Deconstruction of Gone Girl Teaser Trailer

The first shot of this trailer is a tracking shot, first showing the audience the 'Missing' poster and then moving towards the crowd of people holding candles. The lighting is low-key and the diegetic sound of crickets in the night creates an eerie ambience. This is contrasted by the non-diegetic contrapuntal piano music which sounds upbeat and romantic. There is a sound bridge to the next shot- a midshot of Nick speaking into the microphone, with Amy's parents to the right of him, and a poster of Amy framed in the background to his left. Everyone believes Nick is the only thing standing between Amy being reunited with her parents and this framing further suggests that. It is a low angle shot, and possibly a point-of-view shot, as Nick is standing on a stage, above the crowd. This presents him as powerful and dominant. Nick is also presented as powerful in the next shot, in which Amy's head is against his chest and she looks up at him. His hand is stroking her head and she is in a vulnerable position. The non-diegetic love song continues and the lyrics depict everything the audience is lured into believing Amy is innocent.

Three shots of Nick Dunne are used, separated by two contrasting shots- one of them kissing and then of the first sign that something is wrong when Amy disappears. The shots of Nick zoom in each time, closer to his face as he realises for the first time that something bad has happened. Nick is framed alone; the long shot leaves him in the middle of the screen, surrounded by the interiors of the house, the cool tones of the shots on his own, contrast the warm yellow tones of the shot of the couple. Their lives have changed so drastically from then to now, and this is evident in the lighting. The shots of Nick have high-key natural lighting suggesting that the truth will be revealed while the kissing shot is low key, and only their silhouettes are visible clearly. The eye level midshot presents a balance in the relationship that is no longer there.

The last shot of Nick in this sequence, is a low angle close up, presenting him as powerful and is one way in which the audience are made unsure of what happened to Amy. His face is lit naturally from the windows on the left but the right side of his face is left dark, conveying a duplicitous nature and a hidden truth, once again handing the audience false clues as to what has happened.

Throughout the trailer, there is a variation of lighting- often a high-key lit shot will be followed by a lowly-lit shot. Other shots incorporate both light and darkness- such as the shot of Nick pulling down the blinds. His face is in the background of the shot and is dark and appears sinister as he shuts the light out. The blind is in the foreground- and is brightly lit by natural light. It is also white which furthers the contrast to Nick's shadowed face in his dark home.

Fast paced montage editing is a convention of teaser trailers and the shots are often cut quickly to prevent giving too much away to the audience. The screen goes black just as Nick grabs Amy, and the audience are more likely to watch the film to find out what happens next. To add drama, this is where the music gets faster and a fast paced drum beat comes in. This is supposed to be the most romantic part of the song, but when paired with the contrasting abusive shots, it is twisted and becomes disturbing.

The straight cut editing gets faster as the teaser trailer progresses until the last shot of Amy's body in the water after being drowned. This creates tension and intrigue, which is the ambience a Psychological Thriller wants to leave with the audience. The water is dark and appears murky- which contrasts Rosamund Pike's fair skin and blonde hair. She is often labelled as an English Rose. The fade to black after the shot adds more mystery as Nick Dunne's voiceover pleads innocence while the audience can see her body on screen.

The trailer finishes on the line "I did not kill my wife. I am not a murderer," which reiterates the main plot, and leaves the audience to decide whether they believe him or not. The last shot matches the poster and the website- shots similar to this are used to connect the trailer with its ancillary products, and help to promote the film to a larger extent.