Weekend Reading: How the Opening of 'Se7en' Perfectly Demonstrates Exposition
From "The Screening Room" weekly e-newsletter:
“Exposition is one of those narrative conventions that requires a lot of finesse to do right. One perfect example of a great expositional scene is the opening sequence from David Fincher’s Se7en. Tyler Knudsen breaks down this scene in this Press Play video essay.
There is so much to learn from this scene about storytelling, like how to set up tone, characters, and tension. But let’s focus on how Fincher and screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker share information with their audience (exposition) in such a way that it keeps them guessing all the way up until the very gruesome end.”