How do the films ‘Se7en’ and ‘Red Dragon’ meet conventions of horror and thriller films?Seven and Red Dragon both meet the conventions of horror and thriller films. There are many similarities and differences between the two films in how they manage to meet the necessary conventions.
The title sequence of ‘The Red Dragon’ is very similar to the title sequence of ‘Se7en’, they both use scrapbooks and in Red Dragon they include horrifying and disturbing
images mainly of different body parts which suggests this is what the film could be about and includes red text which immediately suggests to the audience that this film is of a
horror/thriller genre as we generally associate red with fear and death.
In the title sequence of Seven the music used creates an eerie feeling which highlights the horror/thriller genre and the amplified screams imply a sense of danger and fear and highlights what the film is going to be about, we immediately know what genre it is.
The credits in Seven flick and move quickly on the screen.
The opening scene of Red Dragon is a symphony concert, the camera zooms in on the audience finding its way to a male who has a look on his face of confusion and annoyance after the shot reverse shot between him and the flute player and the flute player makes a mistake. We immediately believe that he may be a significant character in the film as he is the first character we see taking up the majority of the shot and the camera clearly wants the audience to be drawn to this man.
In Seven striking camera work is used, especially the large number open close ups on objects in the opening scene, it’s an unnatural view of the world that the audience are seeing.
One similarity is that they both have a detective element to it with the main protagonist being the one who has to solve murders in order to become the ‘hero’ of the film. In Seven there is a clear representation of the detective through the costume he is wearing as he is dressed in a long coat and hat throughout the film. Whereas in Red Dragon the main protagonist is an FBI agent with a rare gift for tracking serial killers who is not dressed in this way. Both are well educated which is a typical convention of detective; they need to be intelligent in order to match up to the also intelligent villains (or murderers).
The close ups are also striking in Red Dragon when the FBI agent turns on the light to see blood all over a bed, the light only highlights one side of his face which may suggest that he is horrified by what he has just seen but the lighter side of his face implies that he is able to find out who done this.
Dark lighting is apparent in both which is a typical horror/thriller convention used to create tension. Often characters are spotlighted by artificial light from lampposts, car lights and torches etc. In Seven, during the scene where they are trying to get in to room 306, they use torches in order to find their way around. The lack of light creates tension and the fast moving torch lights as they run add to the sense of panic that the characters may be feeling at that time.
Along with low light scenes there are also many scenes that include heavy rain in both films to add to the dreary atmosphere. In the majority of outside scenes there is heavy rain. Seven is set in an
The use of camera angles in both films add to the mood the viewers may be feeling. For example there are horizontal tracking shots used to create a sense of anticipation so that the viewers are keen to find out what the camera is moving towards.
In Red Dragon there are a number of focus pulls, one example it when the protagonist turns to realise that the mirror opposite him is broken, this signifies danger as it wasn't like this previously so someone else must be in his house with him and this develops a sense of panic especially when we notice that other mirrors are broken too. It foreshadows what’s going to happen next, maybe death to break the protagonist’s family apart. This is emphasised by the music which builds up in tempo and frequency when the focus pull occurs which also highlights the panic that the character is feeling when he realises something is wrong, this feature of the music is seen the almost every horror film used to imply danger.
The title sequence of ‘The Red Dragon’ is very similar to the title sequence of ‘Se7en’, they both use scrapbooks and in Red Dragon they include horrifying and disturbing images mainly of different body parts which suggests this is what the film could be about and includes red text which immediately suggests to the audience that this film is of a
horror/thriller genre as we generally associate red with fear and death.
In the title sequence of Seven the music used creates an eerie feeling which highlights the horror/thriller genre and the amplified screams imply a sense of danger and fear and highlights what the film is going to be about, we immediately know what genre it is.
The credits in Seven flick and move quickly on the screen.
The opening scene of Red Dragon is a symphony concert, the camera zooms in on the audience finding its way to a male who has a look on his face of confusion and annoyance after the shot reverse shot between him and the flute player and the flute player makes a mistake. We immediately believe that he may be a significant character in the film as he is the first character we see taking up the majority of the shot and the camera clearly wants the audience to be drawn to this man.
In Seven striking camera work is used, especially the large number open close ups on objects in the opening scene, it’s an unnatural view of the world that the audience are seeing. One similarity is that they both have a detective element to it with the main protagonist being the one who has to solve murders in order to become the ‘hero’ of the film. In Seven there is a clear representation of the detective through the costume he is wearing as he is dressed in a long coat and hat throughout the film. Whereas in Red Dragon the main protagonist is an FBI agent with a rare gift for tracking serial killers who is not dressed in this way. Both are well educated which is a typical convention of detective; they need to be intelligent in order to match up to the also intelligent villains (or murderers).
The close ups are also striking in Red Dragon when the FBI agent turns on the light to see blood all over a bed, the light only highlights one side of his face which may suggest that he is horrified by what he has just seen but the lighter side of his face implies that he is able to find out who done this.
Dark lighting is apparent in both which is a typical horror/thriller convention used to create tension. Often characters are spotlighted by artificial light from lampposts, car lights and torches etc. In Seven, during the scene where they are trying to get in to room 306, they use torches in order to find their way around. The lack of light creates tension and the fast moving torch lights as they run add to the sense of panic that the characters may be feeling at that time.
Along with low light scenes there are also many scenes that include heavy rain in both films to add to the dreary atmosphere. In the majority of outside scenes there is heavy rain. Seven is set in an
The use of camera angles in both films add to the mood the viewers may be feeling. For example there are horizontal tracking shots used to create a sense of anticipation so that the viewers are keen to find out what the camera is moving towards.
In Red Dragon there are a number of focus pulls, one example it when the protagonist turns to realise that the mirror opposite him is broken, this signifies danger as it wasn't like this previously so someone else must be in his house with him and this develops a sense of panic especially when we notice that other mirrors are broken too. It foreshadows what’s going to happen next, maybe death to break the protagonist’s family apart. This is emphasised by the music which builds up in tempo and frequency when the focus pull occurs which also highlights the panic that the character is feeling when he realises something is wrong, this feature of the music is seen the almost every horror film used to imply danger.
