The opening sequence of Gone Girl establishes the characters of Nick and Amy Dunne through visuals and sound. Nick is seen stroking Amy's hair as he narrates violent thoughts about her, establishing him as potentially psychotic and in control of Amy. Though the lighting is bright unlike typical thrillers, the unsettling soundtrack builds tension. Various shots introduce the town where mysterious events will unfold. Nick is shown alone in plain clothes, hinting at his troubled personality. The sequence suggests the importance of time and hints at impending danger through its themes and clues about the characters.

1. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/gone-
girl/

2. Description of the opening
sequence:
• The sequence starts with a long lasting shot of a man stroking the back of his wifes hair
as she lays on his chest. As he strokes her hair he begans an inner-monolgue: “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 a marriage:
What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other? What
will we do?”
• The woman looks up at what is presumably the husbands face then rests her head on
his chest, giving the viewer the first close up of the womans face.
• The shot fades into black and appears the main actors names on the screen.
• The name of the film then appears with a scenic view of a sea shore at dawn.
• The sequence continues with more actors name coming up on screen, each name
changes to a different shot of a town in what is presumably the main setting.
• The camera then pans up to a shot of a clock, maybe in the middle of the town.
• The shot then changes to a man who is in front of his house, near the road. He stands
there, looks left to right then behind him and turns to walk back to his house.
• End of opening sequence.

3. Conforms to typical thriller
conventions:
This opening sequences holds many conventions which are frequently seen in thriller films. The
woman depicted below is shown to have her head rested upon her husbands chest. Her perfect
blonde and beautiful features give the idea that she is innocent and pure, like an angel. However
when she looks up, her facial expression looks arguably worried or scared- as if she is clenching the
muscle in her neck from anticipation. This creates the illusion that she is a victim, which conforms to
typical thriller characters. The viewer doesn’t actually see the husbands face yet as its behind the
camera, but they can already assume he is a violent man through the inner monologue he is
speaking. The way his hand strokes his wife’s hair is as if he has tamed her and has complete control
over her as if she is ‘his possession’ and she cant escape his grasp. This creates the idea that he is
somewhat psychotic or a criminal in some way, which once again follows typical thriller characters.
The way in which the camera is positioned suggests the viewer is the man who has power over her, it
creates the illusion like the viewer is watching her which conforms to the typical thriller theme of
voyeurism and also relates to the thriller narrative of being watched.

4. Challenges typical thriller
conventions:
The lighting is not conventional and doesn’t conform to typical
thriller light. Usually lighting within thrillers involve dark and
poor lighting which create shadows-this builds suspense and
tension without music (shadows also follow typical thriller
iconography). However, the lighting in the opening is day light
which is associated with happiness and brightness.
An example of a thriller film that has an opening that uses dim
and dull lighting is ‘Se7en’:
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/
The effect of challenging thriller conventions is a false sense of
security and hope which the viewer experiences through the
‘new day’ lighting.

5. Soundtrack and Sound
The soundtrack, alike many other thriller soundtracks, uses high pitched
noises to create suspense that initiates tension in the upcoming story.
However, the 'gone girl' opening sequence soundtrack uses sounds that are
usually associated with aliens, e.g the use of glass harp which is eerie and
serious, which is not regularly used in thrillers. This soundtrack is very
effective as it is not cliche as it doesn't use the typical loud and booming
drum sounds to build suspense, instead it uses wirey and high notes to show
a slow-burning story that is mirrored in the film. In the title sequence the
non-diegetic sound of the narrators commentary is added. Spoken by Nick
Dunne (the supposed anti-hero centering the film), his paced and neutral
tone matched with his violent words create tension and initiate the idea that
he may have killed his wife. Diegetic sounds are also used in the opening,
including the sound of waves hitting the shore once the title of the film
presents on screen and the sound of birds chirping in the morning throughout
the scenic still shots of the town and the scene of Nick at the end of the
sequence. These diegetic sounds were added to normalize the situation, it
balances out the eerie of the soundtrack and the early narration with the
normal images of the setting and the diegetic sounds.

6. The Title
This title contrasts the scene around it, as it is in a small font centered on screen.
It is in a pale yellow colour, symbolosing a new start or an awakening,
comparatively to the dark and ominous blues that seem threatening to the title.
The kerning of the title is very subtle, due to its small font, but its impact implies
loneliness or a slow separation in which the characters are suffering. Therefore,
the assumption could be made that a women is missing- presumably someone
related to Nick- and that their relationship was not on good terms as they were
drifting apart, much alike what the title seems to be doing. The centering of the
title shows its importance to the story, as it symbolises the character of Amy in
the story who wants to be at the center of attention and to be realised by
everyone else. The purpose in displaying the title this way is to make sure the
viewer isn’t suspicious about the female lead, whom appears to be the victim but
is actually a psycho-which follows thriller conventions. The effect upon the viewer
is within the same context as the purpose as it mirrors Amy’s deceiving
personality perfectly, making the viewer seem safe within the captivating images
on screen.

7. Costume
The opening
sequence
establishes
character/setting
for the viewer. So
as Nick Dunne
appears on
screen, the
viewer must
realise that he is
significant to the
plot of the film,
so judge him
based on his
physical
appearance ect.
Nick wears
monotone and
simple clothing,
which may reflect
his personality. The
plain/somewhat
dark expression
matches his
costume to reveal
somewhat sinister
qualities within this
man. He also
appears to be seen
wearing running
shows, implying
that he is fed up
with the life he
lives so he wishes
to run away but
some force always
returns him home,
as if his life is
running in circles.

8. Lighting
Lighting is important throughout the opening
sequence as well as the whole film as it reflects
the theme of time. Within this still image it
depicts that it is dawn, as if the town is waking
up. The lighting is natural and is a mix of
purple/orange/blue colours, which make it
seem as if the weather is cold. The director uses
In this still image it shows a now blue sky, once
again using natural lighting. It is used by the
director to show a normal, everyday
atmosphere for the characters-which is
contradicted by the soundtrack.

9. Camera Angles/shots
Very interesting and different camera angles are
used throughout the opening sequence, particularly
in the title sequence where different still images of
the town is shown. The first image is a worms eye
angle shot and is particularly interesting because the
placement of the camera creates perspective, giving
the illusion that the shot is canted. Alike the first still
image, the second also has an alluring sense of
perspective as it is a slight low angle. The director
used this camera angles to display the abnormality
within the town.
This still image presents an eye level angled shot,
which is unambiguously shown when the women
turns her face to the camera. Such angles are used
to show the character on screen in detail, not paying
much intention to the background-only the features
of the person on screen.

10. Representation
Within the opening sequence, time is a key theme presented unambiguously
throughout. It is noticeably dawn when the title of the film comes up, were the
background slowly gets brighter as the morning awakens. Then there is a mass of
different shots, each creates an illusion that time is going on and the people of the town
are waking up. When the shot goes to Nick, he is already up and seems to have been on
a run. This can be interpreted as he is the only one awake during the early hours,
symbolising his unhappiness and a need for an escape. Time is apparent as the opening
sequence begins to close and ‘The morning of’ appears on the screen. This shows how
something terrible is going to happen, and time will be necessary for this mans future.
Unknown to the viewer, Nick has a certain amount of time before all the clues are found
which points him as the suspected murderer of his wife. However, the director gives
clues to importance of time throughout the opening.

11. ‘Macro Ideas’-Gender
Within this scene, men are shown as controlling and violent which is shown through
the use of sound and images on screen, whilst women are shown as delicate victims.
These type of characteristics follow well-known stereotypes of these genders and is
shown through the inner dialogue spoken by Nick implies harm onto Amy, whom
seems innocent and unknown of his intentions. However, it can be said that this is
also a countertype as men are supposed to save the damsels in distress, not hurt
them-which isn’t implied here. Nick is shown to be masculine and strong through is
appearance as he is wearing plain clothing that clings to his defined muscles, which is
a stereotype that all men are strong. Amy’s appearance also follows the ‘blonde, thin
and beautiful is perfect’ stereotype of women, as she is shown to have no hair out of
place nor a blemish.