I adhered to horror conventions through the use of low-key lighting, creepy sound effects, a smash cut, slow motion, a POV shot, a flashback that revealed information to the audience, a vulnerable girl, and a reflection shot. The horror codes I adhered to were the repeated use of the color red and poison.  In terms of audience expectations, while watching my film the audience experiences uncertainty and terror due to the suspense. I broke horror codes and conventions by including minimal dialogue and a cliffhanger. I broke normal horror audience expectations by revealing at the end that the main character was actually the killer. I represented the idea that you are your worst enemy. The character at the beginning seems innocent but in an unexpected twist, he realizes that he killed the girl. I also represented the horror convention of having a girl character as the victim. 

   The use of sound effects was very successful in my film. I added a heartbeat effect during the most suspenseful moment to build tension and allow the audience to feel like they were experiencing the nightmare. The repeated sound effect of the glass of water increases the suspense. I also think the low-key lighting added to the tone of the film. My film’s pacing was less successful because I tried to include a lot into the two minutes of the film. At times, especially during the beginning before the nightmare, the film doesn’t flow well and feels rushed. During the postproduction process, I used Arc Studios for writing the script, Premiere Pro to edit the film, and different sites including YouTube to find music and sound effects for the film.

   Se7en begins with a closeup shot of notebook pages being turned. The next shot is a high angle of pictures of hands. Then there are quick cuts of a person with a razor cutting the skin off his fingers. Then there are more quick cuts of the person dipping pictures in water. Next, a high angle shot shows the person grabbing and opening a notebook. There is then a closeup of him writing in the notebook. He then cuts pictures and tapes them into the book. A slow-motion shot shows a page of the notebook being turned. More closeup shots shows the man underlining words and drawing on pictures. In another series of closeup shots, he gabs a needle and thread to bind pages together. There are more quick cuts of the man turning pages and doing other mysterious things. Lastly, there is a track shot of tons of notebooks that appear to be on a bookshelf. Throughout the opening there is wall to wall music. The music is unsettling and adds to the creepy tone. The music starts with a thunder-like sound. Then there are multiple distorted sounds. Some of them sound almost like a typewriter. Then music then builds, becoming louder. The distorted sounds are accompanied by drums. 

   At the end of the film opening, I felt curious and very captivated. I wanted to learn more about the mysterious man and what exactly he was doing. The opening made me want to keep on watching to find out. Most of the shots were edited with quick cuts. There was also the use of superimposition. The first two minutes adhered to thriller conventions by creating suspense and mystery through the unknown man. It broke conventions by mostly using closeup shots. The opening of Se7en did not give enough information about social groups or people to represent any of those groups. But I think it did represent the idea that men are usually the villain. I think that Se7en is distributed on HBO Max because of the amount of other popular thriller movies that is on that streaming service. HBO Max’s movies are also generally targeted at an older audience. I thought that the opening did an amazing job setting up the film’s tone. It was mysterious, while also foreshadowing events that would play a large role in the rest of the film.