The opening scene of Gone Girl establishes mystery and suspense through its use of lighting, sound, and camera work. A voiceover contrasts with soothing gestures, while Amy looks unsettled on a man's chest in shadows. Shots introduce an empty, "ghost town" setting. Nick is shown disheveled near his home on July 5th, the day after Independence Day, leaving questions around what happened. The scene ends with Nick walking home as tension and intrigue are built around the unknown events.

1. Gone Girl (2014)
Film Analysis

2. Detailed explanation of the opening scene 1/3
•The film starts with non diegetic music playing in the background whilst the audience is introduced to the studio and the distributor of
the film; 20th century fox and Regency enterprises. Then there is a fade into complete darkness as the director of the film, David
Fincher’s name appears on a pitch black screen using a very basic white font. The font used is Futura PT Demi Font. Some of the
words are highlighted and are made bold while others are dull, which adds an element of mystery to the scene since it gives a feeling of
something being hidden or unknown which goes perfectly with the theme of the opening scene. Once again the screen is pitch black as
we hear a voiceover of a man whose voice is flat , emotionless and extremely calm. There is a huge conflict between the violent things
that he is saying and the cold calm tone in which he is saying them. The cold calmness of the tone of the voice shows that the man in
the VoiceOver is being sarcastic. The next shot that we see is faded in from black to a blonde woman’s head resting on a man’s chest,
with the man caressing her hair. Whilst the man is shown stroking the woman’s hair lovingly the VoiceOver states “cracking her lovely
skull, unspooling her brain”. There is this clash between what is being said and what is being shown in the scene which is oddly
intriguing and makes one want to learn more. It is when the VoiceOver says“trying to get answers” that the woman (Rosamund Pike)
looks up straight into the camera; with her eyes questioning; as if she can hear what the man is thinking . She seems upset and a bit
pale. This may indicate her distrust on the person on whose chest she is resting. One thing of importance is that only half of the
woman’s face and shoulder are illuminated while everything around her, including the man’s body, was in shadows. This created a
sense of enigma. However the identity of the man is still kept unknown which evokes a suspenseful feeling in the audience, leaving
them questioning about it. As the man mentions marriage Amy’s eyes change expressions as she stares into the camera with a
penetrating gaze, and it is at this point that the audience gets the inkling that they are husband and wife. Another thing to note here is
that the shot throughout was a close up shot that is used to emphasise reactions. This information also helps the audience in paying
more attention to Amy’s facial expressions throughout the shot. This shot ends when the VoiceOver says “what have we done to each
other?” And Amy places her head back on the chest of the unidentified man while still staring unblinkingly at him and the shot fades out
to complete darkness. This too evokes a feeling of mystery in the audience as the man’s words are left hanging in silence and pitch
dark. This is when the titles are introduced on a pitch black screen with music that has a slight tremor and unnerving pitch to it creating
a sense of nervousness and unsettlement as if trying to say that all is not well. Furthermore, the names of the actors, who are playing
the protagonist (Ben Affleck) and his wife (Rosamund Pike), are introduced by using the same font I.e Futura PT Demi Font.

3. Detailed explanation of the opening scene 2/3
•Another detail that was introduced was the film’s title “Gone Girl” (2014) which was shown by fading into a water
body like a lake or river with just one boat in it heading towards the harbour in the early hours of dawn, using a
wide shot, which means that there is still darkness outside and an element of gloominess in the surroundings
although we can hear diegetic sounds of water, barking dogs, frogs and birds chirping in the background showing
that the world is awakening to a new day. The audience is made aware of the setting of the film, using a wide shot,
that is North Carthage, Missouri as the other cast members are introduced. The wide shot helps in making the
audience aware of their surroundings/settings of the film. Furthermore, the sponsors of the film; Coca Cola and
Mayer are also shown as a billboard and a shop name during this time. In the next few shots which are a mix of
wide shots, close ups and mid shots, a new building and a new area was introduced as well as one or two cast
members. The first time that we see colour in the opening scene is when we see green grass. The connotations
attached to the colour green are: growth and renewal. We see grass right next to the sign board with the word
“reduced” meaning that the house in the shot is put up for sale but due to some reasons it has been put on a
reduced price. Moreover, the house is grey, dark and huge however the backdrop is a bright sky which makes the
dark house stand out even more. The next two shots, which is a long shot and a wide shot, just makes the
audience aware of the emptiness and starkness of the town just like the emotionless voice of the man (inner
monologue).The whole environment seems to be that of a ghost town; lifeless and at a standstill. Time seems to
have stopped here. Whilst the shots showed the audience the whereabouts of the setting, one thing to notice was
that everywhere there were signs of “For Sale” meaning that businesses are closing and people are moving out of
North Carthage. Furthermore using an upward tilt a clock is shown emphasising the importance of the time shown
on it. Moreover this camera movement is also known to follow significant actions that also makes the audience pay
more attention to the clock.

4. Detailed explanation of the opening scene 3/3
•We then see a man (Ben Affleck) standing right next to two garbage bins with a car parked at the back, in front of
a house, facing the boundary wall. The shot used is a knee length shot and the man (who is supposedly the anti-
hero in this film) in the shot seems to be somewhat dishevelled and confused with drooping shoulders and arms
hanging loosely by his sides. He seems to be very upset and disillusioned as his gaze is empty and his jaw is
slightly dropping. The next shot is a long shot that shows the side profile of Nick Dunne (the man in the shot), he is
standing in the centre of the frame that makes the audience believe that he is a very important character
throughout the movie, hence, they pay more attention to him.The long shot also shows the empty road with a
thicket at the back. The long shot used emphasises the emptiness of the surroundings and also indicate that Nick
might be feeling just as empty as his surroundings. In this shot the audience sees that Nick is wearing jogging
attire from a previous day as it is crumpled. Moreover, he is standing and looking from right to left and then in the
front as if trying to make out his circumstances. Using diegetic sound, the audience can hear that Nick is a bit out
of breath. As he turns around to head towards the house we hear a slight gasp as if he is shrugging some thought
off. The shot again changes and now a wide shot is being used, as the audience sees him walk towards the house,
in the bottom left corner we see that the date is shown “July 5th”, which is the next morning of 4th of July, the
Independence day of America. This combined with the monologue earlier, gives the viewers an idea that the story
might have something to do with independence of either of the husband and wife. However, the main character
does not show any signs of having celebrated the night before. The next thing that we see written on the bottom
left screen is “the morning of” but this sentence is not completed which leaves the audience questioning about
what had possibly happened. This evokes the element of suspense and leaves many enigma codes as there is an
element of the unknown. Lastly, Nick is seen walking towards his house with a gradual fade that ends the opening
scene.

5. Genre
• The genre of this film was thriller and mystery.This film does conform to conventional
thriller and mystery movies as the lighting used is dark and dull which builds suspense
in the audience as it gives a feeling of something being hidden and makes the
audience feel as uneasy as some of the characters in the film. Moreover, in
conventional thriller and mystery movies a lot of close ups are used in order to
enhance the focus on the expressions of the characters and same has been done
here. However, in usual mystery and thriller movies the non diegetic sounds used are
upbeat and high pitched as they help in creating a greater impact but in this film the
non diegetic sound is low pitched but it still creates a very huge impact on the audience
as it is one of the key elements that help to add suspense in the film.

6. Sound
•The sound used in this opening scene is eerie and adds to the suspense and mystery
of the film but it is not high pitched like that in conventional thrillers. The sound used in
this opening scene is one of the most important elements in this movie and it is one of
the major micro elements that build up tension in the audiences and make them want
to continue to watch the film. In “Gone girl” both diegetic as well as non diegetic
sounds are used. The first non diegetic sound is that of the monologue (Nick). The
tone of the monologue was very calm and the tone was also slow paced however it
contradicted with the words that were being spoken. Diegetic sounds were also used
while the audience was being made aware of the setting of the film. As the audience
could hear the sounds of the waves when the title of the film was introduced.
Moreover, the audience could also hear frogs, dogs barking as well as birds chirping
in the morning. These sounds were used to add a sense of normality in the opening of
the scene to make it more relatable for the audiences and they also helped in
distracting the audiences from the eerie soundtrack that was playing in the
background throughout the opening.

7. Lighting
•
• Throughout the opening scene the lighting is very dull and dark as the setting is Dawn.
Lighting plays an immensely important role in the film as it further adds to the element of
mystery. Most of the lighting used in the opening scene is natural lighting to enhance the
normality of everyday life. However, the background sound contradicts this feeling
throughout the opening scene.

8. Camera Angles and Shots
• There was a lot of diversity in the camera angles and shots that were used. The very first shot is an angled
shot that shows the woman’s face in detail and helps the audience in reading her expressions fully by
ignoring the surrounding since the camera focuses on her face only while keeping everything else in
shadows. There were many shots and angles used while the area was being introduced to the audience.
Different types of angled shots were used in order to help the audience understand the eerie atmosphere
and abnormality of the town in North Carthage. Upward tilt was used in order to show the clock and that
enhanced the importance of time and made the audience realise that time holds a lot of importance in this
entire movie. Furthermore, long shots and knee length shots were used in order to introduce the main
character, Nick. These helped the audience in evaluating Nick’s personality and his emotions at that specific
time ie, (5th of July).
•

9. Costume
• All of the characters in the opening scene are shown wearing dull and grey tones. The girl was
wearing a blueish grey shirt while the man, on whose chest she was resting, was wearing a black
or dark grey shirt that almost merged in the background, highlighting only the girl. When Nick is
shown on the screen, since he is all alone in the last few shots , the viewers realise that he is an
important person in the film and he has an important role to play throughout, hence they begin to
analyse him more carefully. Nick’s attire is pretty simple and again he is also wearing grey and
dark clothes. His jogging attire might also indicate that he has been out for a jog which could also
indicate that he might be disturbed and might be running away from something in his life .
•

10. Representation of Femme Fatal in Media
•
• Generally blondes are shown to be dumb i.e, beauty without brains. But here the
blonde woman shown (Amy Dunne) has a very cunning expression throughout the
close up shot. The close up shot helps the audience in paying more attention to the
evilness in Amy’s eyes as she squints them and looks intently into the camera while
putting her head down on the man’s chest again. This breaks the stereotype as
generally men are thought to con women especially dumb blondes but here it is actually
the woman who cons the man and gets him framed for something he had not done.

11. Representation of Time
• The whole opening scene has been shot in the wee hours of the morning i.e,
dawn. Everything is grey, gloomy and mostly silhouettes are depicted of
empty houses, shops, streets, etc. This emphasises that everything is in
shadows and not clear. There is an atmosphere of melancholy and despair.
One tends to feel apprehensive and a bit perturbed since so much grey is
pretty unnerving.
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