(Se7en) How does David Fincher establish the character of Detective Somerset through the use of sound and mise en scene? EDIT THIS ONE

Se7ens opening is like many others it sets the scene and introduces us to many different characters.

The opening of the film starts off with a insight into the life of Detective Somerset a Detective on the verge of retirement, he is shown to live alone in a very confined room which shows his entrapment in his life, almost like he can't escape from it. At the start he seems really calm and relaxed keeping his house in a almost pristine condition which portrays his character as organised manner, this is backed up by his possessions neatly lined up on his desk (Except the one thing). However on the flip side could portray him as extremely busy, not having time to spend in his home as he is too busy elsewhere.
The items on his desk are neatly aligned except a paper rose, which symbolizes a past, his past in which is remembered by a single paper rose and as we find out later in the movie he did indeed have a past but it is explained in a few lines of dialogue.
He owns a switch blade which portrays him as a serious person, it is also a key element twice in future.

Our next shot is him at a crime scene, giving us insight that he is indeed a police man. Sommerset shows concern for the child who's parent has been murdered showing that he is caring and takes his job seriously while the other policemen around him simply don't care, all they want to do is to catch the killer and close the case. Somerset speaks calmly almost monotone which adds to his calm attitude, never raising his voice unless he really needs to.



we eventually go back to Somerset home this time at night the first thing he does in this scene is to activate a metronome which is a symbol for him not ever being truly able to forget about work and shows him as a restless character or one with some sort of dark past, one which means he can no longer sleep without a constant ticking, or that needs to concentrate on something to keep his mind off things. the metronome also adds to his mysteriousness, its almost like he is counting down the seconds until something else happens.

in conclusion the detective is shown to be in control of his actions as evident by how his home is arranged, it is almost perfectly tidy. he is also portrayed as being caring as he shows concern about the child, his carefully laid out tools and objects also show that he cares for his belongings as well as being in control.