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.

Gone Girl Poster Deconstruction

This is the first official poster for David Fincher's 2014 thriller based on the novel Gone Girl written by Gillian Flynn.

As we can see the majority of the poster is taken up by the image of the sky, and Amy's eyes in it. Nick Dunne, her husband is placed at the bottom of the image, looking small and vulnerable compared to Amy's huge eyes above him. The poster is predominantly a blue/grey shade, with a white cloud shadowing parts of the title. The film focuses on lies and deceit which is likely why the cloud was placed in the centre. The top of the poster is the darkest- a navy blue- which may represent Amy's dark plans and twisted ways. The figure of Nick has been slightly distorted- the top half of his body moved slightly left. His life has been torn apart by someone he would never have expected. The truth has been distorted like the image.

The line across the bottom of the image depicts the typical 'Breaking News' bar, that is present on News channels. Although part of the news story title is missing, any one who has read the book, will know what it says and anyone who hasn't can get some sort of understanding from the words 'search' and 'continues'. It would seem that the only word missing is in fact 'Amy' which is probably intentional, as the film (and novel) revolves around Amy, who has gone missing. To fit in with the theme of the media, the sky appears to be more yellow around Nick, which may represent the eyes of the media on him, as the main suspect in his wife's disappearance.

At the top of the poster, small, minimal typography is used, as to not distract from the image. It mentions two other films David Fincher has directed, which automatically attracts fans of those films. In slightly bigger writing, are the names of the two stars playing Nick and Amy Dunne. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are famous actors, which draws attention. If they weren't so well known, it would be unlikely that their names would be so noticeable.

The text at the bottom is all quite minimal also. The names of the cast and producers are in a pale grey colour as is the website and hashtag used to promote the movie. The release date is bolder and darker than the rest of the text as this is a vital piece of information people need to know.

A series of other posters was also created to further promote the film. These have an almost comical tone that those who know the plot will understand. The 'Happy Anniversary' is of course ironic. Each of the posters depicts a prop from the film, while giving away more clues about the narrative.

Whereas the colour scheme of the first poster is full of cold tones- these posters are the opposite. The colour red is used on the evidence bags as well as the lingerie which signifies the sexual explicitness of the film- it is rated 18. The dark wood that each item is placed on as well as the photo which is predominantly black, give a sinister tone that is also present in the original poster. These posters are more conventional of a sexually explicit thriller. This makes it apparent that movie posters can be completely different but be just as effective.

Deconstruction of Gone Girl Website

This is the website for Gone Girl, the 2014 Psychological Thriller directed by David Fincher.
The media plays a big part in the plot of the film thus it is incorporated into the website design, as it is made to look like a news announcement on a television screen. The photos in the background are the audience's main focus, and this is an idea we might use for our own website. The photos change often, to show another shot from the film, giving the audience hints about the plot but never giving away the plot twist.

 As the focus is on the photographs, the rest of the website is quite minimal- to prevent the audience getting distracted by anything else. The typography of the buttons at the top of the website are the same as the title on the poster- that specific typography is associated with the Gone Girl franchise. The word 'gone' is always written in the same typography, it is used as a trademark of the film.

The release date of the film is made to look like the date on the TV screen, to once again fit in with the theme of the media. It is underlined in yellow, to make it stand out. The majority of the photographs have quite low key lighting, and often blue tones, so the subtle use of red and yellow especially at the bottom of the screen, is effective.

 The links to the other social media pages for the film are included in the top right corner, in white which stands out against all of the photos in the slideshow. Other links such as to the trailers, and the synopsis are disguised as part of the Breaking News bar at the bottom but still accessible. The website also has quiet non-diegetic music playing in the background, from the soundtrack of the film.

For the film, a second website was also made called findamazingamy.com. This was made as part of the franchise, as the film centres around Amy, who goes missing. Her parents set up a website for anyone to leave information and to spread the word.

Once again the photos are the main focus, and match the photo used in the main poster. The words 'Gone Girl' don't need to be used on either the website or the poster, because people already know the film from the large amount of promotion.