pitt’s character as his eyes become very teary and his facial expressions become filled with disgust, also his body language becomes very slow which contrasts with his fast snappy actions when he is angry, this again helps the audience understand the changes in emotions going on, and this sadness only further fuels the anger we can see building up within his character. This fluid change in emotion conveyed by Pitt is done so that the audience believe his character is genuinely affected by what is happening.
We then see Pitt walk towards Spacey and shoot him, he continues to shoot him until his clip is empty, during this section we can see can see Pitt is completely submerged in anger. The audience can understand this as Pitt’s previous signs of anger are all repeated in this section, his body language is very aggressive again as he leans over Spacey’s body as he continues to shoot him, while his facial expressions are again filled with anger as his sinister eyes seem set on killing Spacey, also is nostrils flare which emphasises how angry and upset he is. Although in this section we see all his anger unleashed, it seems with every bullet comes a sleight hint of relief, and his performance suggests he is relieved after he has killed Spacey as he starts to breathe a lot calmer, and his body language becomes very calm and slow as his anger fizzles out, this conveys to the audience the relief he has felt in killing Spacey, as they see the contrast in his performance of when he is angry and when he is relieved. I think the final emotion conveyed to the audience in this scene is some regret, the final shot of this scene shows Pitt still upset, but again confused and unable to focus as he cannot keep his eyes in one spot. I think this is done to show the audience he has only just realised the consequences he will be facing, and also the feeling of emptiness he must be feeling, as he has just lost everything in his life in a matter of minutes.
I think it is Pitt’s interaction with the cast and props which make this scene so convincing to the audience, and allows the audience to see the changes in emotions so easily and effectively, throughout the scene Pitt’s interaction with the rest of the cast is so fluid and natural, and they also act as an outlet for his emotions, as he conveys his emotions by communicating with them. I also think his interactions with his gun are important in this performance, as they also offer an outlet for his emotions, for example when he feels sad he doesn’t raise his gun, but when the anger takes back over he grips it firmly and points it towards Spacey. As it is only a film and the scene is only a construction, these interactions we witness also contribute towards convincing the audience that Pitt’s character is a policeman, and he can use his gun.
I am now going to be focusing on the cinematography, and editing during the scene, I believe these two micro elements are also key in making this scene appealing and convincing to the audience.
I am going to start my analysis of cinematography and editing at the same point I started my analysis on performance, where Spacey mentions Pitt’s wife, it begins with a big close up of Spacey’s face at eye level, then a mid-shot of Pitt also at eye level, as the conversation continues a shot reverse shot is used at a fast cutting pace, this reflects the unease and confusion created by the conversation. The difference in shot size between the characters reflects what the producers wanted the audience to feel towards each character, the big close up lets the audience understand Spacey’s emotions solely through his facial expressions, and also lets the audience see that Spacey’s character is a calm character. This contrasts with the mid-shot of Pitt, although this also lets the audience understand Pitt’s emotions, except it does it using body language as well, this shows his character is more energetic, which directs us to his short fuse and aggression which the audience are already aware of from previous scenes.
Next we have a cutaway shot in which we have a long shot of Freeman running and the camera tracks with him, but the camera jumps around a lot, this is to reflect the running of Freeman, and the panic which Freeman is undergoing and panic soon to be felt by Pitt, this is done so that the audience can understand that something is defiantly wrong, and to also hint that something bad is about to happen. The camera then returns to its shot reverse shot conversation, except now each shot of Spacey is a mid-shot, and is no longer shot at eye level, but from a low angle, this makes Spacey seem larger and more dominant in the shot. This is done so that the audience feel Spacey now has more control, and also reinforces and helps the audience understand Freeman’s state of panic from the previous shot, as the audience instantly link these together. This position of dominance is instantly reversed, as Pitt becomes angrier there is a reaction cut from something Spacey says, to a mid-shot of Pitt leaning over Spacey pointing his gun at him, it is taken also from a low angle, this in reverse makes Pitt now seem larger and more dominant, and reinstates his power and authority as a policeman, this is done to show the audience that although Spacey has an element of control, so does Pitt, and also his gun puts Spacey at danger, but Spacey’s lack of fear only contributes more to his possession of control and powere in the situation. This is a clever technique as it gives the audience a state of confusion as to who is control, and helps them empathise with the confusion felt by the characters.
When the conversation stops we get a big close up of Pitt’s face, this is to show the audience the disgust and anger Pitt is feeling, Pitt then moves towards the camera, then there is a matched cut to a big close up of Spacey shutting his eyes, this combination of Pitt’s movement and Spacey shutting his eyes prompts the audience as to what is about to happen, and prepares them to witness a murder. We then have another matched cut to an extreme close up of a gun barrel firing, then a matched cut to a long shot of all three characters showing Spacey fall to the ground after being shot, the contrast in shot sizes shows the audience the brutality and point blank nature of the murder, but also the relief and sense of good overcoming evil in the scene. We then finally have a matched cut to a worm’s eye shot of Pitt standing over Spacey’s body and continuing to shoot him, the angle of the shot displays the possession of power at that moment, as Pitt looks very large and dominant in the shot. This is done so that the audience can understand more clearly how Pitt feels, to show how angry he was, but more how relieved he is with every shot he shoots.
Throughout the scene every shot is from an objective position, this is so the audience understand and witness everything that happens in the scene, which makes everything that happens feel more real. There is also mainly a shallow depth of field used throughout the scene, this again helps the audience understand and witness everything happening in the scene, as it only focuses on the characters in the shot, which draws the audience’s attention solely to the characters and their feelings. To conclude I think it is a combination of the cinematography and editing used within the scene that allows the performances of the actors to shine, which collectively makes this an exceptionally constructed scene and ending to a great film.
