Research - Trailer Analyses: Se7en and Zodiac

Se7en (1995)

The trailer conventions for the film ‘Se7en’ begins with a deep voiced narrator (which was a popular thriller trope during the 90s and early 2000s) introducing the main characters, Detective Mills (played by Brad Pitt) and Detective Somerset (played by Morgan Freeman). These characters appear to follow the stereotypes that are often associated with ‘cop’ characters, one being the young, cocky rookie (Pitt) and the other portraying the old, wise veteran (Freeman). By showing that these two popular actors (as well as a third; Gwyneth Paltrow whom plays the stereotypical concerned, supportive girlfriend) are in this film, this will encourage the audience to go see the film (this is known as star power).

Mise En Scene consists of a variety of settings/locations (E.g. police HQ, crime scenes and city streets), low key lighting and dull, dreary colours (a mixture of greys and dull greens).  There is also the use of a red filter whenever one of the crime scenes is shown, which appears to symbolise danger and evil. Overall the mise en scene helps to create a pathetic fallacy (emphasised by the fact that rainfall seems to be always present in each scene), which is appropriate for a thriller since it is supposed to represent the grittiness and brutality of humanity.  

Editing involves a large amount of quick cuts (typical for most trailers); flash cuts (which are also synced with a ‘boom’ sound effect, increasing the tension each time it is used) as well as captions that are repeated towards the end (E.g. listing the names of all the seven deadly sins, which are a key theme for this particular film). Some of the editing seems to be non-chronological, since during the middle of the trailer it appears to show scenes from the film that are related to the ending (possibly because that these scenes are the most interesting and it will make the audience become invested in the storyline). As for the sound, there are amplified sounds throughout (E.g. a gunshot, a door slamming open and police sirens) and fast paced music that grows in intensity towards the trailer’s climax. The majority of the camerawork consists of close-ups on the main leads and establishing shots of the locations/crime scenes, this is to keep the film’s plot shrouded in mystery as well as maintain the audience’s interest.

The trailer is broken down into three sections, the intro, the action and the tense ending. The effect this has on the audience is to keep them in suspense while watching the trailer, so that when they’re finished with it they’re compelled to go see the film in order to see the outcome.

Zodiac (2007)

Similarly to ‘Se7en’, the film ‘Zodiac’ is directed by David Fincher and uses star power to attract the audience. By revealing that popular actors Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal are the main leads, the public will automatically become interested in the film regardless of whether or not they like the genre. Plus much like Se7en, Zodiac appears to be male dominated due to the fact that there is only one woman shown in the trailer and she seems to only be part of the supporting cast (the same role Gwyneth Paltrow had).

During the beginning of the trailer it clearly sets the dark tone of the film by starting off with showing a scene of a woman being shot in cold blood by someone hidden in the shadows of the night. Both establishing shots and wide shots are used to establish the film’s setting and environment, letting the audience know that it is set in San Francisco (whereas Se7en was set in New York). This links in with the mise en scene. It is a common trope amongst thrillers to have the main setting be a large city, since it is a more likely location to have crime/murderers occur than a small town/village. Zodiac uses both low key and high key lighting, while Se7en’s lighting was mostly low key.

Editing ranges from slow motion, slow zooms, fade to blacks as well as quick cuts. The pacing of this trailer is especially different to Se7en as it is much slower and tries to include more detail and information for the audience to take in; this is because there is no narrator to do so (narrators in thriller film trailers had become more or less obscure during the late 2000s). Most of the film’s plot is described in the dialogue between the characters in each of the scenes. The trailer seems to follow the same formula as Se7en did, it had an introduction, the action sequence (however the action was less obvious) and the tense ending (E.g. the final scene was one of the characters asking “Are you sure there is no-one else in the house?” while there was creepy humming in the background).

The soundtrack initially begins very low and tense (appropriate since the opening scene was a person being murdered) however around 1 minute 18 seconds it switches to cheery 70s rock music, which provides the audience a hint to what time period Zodiac is set in. It also suggests that it may include more light-hearted/comedic moments than Se7en did, since the majority of Se7en’s scenes were serious (the only time when humour was included was when Gwyneth Paltrow’s character asked Morgan Freeman’s character how long he had lived in the city, his answer being a dry, sarcastic “Too long”).