The Colour of Urban Areas in David Fincher’s Seven

Abstract

The city in Seven is full of dark and claustrophobic spaces, dominated by three colors: black, green and red. The significance of these colors is associated with sin: laziness (green), impurity (red) and pride (red, white). Desaturation of color and deep blacks throughout the film are the result of artistic treatments such as flyflashing and bleach-bypass. Color is complemented by light – sometimes minimal, other times quite blinding. The sound of thunder and rain complete the picture of the city as a place of moral decay, where two forces are fighting: light and darkness, purity and sin.