GONE GIRL

BY MORGAN GLOVER

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

BRIEF NARRATIVE OVERVIEW

‘Gone Girl’ is an American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher. The narrative is adapted by the novel with the same name by writer Gillian Flynn.

‘Gone Girl’ follows Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) as he searches for his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike) who has gone missing on their fifth wedding anniversary. The suburban horror trails Nick everywhere he goes, with media sources beginning to think that he, in fact, has murdered his own wife. The story touches on very dark and very real subjects, such as the ‘primal’ questions and pressures of a press-heavy married life, murder, and the dark mystery of not knowing what goes on behind closed doors.

GENRE ‘Gone Girl’ can fit into the following genres:

• Thriller• Drama

And the following sub genres:

• Psychological Thriller• Mystery Thriller

This means that ‘Gone Girl’ fits into hybrid-genres; it combines various conventions of all the genres listed above.

This Is the novel the screenplay was adapted from. Gillian Flynn was actually the person who adapted the novel into a script for the film version.

TEXT

To watch the two minute opening in its entirety, please refer to the ‘Text’ post on my blog page seen above.

IDENTS

Both ‘Fox’ and ‘Regency’ are multi-million dollar companies, and as such have very iconic and well produced idents. The important technique to note here is the idents have been silenced and the music is used as a sound bridge to lead into the film. This happens often in big-budget productions, as the sound bridge both excites and prepares the audience for the start of the film. It is clear that Fincher wanted to also build the atmosphere slowly, rather than throw the audience straight into a scene with no connecting audio.The very small number of companies involved show horizontal integration; Fox is such a huge company that only have to integrate with Regency to produce the film.The music within this extract is very key, and, as such, needs its own analysis.

MUSICLink to the full track, ‘What have we done to each other’, can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4wSJMorYK8

The track itself is of a non-diegetic, parallel variety. Its low tones and eerie instruments used seem almost dissonant, however, and unnerve the audience. The echoing and reverb effect on the track also adds to this strange, unnatural feel, making it almost sci-fi in its presentation. This links to the key theme in the extract (and arguably of the whole film) of alienation and being ‘the other‘ within ones own environment.This sense of distance and loneliness that the track conveys is definitely parallel to the proceeding still shots of the town, and links the word ‘Gone’ out of the title of the film itself. The composer,Trent Razor and Atticus Ross (the latter of whom also composed the music for another Fincher film, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tatto’) has conveyed and unnerving and unsettling tone through the music, and one that foreshadows later events within the feature.From the outset, it is clear that the film will put across eerie and unnerving themes and topics to the audience, as evidenced by the initial track alone. These themes are also very typical to the thriller genre. Conventions of the

PRELUDE TO FIRST SHOT

There is a space of seven seconds between the ‘Regency’ ident disappearing and the first shot of the film fading in. Within this time, the production companies and director are credited, and the narration from Ben Affleck's character begins. The second mention of the production companies is not overly important, but still shows how powerful and vertically integrated Fox is as a production company. The fact that the director, David Fincher, is credited in full shows a recognition by Fox that this name alone is very prolific in nature. Fincher is part of a class of directors who mere name brings prestige to their productions (such as Spielberg, Scorsese and Tarantino) and as such it is credited at the beginning of the film. The font themselves fits the music nicely; the hard sans-serifs and bold lines seem very cold and give the audience nothing to cling to emotionally unlike the credits in, say, an animated film would. The text also slowly fades in and out, linking back to the initial theme of disappearance and being ‘Gone’.

AFFLECK’S NARRATION

The lines of narration here by Dunne are crucial, particularly because they are mirrored in the final lines of the film. The only difference is that the line “What will we do?” is added at the end.The fact that Dunne mentions his wife first shows her importance to the narrative, and suggests to the audience that she will be the focus of the plot. Also, the fact that Dunne describes how he “pictures cracking her lovely skull” and “unspooling her brain” immediately instils an image of violence and deception, which also happens to be two of the main themes Fincher operates with in the film. This theme of deception is embellished through Dunne’s “primal” need “to get answers.” It seems as though “primal” questions about his wife dominate his mind: “What are you thinking? How are you feeling?” This suggests that the marriage between the two is far from stable, and foreshadows the conflict that will take place within the film. This idea of conflict is reinforced through the question; “What have we done to each other?” Again, it is immediately clear to the audience that this marriage is anything but healthy. The character’s narration here also disturbs the audience, as Dunne passes off “cracking her lovely skull… to get answers” as the “primal” desires “of any marriage.” While this may be true for some (hopefully few) married couples, the vast majority may not feel this extremely about what their spouse is thinking about. Furthermore, the narration by Dunne has a slight echoing and reverb effect on it, as well as the sound feeling very close, as though Affleck has purposefully gotten very close to the mic when recording these lines. This gives a sense of intimacy to his words, which then make what he is saying that much more unnerving and unsettling.

“When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers. The primal questions of any marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?”

SHOT ONE

The first shot of the film is extremely crucial within ‘Gone Girl’ and as such deserves its own in-depth analysis.Before analysing it, it is important to understand what is happening. The shot is a close-up, first fading in from black after the words ‘When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.’ Male hands can be seen stroking the woman's hair gently, and they are supposed to be the hands of the narrator. It is also very important to know that it is exactly the same shot type (bar the performance of Rosamund Pike) is used at the very end of the film.

SHOT ONE: MEDIA LANGUAGE

SHOT ONE: CAMERAWORK/MISE-EN-SCENEFor Camerawork, shot one is a close up, with most of the frame being taken up by Pike’s character. The shot opens on the narration; “I always think of her head.” There is a clear link between camerawork and the narration here, as the discussion directly relates to what is in frame; Amy’s head.There is no movement in the shot and a shallow focus blurs out the background. It feels as though the shot is in a POV format. This makes it feel as though the shot represents Dunne’s perception of his wife, and also allows Pike the excuse to stare directly into the camera and, seemingly, at the audience. By selecting this as the first shot of the film, Fincher establishes the importance of the wife to the narrative. The close-up, POV shot and highlighting focus also provide a platform for which Rosamund Pike can display her excellent performance as the character Amy. For fans of Fincher, this type of shot was what they expected coming into the film. He relies heavily on stable movements and tripod-type setups for his sequences, and prefers the camera to be an observer, rather than a pseudo-bystander, to the narrative. This stable style is seen throughout the extract.The mise-en-scene, in particular performance, is one of the most crucial areas of the media language. To begin with, however, it needs to be said that the overall colour and lighting of the scene is washed out and on a blue/grey scale. Fincher consistently uses this colour palette throughout the opening and feature film. By sapping the scene of mostly all the colour, Fincher takes a lot of the life out of the shot as well. Pike’s face looks pale, almost white, and as such does not exactly feel the audience with a sense of life or love. If this shot were to be overly saturated and much brighter, the effect would be entirely different.

SHOT ONE: MISE-EN-SCENE

Lighting/Colour(As a demonstration, the shot same shot has been taken and been saturated to 200%. Brightness has also been lifted by 20%)Notice how the character has inherently more life to them in the edited version, and suggests a much more intimate and passionate relationship with the husband compared to the one that Fincher presents to the audience. The overall effect of this colour scheme in the first shot is clear; it removes a lot of life from the scene, and also serves to embellish the cold and chilling performance of Rosamund Pike.

Original Edited

SHOT ONE: MISE-EN-SCENEPike’s performance in the scene is crucial to both the mise-en-scene, and the narrative as a whole. Before looking up, there are a few moments of the shot where Amy appears to be asleep, as she is looking away from her husband. It is also important to note that -if the narrator is assumed to be the same person that is stroking Amy’s hair- the hands that are gently stroking Amy’s hair seem contrapuntal to the narration. When she looks up, her eyes appear to have a cold, empty feel to them. Instead of looking up lovingly at her husband like the audience would expect, she has a strangely blank and empty gaze that is unnerving and unsettling. It suggests a kind of long-standing animosity between the two. The gaze even turns menacing towards the end of the shot, breaching pretences and becoming outright scary in its presentation. When this performance is combined with other aspects of the scene, such as Affleck’s disturbing narration and the washed-out colour pallet, the overall mood is cold, detached and unnerving. Her blank and emotionless expression not only suggests how mentally disturbed her character is (and will become), but also how broken and unstable their marriage is. The composition of the shot is also important; the character of Amy is seen to be very close to the camera and is centrally composed, focusing all of the attention of the audience on her. This allows the viewers to pick out the specific details in the character and performance, and as such embellishes these areas. The setting is not overtly clear due to the shallow focus and blur, and is established in later shots. This is somewhat of a breach in convention, as Fincher decides to show one of the characters first instead of establishing the setting like many other filmmakers might. This was a specific choice to show the importance of Amy to the plot.

SHOT ONE: SOUND/ICONOGRAHPY/EDITING The sound of the shot is muted, leaving only Affleck’s eerie narration and the equally unsettling music as the only audio to accompany the frame. This, in a sense, steals Amy of her voice or response, leaving only her actions and expression to oppose Dunne. This conflict is integral to the plot, with many of the key moments of the battle being done through the actions of Amy, not what she says. By muting the shot, Fincher is able to connote to the long-standing conflict that will take precedence in the narrativeWhile the iconography of the shot is much more subtle, it is still prevalent. Like many thriller films, the audio symbols in ‘Gone Girl’ are a lot more subtle. For instance, narration is played over the first few moments, but its main goal is not for exposition as it would be in, say, a fantasy film. It is much more ambiguous, conveying specific emotions rather than outright exposition like many other films in its genre. Furthermore, the visual cues are very much in line with other films in its genre. Thriller films often open with a long lasting shot, whether to build up to a moment of action or convey a key theme. ‘Gone Girl’ is no different, lingering on a close up of Amy for all the reasons that have been listed before. The colour pallet is very much in line with other thriller films as well; unlike action or romance films, thrillers prefer to use much darker, monochrome colours (such as ‘Sin City’ and ‘Shutter Island’) Overall, while the film may seem much more convention-breaking in certain areas, it’s iconography definitely relates to typical thriller-drama archetypes.The editing of the shot is the final important area for media language. The shot lingers for around 25 seconds, much, much longer than typical POV shots would last. It also takes it’s time during transitions; fading in and out from black slowly. It is clear that Fincher wanted to spend as much time as possible focusing on Pike’s performance in this shot, which, once again, shows its importance and relevance of it to the narrative as a whole. This area is certainly convention-breaking, as many other films would not risk having shots last longer than a few seconds (especially a POV shot).

SHOT ONE: NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS

SHOT ONE: TYPICAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURES/TODOROV’S THEORY

When analysing this first shot, it is crucial to understand the impacts it has on the narrative. For example, according to typical narrative structures such as Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibriums, the fact that the two are identical symbolises the narrative structure.The initial equilibrium is that Amy and Dunne live together in a (almost) celebrity marriage. Amy then disappears, creating the disequilibrium. In attempting to repair the problem, however, even more problems seem to be created, such as the press thinking Dunne has killed his wife, and Amy actually murdering somebody in cold blood. Amy then returns, and a new equilibrium is created, but its completely opposite to what the audience expects.Dunne choses to stay with his wife, and have a child in order to maintain their marriage. Most of the audience would of expected a ‘happy’ ending of some kind, either with Amy being caught or Dunne escaping. Fincher, instead, decides to choose a new equilibrium that completely breaks narrative conventions.

First Shot Last Shot

SHOT ONE: PROPP

Like in many modern thriller films, Propp’s narrative theory is not as applicable to Gone Girl as it first appears to be.For example, from the initial moment we see Amy, we might presume her to be the ‘Princess’ and might presume Nick to be the ‘Hero’. This may be due to the gender roles we associate within films, but, in actuality, is very far from the truth.Even in the first shot, when Amy lifts her head up, the audience suspects this to not be the case. Her cold expression may alert some viewers, and already may suggest that she is definitely not the innocent ‘princess’ as depicted in Propp’s theory. Also, Nick’s narration certainly does not paint him as a ‘hero’.As the narrative progresses, these terms become looser and looser until there are only a few characters that can be labelled as anything by the audience. It seems as though Fincher intended to break narrative convention from the very outset of his film, but this comes as no surprise to the audience if they’ve watched his early works.Films such as Fight Club and Se7en (The latter being one of he most bleak films Fincher has ever done) completely pervert narrative conventions, from Propp’s theory to Todorov’s. This is true for Gone Girl, connoted by the fact that the first and last shots are the same. Films rarely have an unsatisfying equilibrium, let alone one that nearly entirely mimics the initial one. This is just the nature of Gone Girl, and, by extension, the nature of David Fincher as a director.

SHOT ONE: BINARY OPPOSITES/NARRATIVE THEMES

It appears as though Fincher wants to represent this entrapment in marriage in a physical sense. He wanted to show how a new equilibrium at the end does not necessarily have to be ‘happy’. The fact that the ending is the same as the beginning, and all the events that have happened in-between have only served to solidify their marriage if anything, connotes that there is a cycle in the relationship between Amy and Nick. A cycle that, no matter what, (even if one of them commits murder) cannot be broken.Amy and Dunne seem to be binary opposites in nature, clearly evidenced by how unstable their marriage is suggested to be. The only thing that holds them together, and forces them to continue to do so, is the fact that their marriage is very public and PR heavy. It is clear that whatever love was between them is quickly diminishing, evident even at the start of the film through the cold and unnerving look Amy gives her husband. A narrative theme of passion and domestic conflict is prevalent throughout the film. Deception is also a key narrative theme, with psychopathic/sociopathic tendencies being explored as well. This is shown in the first shot, as what is supposedly an intimate moment between the two main characters seems much colder and unnerving than expected (mainly due to the media language discussed previously).Overall, the importance of this shot to the narrative cannot be understated. It’s media language presents a cold and calculating image of a wife that should be loving an caring. Its narration makes the husband seem completely disconnected to her wife, and makes their relationship feel broken and unhealthy. However, the fact that the two shots link up at the end, connote to the never ending cycle that they will both be but through, and the idea that one cannot escape the other, no matter how hard they try.

SHOT ONE: REPRESENTATION

SHOT ONE: STEREOTYPES“When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers. The primal questions of any marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?”

The stereotypes of the narrative themes are a definite area for consideration.When Dunne first mentions ‘cracking her lovely skull’, certain stereotypes of genders are induced. For instance, this image of domestic violence associated with men may be considered stereotypical. This is about the only stereotype that is prominent however, as everything else seems to have been done specifically to be an anti-stereotype.Pike’s cold and calculating expression, for example, is certainly not the typical image someone would have of a blonde woman. This unnerving and cold facial expression can certainly be seen as an anti-stereotype.

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE

After the crucial first shot, Fincher fades out to black and moves on to establishing shots of the town, including the title card and most of the credits. (I’ve left out a few establishing shots above, as there are around fifteen in total that are all two seconds long, excluding the final shot of the clock).

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: MEDIA LANGUAGE

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: CAMERAWORK

When regarding the camerawork of the shot, it is important to note the typical ‘stable’ style that Fincher uses throughout.Only three shots within the entire opening sequence have any kind of movement in them what-so-ever. When there is movement, it is always a very smooth pan or tracking shot. This means that each two second shot feels very stable and grounded. It can be suggested that, by using very still and stable shots, the ‘life’ of the shot is removed somewhat. As discussed before, Fincher rarely makes any attempt to ‘humanise’ the camera and make the audience feel like a physical participant (unlike, for example, Steven Spielberg in the opening of Saving Private Ryan) and instead opts for them to be solely observes. Handheld camera work is used sparingly in his films, and when it is it’s during a moment of climax or great peril.All of this holds true for the opening sequence. There is rarely any movement, and definitely no lavish credit-sequence (E.g. Casino Royal) to break up the shots of the town. Only the few of the shots are close-ups, with most being long-shots that have a wide field of view. This makes the subjects and buildings the camera focuses on seem empty and abandoned. Its also important to note that the title card begins to fade out quickly after the shot fades in. This may relate to the theme of deception and disappearance, as the title is pretty much ‘Gone’ before the audience can even see it. The shot itself is a wide angle long-shot of a boat moving down the Mississippi river, which denotes a very solitary and lonely feel (especially when combined with the washed-out colours).Overall, the establishing sequence of the town serves to not only show the audience settings and locations that will later become important to the film, but also serve as a symbol for the lonely and empty feel to the scene as a whole. Fincher's cinematography style is also reflected in this sequence

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: MISE-EN-SCENE

Just like the first shot, elements of mise-en-scene play an important role in the opening sequence. The setting of the sequence is the main focus. Its all established through quick two-second shots, leading to an efficient and purposeful establishment of the fictional town of North Carthage. Fincher highlights key areas, and cuts between different places and subjects to give the audience an overall feel for the small mid-southern setting.What the setting means, however, can be traced all the back top the novel. Both the film and the book link with the themes of a ‘suburban-horror’ that occurs at least once in every sleepy, small, mid-western American town. There are many other films, such as Fargo (dark comedy by the Coen brothers set in Minnesota) and Donnie Darko (a truly psychotic-thriller set in a small town in California) that explore this theme of a realistic ‘hidden horror’. Gone Girl truly is a part of this group, as the audience quickly learns the setting of the film, and it quickly becomes familiar. The lighting/colour of this sequence is very similar to shot one. Many of the colours are dulled and washed out, and the setting feels very cold as a result. The overall effect is also very similar to shot one, except this time it applies to the setting. In this sequence, the setting appears cold and removed of life (rather than the character of Amy unlike the first shot). This links back to the entire over-arching theme of the film, and also foreshadows that the movie will, in fact, be ‘dark’. These two mise-en-scene aspects relate heavily to the thriller genre. It relates to setting as, in many thriller films, directors prefer to have a smaller and more focused setting, making any moments of action and climax that much more impactful (E.g. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; locations are re-visited frequency to build familiarity and develop a heightened sense of tension).

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: MISE-EN-SCENE

When analysing the composition of the sequence, it is important to recognise Fincher’s usage of the rule of thirds. I’ve taken three unique shots from the opening sequence to illustrate this. The first, which is of the boat and title, splits the frame horizontally, with the bottom horizontal line being about where the horizon is. This means that about two thirds of the shot is of the sky, which gives a clear and clean backdrop for the credits to fade out onto. The title itself is positioned in the direct centre of the shot, but is very small and distant. This, once again, embellishes the cold and divided theme of the opening.Most of the shots do not follow the rule of thirds, however. They either fir into the horizontal lines of the vertical, but do not converge as many other films might. It feels as though Fincher intentionally broke this rule by focusing on parts of buildings and the edges of subjects, rather than getting a complete image. He may have done this to reinforce the cold feeling of the sequence itself; the audience has very few subjects that they can focus on wholly and fully before the shot cuts again.

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: SOUND/ICONOGAPHY

The sound of the sequence is more one of the noticeable choices by Fincher.Many other directors may have chosen to either mute the background sound of the shots and just have the music be played, or have a sound bridge between shots. On he contrary, if you view the sequence again you’ll notice that there is no diegetic sound-bridge between shots. The background noise changes constantly, and the only sound that links all the shots together is the eerie ‘What have we done to each other?’ track.This is even more pronounced by the fact that each second is two seconds long, so the background noise switches regularly, almost forming a kind of dissonant beat. When a director choses to do a straightforward cut to a different setting with no type of sound bridge, he may have done so to disturb/impact the audience. The lack of a diegetic sound fade between shots is jarring, and the fact that the only bridge is the unnerving non-diegetic background track is even more so. It’s clear that Fincher wanted to present humble, rather harmless settings and scenes with a juxtaposing mixing of sound to counter the visuals. This clash between what is one the surface and what actually lies beneath (once again linking to Affleck's “What are you thinking?” narration)The iconography of the feature definitely links to the colour pallet. It becomes a trending theme within the film for many of the on-screen colours to be muted and stark. Another example of audio iconography in the text is the haunting tones of the music track. Many of the tracks within the Gone Girl soundtrack can definitely be classed as dissonant, with one track (‘Sugar Storm’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzCcA5rRHDo) even being contrapuntal; it comes at a crucial moment of realisation for the audience. Fincher has clearly done this one purpose to not only create a motif, but to also build a very strong atmosphere through careful implication of audio and visual iconography.

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: EDITING

The editing of the sequence is very barebones, with basically no special editing techniques or added effects. Probably apart from some simple colour correction/background enhancement, it is very unlikely much in the way of VFX was used at all. This makes the sequence feel very simple and basic, but also removes much of the life and soul from it. It’s editing is so simple that the audience may feel as though it’s some kind of stock footage, and this effect was clearly intended by Fincher.Also, by making every shot last exactly two seconds, the film brushes quickly and efficiently through the credits, and does not linger like some other feature films might. All of this has been done by Fincher to set the tone of the film early, and connote to an eerie and empty feeling that he sustains and builds upon throughout the narrative. The editing of the sequence may break genre conventions. For instance, many thriller films (Fincher’s own The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Fight Club included) have long opening credit sequences. These usually have CGI or VFZ graphics added to them, and serve as a way to effectively build tone and add character to a film. In Gone Girl, however, the opening credit sequence is about as bare-bones as possible. This speaks volumes about the tone of the film and the narrative itself.

This is an example of a VFX heavy credit sequence from Skyfall. The difference between this and Gone Girl’s sequence is huge.

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS

ESTABLISHING SEQUENCE: TYPICAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURE/TODROV/NARRATIVE THEMES

The sequence itself is very conventional in terms of narrative structure.Like many films, TV shows or stories in general, Gone Girl first establishes the setting before discussing characters. This is because a story often wants to give its audience a sense of bearing and coherency before getting into the actual narrative. Gone Girl is no different in this case, as it establishes the fictional town of ‘North Carthage’ before developing the plot and its characters.Furthermore, an equilibrium as a according to todorov’s theory is shown in the establishing sequence of shots. An equilibrium of a sleepy mid-southern town is shown, with the disrupting factor being Amy’s later disappearance. During the disequilibrium, the sleepy town turns into a hive of press activity, ranging from the local news network to national news stations. Through this example, it is clear that not only Nick’s environment is disrupted by his wife’s disappearance, but also the town is as well.The narrative theme of Gone Girl is reflected through the opening sequence. While many critics argued that the film was misogynist or misandrist, the one recognisable theme of deception and psychological warfare is prevalent throughout. For example, by having the shots feel cold and lifeless in the opening sequence, Fincher creates a theme of alienation. The audience knows that what they are looking at throughout the establishing sequence is inhabited, but they, nevertheless, feel a strange and subtle weariness and uneasiness at the images. Whether it be the bleak colouring or lack of sound-bridge, the shots seem like they’re hiding something or deceiving the audience in some subtle way. This was definitely the intended goal of Fincher, as one of the other major narrative themes integral to the film is the sense of deception and manipulation.

FINAL FOUR SHOTS

The final four shots of the extract only requires a small comment but are important nevertheless.

FINAL FOUR SHOTS: MEDIA LANGUAGE

FINAL FOUR SHOTS: CAMERWORK/MISE-EN-SCENE/SOUND/EDITING

The camerawork of the sequence is similar to that of the establishing shots; distant and isolation. Affleck stands alone, and the shot never zooms in further than a medium long-shot. This makes the character seem isolated and distant, and also (especially when combined with his performance in the mise-en-scene) makes him look alienated. He is isolated as a subject, which reflects how he will eventually become isolated as a character.For mise-en-scene, the most important areas are costume, performance, colour and composition. The costume of Nick Dunne links with the colour scheme of the opening. For the first two characters in the film, we’ve only seen them wear grey/white/black clothing (a trend which continues throughout the production). These colours are very mute and monochrome, and are a reflection of not only how the character but also the atmosphere of a scene as a whole. By dressing Dunne in grey, a dour and sombre mood is generated. This also relates to the colour of the sequence, as the constant pallet of grey and muted blue’s continues throughout the full two minutes.Furthermore, the performance of Affleck is subtle yet important. He appears to be deeply worried and troubled, like the crux of a situation has began and he doesn't how to react. This look of dread reflects back to the audience, further building up suspense and an unnerving atmosphere. This performance is heightened by the composition, as he is centrally compromised with no other subjects in shot, focusing all of the audiences attention to him. The only important technique to note in terms of editing is the decision to cut on movement. By cutting when the subject is in action rather than after or before an action, the sequence is a huge amount smoother a feels much more polished. Usage of this technique is the mark of a true professional.

FINAL FOUR SHOTS: NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS

FINAL FOUR SHOTS: NARRATIVE

Again, this area only needs a small note but its implications to the narrative is important nevertheless. In terms of todorov’s theory, we see a typical equilibrium in Nick’s routine; putting out the rubbish bins. It dosent appear to be a very pleasant equilibrium, however, as clear from the expression on his face. It is later revealed that this is the moment where Nick debated going inside the house and divorcing Amy, but decided against it. After this fact is revealed, it becomes clear that this moment is very important to the narrative.The theory of equilibrium’s is also reflected in the last few scenes, as, at the end of the film, Nick can be seen standing in the same position by the bins with the same expression. This links with the first shot, as that is also mirrored in the final moments.It is clear that Fincher wanted to reinforce the isolation and entrapment Nick feels as a character.

Start of the film

End of the film

WHOLE TEXT: AUDIENCE THEORY CONSIDERATIONS

WHOLE TEXT: MASS/NICHE AUDIENCE

Gone Girl was a huge success. It’s disciplined $61 million budget led to a $369.3 million box office earnings. This incredible return attributes to not only the pure quality of the film, but also the extensive marketing the distributors, 20th Century Fox funded. From this number (and the names involved) it is clear this films was targeted at a mass audience. The success of the book and the fact that Gillian Flynn (the writer) may have had an impact. For instance, the millions that red the book may have watched the film for that reason alone. Other factors, such as the inclusion of very recognisable bankable actors such as Ben Affleck and Tyler Perry may have attracted a mainstream mass audience(especially Ben Affleck; he is one of the biggest A-list actors there is). For those more invested in films and film making as a whole, David Finchers name on the poster may have attracted additional viewer base. When combined, it is clear to see how Gone Girl was able to tap into the mainstream viewer base of America.

WHOLE TEXT: TARGET AUDIENCE/DEMOGRAPHICS

In terms of target audience, on of the only discriminate factors was age. The film contains frequent use of very strong language, various moments of nudity and one moment of extreme violence, so therefore is rated an 18. This (obviously) cuts off the younger and teen age groups, and instead focuses on the mature age group. Due to the nature of it dealing with marriage and adult themes, it may be targeted at middle age families, especially those that live in the USA.When considering a demographics model such as NRS social grade (seen above) it can be said many of the viewers who watched Gone Girl most likely fit into the A-B range. This is because the film has a much slower pace and deals with much more complex issues rather than simplistic ‘good vs. evil’ stories. This may appeal to the A – B categories as they have much more disposable income and are more likely to ‘explore’ (as covered in psychographics) when looking for films to watch.Its important to note that this model for demographic's is slightly crude; there are many in all classes, regardless of the A-B group, that are ‘explorers’. Just because a person does not have disposable income does not mean they are interested in more detailed plots and narrative’s within media.

WHOLE TEXT: PYSCHOGRAPHICS

For the psychographics section, Gone Girl definitely pertains to the explorer, reformer, and mainstream groups.Explorer and reformer groups are relatively similar, and are both looking for new and interesting takes on films and media. I believe Fincher provides this in Gone Girl, as both the book and the film often greatly subvert expectations and put the audience in a constant ‘What next?’ mentality. It also breaks conventions in many other ways, and deals with themes not often touched on by other pieces of media. In this light, it is clear to see why Gone Girl would appeal to both these groups.Furthermore, the mainstream group many be reached by this film due to its bankable stars and companies behind its production. As previously discussed, the fact that Gone Girl features such huge names as Ben Affleck and Tyler Perry may attract a very large mainstream audience. This is because these are the actors (or directors, in the case of David Fincher) that the viewer base recognises, and will therefore watch the films they are in.

WHOLE TEXT SUMMARY: HOW IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE ATTRACTED?

Overall, those going in to Gone Girl expecting a psychological drama/thriller film will not be disappointed.From the media language, entailing aspects such as the muted colour scheme and eerie soundtrack, (which is wonderfully composed and very well placed throughout the film) to the narrative aspects, such as the clear conflict between Amy and Nick and the very unnerving look Amy gives her husband, it is obvious that this film follows many of the visual/audial expectations of its target audience. The one area that is subverts, and continually does so, is its narrative conventions.Thank you for viewing my analysis of the opening two minutes of Gone Girl. Our production group will try to use the incredible atmosphere-building skills of David Fincher as a model for our own piece as we move forward throughout the planning and production process.

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