(REVISED) Thriller Scenes - How does location and the use of light and dark depict the emotional landscape of a character?

Body Of Lies

This opening is rather suspenseful, beginning with a rather haunting quote from W.H Auden, which essentially says that everyone knows that if someone has evil committed against them. This fits well with the question which I am answering in regards to this piece - It works because in a lot of the scene, the characters are mostly obscured by darkness with a little light coming through, but usually behind them. Of course darkness being prevalent in the scene suggests that there is an overwhelming sense of an internal darkness throughout. As the antagonist talks, his entire face is blanketed in darkness, which essentially what he is now facing. The only light in the room comes from behind him, and although it is very light it is evidently not enough to pull him away from his ill deeds.

 His hat is white, which contradicts Nickel's white hat/black hat theory, because we know from his talking of destruction and vengeance that he is an antagonist and is therefore a threat. His hat being white is disconcerting but the light behind him is actually causing part of it to appear dark, thanks to the shadow being cast over it.

His hat being white shows that he believes that he is doing a good deed in his terrorist acts, although the audience is set against him from the moment he talks of destroying a bus.

The entire group of people within the house are dark, and they are all encompassed by it. The man lying down on his bed is rather haunting and we can learn a lot from it. For instance, he is totally surrounded by almost pitch black, yet we learn later that he is actually in an open room. He is not like the others in the room, who are preaching, working, or standing. He seems far from the atypical terrorist type, resting and clutching a book. The book signifies knowledge and being exposed to new things and turning away from ignorance. It is implied that he has been reading it due to it being open on his stomach, but the scene which has already been set shows that this has been changed. 

He has turned away from the lighter side of the scene and is instead facing into the darkness - this signifies what he is now facing mentally and how his mindset has changed. He could easily turn towards the light but due to his different way of thinking, he is being drawn towards the dark side of life and essentially, the darker side of religion. We do not know what the book is but it signifies an intelligence. However, he has turned it away from him and it is facing downwards, which suggests that he has closed himself off to this more open way of thinking and instead has become less tolerant, for instance. He has chosen to ignore the light side of life.

The book is shown in the light half of the image but is not shown at all in the darker half, which indicates that there is no room for rational thinking in the new life which he has chosen for himself.

Another man, the one who is sitting down and working, as well as listening out for the police entering is surrounded by what looks like clutter and general mess. This suggests to us the complicated and chaotic mindset of them; the house does not look clean in general, and this firstly suggests that they have a lot going on in their minds and hence cleanliness and order comes second - order being important, as terrorist acts can disrupt social order hugely. The chaotic nature of the house in which they are sat, sleeping and preaching shows also how messy their ideas are to some, notably the director, and how they are misunderstood to outsiders. This reflects the idea of them knowing how messy it is, but knowing where to find everything they need. This is often an opinion held on religion.
This man is very dimly lit and it seems that there is next to light on him. His entire front is shrouded in dark and there is probably only light on the back of his shoulders. This could be taken to indicate that he has turned his back on good and is facing the darkness head on. This suggests that he has made the choice much easier than for example, the man on the bed.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Produced by: Warner Bros
Released: 21 November 2008 (UK)
Box Office Gross Returns: $39,380,442 (USA)
Rated 15
Given a 7.1/10 on IMDB
Viewers said that it was "technically well made", "engaging" and "intelligent"

View the scene here

Se7en

This scene, of Detective Somerset in the library shows him as someone who is a lot wiser than the detective that he is juxtaposed with throughout, Detective Mills. Somerset is in a large, empty library and walks deep into the shelves, and it symbolises him immersing himself in knowledge. The lighting is dim, but not in the same way as in Body of Lies; it is soft, warm, and makes the entire scene look decadent. 

This makes it seem as though he is indulging himself by being there, surrounded by thick books, which we are shown in the micro as he looks at certain titles in more detail.

In contrast, Mills is in what appears to be his home, with the crime scene pictures in front of him. The room is well lit, unlike the library, but not in a pleasant way. It makes Mills look stressed and almost pressured. The different locations are symbolic in the sense that it shows a lot of difference between them and how they operate as detectives.

Although Somerset is taking things more slowly, he is evidently more wise through his use of books, delving a little deeper in order to make sense of the mess in front of him. He looks at books that do not seem directly relevant, such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and a book named Divine Comedy. This effectively indicates a deeper understanding of the case, and it also proves to the audience how experienced of a detective he is. He is taking the entire situation and dealing with it in a calm manner, which is emphasised by the lighting used throughout. Although the library is mostly dark, Somerset constantly has lights above and around his head, perhaps to indicate the clarity and pure goodness he upholds. 

The lights are around him in such a way that is is suggested he is protected from the darker side of crime through his knowledge and wisdom. In contrast, there is a sole lamp lighting up the scene with Mills, which almost suggests that he has to work harder to stay on the positive side of the situation. 

As Mills ponders the images in front of him, his face is lit dimly. Although this is not necessarily suggesting that he is a bad character, it is suggesting how "in the dark" he is about the whole situation, being a younger, less experienced detective. Their differing research methods really highlights this; Mills is looking at the surface of the case and is frustrated when he fails to see what he wants to. He is at his own house, and this choice of location actually instills the idea that he almost wants things to be easy for him - Somerset has gone out of his way to look further into the information.

This shot in particular shows the difficulty Mills has as he researches information, the entire left side of his face being obscured. His eyes aren't incredibly visible either. Unlike Body of Lies, this does not show him turning bad and leaving the light, but it does show how he is not in as good of a position as Somerset, whose face is always visible, no matter which position his head is in.

We are shown the different successes the men have; Mills continues to look at the pictures, but Somerset finds words in a book which more or less replicate the victim which they are both looking into. 

Overall, the locations of the two characters show how they try to handle a difficult problem, and light manages to show us which is preferable through the hue of the light, as well as the clever positioning of lamps in both scenes. 

Directed by: David Fincher

Produced by: Cecchi Gori Pictures,
New Line Cinema

Released: 5th January 1996 (UK)

Box Office Returns: $316,400,000 (Worldwide)

Rated 18

Given 8.7/10

Viewers called it "crafted and ingeniously clever", as well as "dark" and "disturbing", and a "grisly" film that will "stay with you forever"
View the scene here