Individual Analysis of Title Sequence

Gone Girl Title Sequence from Faris Abass Jibril on Vimeo.

             The title sequence opens with a close up of the back of a blonde woman's head. Low key lighting is used to depict her turning around to face a concealed male who is providing an internal monologue: 'When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.'

The tone of the man's creepy thoughts lingers as the screen fades to black. This fade to black allows the main actors to be introduced. The black screen and minimalist writing gives an ominous feel and sets the tone for the rest of the film.

A fade to the opening scene introduces the setting: a dock at dusk, and displays the name of the film. The dark and dim setting gives the opening sequence a sense of foreboding of what is to come.

Displaying empty streets as the sun rises creates a false sense of security, which is reinforced by the mix of close ups and longs shots of significant buildings around the town. The eerie, non-diegetic music hints at a creepy element to the film that will be revealed later on.

Close ups of areas around the town highlight important features and loactions which will be significant later on in the film. This allows the audience to feel more immersed in the film and familiar with the locations as if they live there themselves.

A long shot of a lake and trees suggests the film is set in a nice area, which is a typical place for dramas or thrillers, as they usually begin quite happy and calm. Shots of nature add to the purpose of providing a false sense of security as it will have a calming effect on the audience. All the while, the forboding music hints at something not quite right.

Another long shot is used to depict a house with a for sale sign outside The long shot highlights the size of the house suggesting the people who own it must be quite wealthy. It appears like a typical suburban house, however the low-key lighting and the fact it says 'reduced' on the sign suggests that all is not what it seems.

The mid-shot of the clock hints at the thriller element of the film as it suggests that time plays a big part in the narrative. The shot is relatively symmetrical with buildings on either side, a lamp post on either side and the clock as a divider in the middle. This forshadows the theme of control present throughout the film.

A mid shot is used to introduce a male character. Again, the man is positioned in the middle of the screen, acting as a divider. Green is the prevelent colour in the shot with connotes growth, harmony, freshness and fertility, the antithesis of the themes explored in the film. This, again, lulls the audience into a false sense of security.

I have chosen to analyse the Gone Girl title sequence because it has a similar theme to our film. Ideas such as low-key lighting and colour prevelence could be used in our film to create a false sense of forboding of the truth at the end of the film. An internal monologue could be used to portray our main character's thoughts and feelings, which could hint at her PTSD and hallucinations.