- Take 2 films you enjoy and break down the character development and story development throughout the film:
- Analyse how the main characters evolve
- Analyse how the characters drive the story
- If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
SE7EN
Seven is a 1995 American neo-noir psychological crime thriller film directed by David Fincher. The film tells the story of David Mills (Pitt), a detective who partners with the retiring William Somerset (Freeman) to track down a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as a motif in his murders.
Main Characters: David Mills, William Somerset, John Doe.
Story Development:
Detective Lieutenant William Somerset is a man who will retire in the next week. Before his retirement, he partnered with short-tempered Detective David Mills, who has recently moved to an unnamed large city with his wife Tracy.
Somerset and Mills investigate a set of murders inspired by the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. The first victim is a super fat man who was fed to death, which relates to the sin of gluttony. At first Mills thinks the murder is just a anti-social madman. However, as the second case released, in which a criminal defense attorney killed after being forced to cut a pound of flesh from himself, representing greed, Somerset realizes that the murder is a serial killer and there will be more victims in the future.
Clues at the murder scenes lead Somerset and Mills to a suspect’s apartment, where they find a third victim, a drug dealer and child molester, strapped to a bed and barely alive, representing sloth.
The detectives use library records to identify a man named John Doe and track him to his apartment, where they have a gunfight with Doe. Doe then hurt Mills badly, but for some unknown reason he doesn’t kill him. After Doe escaped, Mills and Somerset checked his apartment and find out that Doe is the one who took a picture of Mills yesterday. They also find a clue to another murder by searching Doe’s notebooks.
The detectives arrive too late to stop a man forced by Doe at gunpoint to kill a prostitute by raping her with a custom-made, bladed strap-on, representing lust. The following day, they attend the scene of a fifth victim, a model whose nose has been cut off by Doe. She was given the option to call for help and live disfigured or commit suicide by taking pills. The woman chose the latter option and died, representing pride.
As Somerset and Mills return to the police station, Doe unexpectedly turns himself in, covered in the blood. Doe offers to confess to his crimes, but only on the condition that he escort Somerset and Mills to a secret location where the victims representing envy and wrath are presumably buried, otherwise he will plead insanity. Somerset and Mills agree with Doe’s idea and followed him to a place, where they see a delivery man driving to them. Somerset stops the car and the delivery man gives a package.
Somerset opens the box and, in a sudden panic, tells Mills to stay back. Doe reveals that he himself represents the sin of envy, as he envied Mills’ life with Tracy. He says that the box contains Tracy’s head, telling Mills that Tracy begged for her life and the life of her unborn child. Despite of Somerset’s warning, an enraged Mills fulfills his own role as wrath and kills Doe, completing Doe’s plan. Finally Somerset watches as Mills is taken away.
Character Development:
David Mills:
Mills is a young detective who is passionate, bad-tempered and impetuous. At first Mills dislikes Somerset because Somerset thinks he is naive and ridiculous. After they had a dinner together with his wife Tracy, their relationship becomes closer, which helps them to focuse on cases. David gained much experience with Somerset and both of them find the murder. However, the death of Tracy lits the raging fire inside Mills. He kills the murder and finally pays a price for his outrage.
William Somerset:
Detective Somerset is an experienced old police officer who lives alone. He was once passionate about his work like Mills is, probably as passionate as Doe is for what he considers to be “work.” However, after living in the city of crime for years, Somerset loses his passion and is tired of working in this depressing place. Somerset’s similarities to John Doe ultimately help him catch him. His intelligence helps him to find Doe’s address and finally catches him. He originally wanted to escape the hatred in the city but after the events with Doe he has changed his mind and decided that he can make an impact by continuing his detective work.
John Doe:
Doe’s characteristic is quite like Somerset. They are both clever but lonely, feeling sick of crimines in the city. However, instead of helping people Doe decided to punish them in the most gruesome way possible, which forced him to go on an opposite way. He is evil, bad but also tragic.
Analysis:
How characters drive this story:
Most part of the story is driven by Mills and Somerset’s investigation. At first both characters’ comflicts make the investigation hard to continue. However, Tracy’s dinner helps the relationships between two characters become closer, which let the story keep going. After Mills and Somerset find John Doe’s apartment, story starts to go in another direction. When the suspect John Doe caught by the police, story seems to go to the end. However, the death of Tracy pushes the story to the climax, Mills and Somerset fall into a passive position and Doe is in the driving seat . After Mills kills Doe, story goes to the end quickly, which makes the final ending more impressive.
Zodiac
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery thriller film directed by David Fincher, based on true story. The film tells the case of the manhunt for the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, sneering at police by sending letters and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The case remains one of the United States’ most infamous unsolved crimes.
Main Characters: Robert Graysmith, Paul Avery, David Toschi, Arthur Leigh Allen, etc.
Story Development:
July 4, 1969,
An unknown man attacks Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau with a handgun at a lovers’ lane in Vallejo, California. Mike survives.
One month later,
The San Francisco Chronicle receives several letters written by the killer calling himself the “Zodiac,” who threatens to kill a dozen people unless his cipher containing his identity is published. Robert Graysmith, who is political cartoonist at that time, gaines great interest in this case. When the newspaper publishes the letters, a married couple deciphers one. However, no identity exist in this letter.
September,
The killer stabs law student Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Cecelia dies two days later.
Paul Avery, who is a crime reporter, begins sharing information with Graysmith. Graysmith finds out that the line which Zodiac mentioned in his letter, “man is the most dangerous animal of all” is a reference to the film The Most Dangerous Game.
Two weeks later,
San Francisco taxicab driver Paul Stine is shot and killed in the city’s Presidio Heights district. The Zodiac killer mails pieces of Stine’s bloody shirt to the Chronicle along with a letter. San Francisco police inspectors David Toschi and his partner Bill Armstrong start to investigate the case.
In 1971,
Detectives Toschi, Armstrong, and Mulanax question Arthur Leigh Allen, a suspect in the Vallejo case. After a brief talking Toschi heavily considers Leigh as the prime suspect. Unfortunately, a handwriting expert insists that Leigh’s handwriting doesn’t match with Zodiac’s one, even though Allen is said to be ambidextrous. After received the threatening letter, Paul Avery shares information with the Riverside Police Department and finds out that Zodiac might have been active before the initial killings.
In 1978,
Avery moves to the Sacramento Bee. Graysmith contacts Toschi about the Zodiac murders and eventually impresses him with his passion of that case. With the help of Toschi, Graysmith gaines more imformation after he searched high number of files. Toschi then received a letter from Zodiac which causes his demotion.
Graysmith continues his own investigation. He gathers tons of circumstantial evidence, which points out that Arthur Leigh Allen is the most suspicious suspect. Toschi is impressed by his investigation and asks Graysmith to finish his book.
In 1983,
Graysmith tracks Allen to a Vallejo Ace Hardware store. They stare at each other before Graysmith leaves.
Eight years later,
After Graysmith’s book, Zodiac, has become a bestseller, Mike Mageau identifies Arthur Leigh Allen from a police mugshot. Leigh’s DNA test is negative and he died of heart disease before police could question him. The Zodiac cases recently still remains open.
Character Development:
Robert Graysmith:
At first, Graysmith is just a cartoonist who has no relationship with Zodiac cases. However, the sense of justice and his perseverance drive him to focus on this case. When Zodiac cases become yesterday’s news, Graysmith keeps searching and finds out similarity and relationships among all those cases. He then become an expert of Zodiac cases, finishes his book and share his research conclusions to people around the world.
David Toschi:
David Toschi is a good detective. He has smelled the trace of Zodiac killer. However, because of the lack of evidence and terrible cooperation between police departments, he and his colleagues lose the best chance to catch the criminal. After years his colleagues feel exhausted of Zodiac cases and quit, but Toschi still keep searching. Toschi can be considered as a tragedy character, for he devoted himself into Zodiac cases for years but stil cannot catch him. Finally he has to follow with his colleagues and leave these cases for later ages.
Analysis:
How characters drive this story:
The story can be seperated to two lines. One is Graysmith’s investigation and the other is the offical investigation(Toschi’s investigation). At first, Toschi and his colleagues take a long time to investigate and find out several suspect like Rick Marshall and Arthur Leigh Allen. Leigh becomes the top suspect, which push the story to the first climax. However, no evidence is found and story suddenly come to a deadlock. In this part Garysmith is more like a bystander, showing audience the influence and horror that Zodiac killer has brought to people at that time.
After years police still don’t know who Zodiac is, Graysmith takes the place and starts to investigate by himself, the story becomes more interesting. His research is hindered by environmental factors several times, which adds twists and turns to the story. After all of Graysmith’s evidence points to Leigh, the story goes to the second climax. Finally, Leigh’s DNA is unmatched and the story ends.