Comparison

Comparison between two opening sequences “Legally Blonde” and “Seven”

Narrative Expectations
Legally Blonde

• We initially see the blonde hair as a close up and straight away we know that the main character is going to be a girl
• All clips of the girl are slowed down allowing us to focus of her for much longer
• The camera only shows parts of her we are unable to see her face therefore building suspense and making us focus on her more because we want to see what she looks like
• A letter is passed around the girls and the camera follows this with a close up of the name ‘Elle’. There is a lot of attention to this card suggesting to the audience the girl we keep seeing little clips of is ‘Elle’ and she’s the main character
• There is a lot of focus on labels such as Tiffany and Prada connoting affluence
• All of the girl’s possessions which are shown are all pink and sparkly suggesting a very girly film
• Music is very lively with happy lyrics suggesting a fun, exciting film
• High key lighting also suggests a fun and bubbly film
• We see a lot of girls looking pretty and boys looking masculine suggesting the film to be quite stereotypical.
• Campus seems very party like and focus of girls looking perfect
• At the end we see her blow a kiss to a picture of man which would mean there is a romance or love interest in the film

Seven

• Colours are all very dark nothing bright suggesting quite a scary eerie film
• There is no music so its much more serious
• There is conflict between brad pitt and Freeman suggesting that they will fall out during the film
• Everything is very neat and laid out nothing is out of place showing he is very in control
• One man alone is followed by the camera showing he’s the main camera
• Shown little clips of pictures and cutting outs from film strips and newspapers which would show this is a mysterious/detective film

Comparison

• There is a big contrast in both films and what we expect from them. In “Legally Blonde” we are expecting a much more upbeat and girly film compared to “seven” which is much more serious and mysterious. The colours are much brighter in Legally Blonde then in Seven. There is a contrast in music from Legally Blonde being very happy to there being no music apart from a heavy drumbeat in Seven. Both main characters are very different one is girly girl always smiling and quite comical whereas seven we get the impression of a very serious solitary man who focuses on his work. High key lighting in Legally Blonde contrasts the low key lighting in Seven.
  
  Character Information

Legally Blonde

• Blonde hair, seen doing her nails, looks perfect which would relate to a girly girl
• All of the main characters room and belonging are pink which is very girly
• Shown a sash on her desk showing she is president of her sorority which would mean she’s very popular amongst her friends
• All girls that are seen look perfect and everyone’s first priority is looking good
• All the titles are sparkly and pink which is also very girly
• We are shown lots of fashion brands to perhaps show her wealth or maybe that she is a bit stuck up

Seven

• He is always on his own showing solidarity
• Everything is very neat
• We see him dressing himself with his suit all laid out in a particular order perhaps to show he likes things done in a certain way
• Wears long trench coat and hat perhaps to portray he’s a detective
• Brad Pitt seems very relaxed on the other hand, chewing gum, leather jacket, trendy

Comparison

• We only get to see one side on there characters in the opening sequence. Reece Witherspoon is portrayed as being a popular girl that everyone seems to look up to and wants to be. Morgan Freeman is seen as a very hard working man quite solitary with everything done in a particular way. She’s very upbeat and doesn’t sound very clever compared to Freeman who isn’t particularly happy but seems very clever and work focused.
  
  Shot types

Legally Blonde

• ECU-this is used at the start to show shots of the main character it’s so we are able to focus clearly and in detail in order to learn about her further
• HA- this was used to show inside the mansion. It was as if we were looking down into the mansion to see it’s wealth and to set the scene of what this house was.
• WS- This is used to show the outside on the campus and to give us a sense of what everyone is like and where we are
• MCU- Of main character at the end this is the first time we see her face and its used to see her face features and emotions

Seven

• LA-used in dialogue with Pitt and Freeman along with rain noise it’s used to feel like everything is coming down on them and the audience-quite scary
• Slow Pan-Used to show him getting ready to show his organisation and placement
• ECU-used on him getting ready perhaps to show how well dressed he is
• LS-Used in the bedroom when he’s in bed to show how lonely he is
• ECU- of pages and film strips everything blurred quite mysterious-detective
• LA-used in dialogue so we are looking up to them as if they are more important

Comparison

• All the shots used are similar in both films. I think there are lot more establishing shots in Legally Blonde so we can see all the surroundings. However in Seven there aren’t as many so not as much information is given away to the audience. ECU are used very often in both films and are used to hold back information e.g. in Legally Blonde the main character was hidden until the end and in Seven we only see little buts of documents which may be uncovered later on in the film.