Seven = Noir Conventions

The ambience presented in the movie is a typical Noir environment. This is one of an unknown city (stereotypal, allegorical-style, portrayal of a general situation), in where the climate is always rainy, there is a heavy contrast of dull lighting and strong bluish-white artificial light creating a cold, metallic atmosphere detached from sentiment. A world of crime and murder is portrayed (for example, by the presenting of the newspaper headlines, or the anecdote told by Somerset), one lacking any morality, in which even schools are corrupt. The fabric of this society is one based on a horrible reality.

Labyrinths are presented throughout the movie following the Noir conventions. They convey the situation in where the characters are lost, unguided and without an exit. Examples are the Dutch shot of the police department building (notice the Dutch shot creates the effect of an unbalanced, corrupt world, lacking moral equilibrium), or the persecution scene in which the characters find themselves confused in the building corridors. Quick editing (rapid shot change, closed framing, dynamic camera movement) convey this effect of losing oneself, at a physical level, in where they are disoriented in a persecution, and as a more deeper analysis, in which they are devoid from purpose and meaning in the presented world and situation.

There is a constant diagetic noise of screamings and traffic from the street, which creates this oppressed setting in where crime and the urban underworld lurk from every corner. This is reinforced by the non-diagetic sounds: a high pitched orchestral sound makes its constant prescence throughout almost every scene, adding to this dense, charged up atmosphere.

The presenting of characters is also typical of Noir conventions. A serial killer is portrayed, and two detectives which are ment to be compared