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Gone Girl Media Marketing & Reviews

Directed by David Fincher. Starring: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Missi Pyle, Casey Wilson, Emily Ratajkowski.

Cert 18, 145 mins. By Robbie Collins.

Can someone vanish if, in the first place, they were never truly there? A missing-person thriller might not seem like a likely forum for this kind of metaphysical grappling, but David Fincher, the director of The Social Network, Fight Club and Zodiac, is not a filmmaker prone to swaddling his audience in the consolations of the likely.

Fincher’s 10th film, Gone Girl, is based closely on Gillian Flynn’s best-selling 2012 novel which used a page-turning plot line – the sudden disappearance of a smart, pretty, married woman called Amy Elliott-Dunne (Rosamund Pike) – to unpick the modern mania for presenting a perfected version of ourselves to others, even as the truth roils and bubbles underneath.

In Fincher’s hands, that smart but arguably undisciplined story becomes something even wilder and yet perversely also more controlled – a neo-noir thriller turned on its blood-spattered head. Here, it’s the homme, rather than the femme, who has the fatale aura, and what comes out of the past only serves to further cloud the murky present.

These scenes are stern and crisp, underscored not with music, but the dust-dry buzz of air-conditioning and fluorescent light. We hear it when Nick comes home to find the living room furniture turned upside down and his wife of five years nowhere to be seen – and again when he’s taken in for questioning by Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens), who wonders if there’s more to this man than meets her already sceptical eye.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11109996/Gone-Girl-review-David-Fincher-in-fun-mode.html

Gone Girl review – two different readings of a modern marriage .

The last time David Fincher took a stab at a bestselling potboiler with an enigmatic femme fatale, the disappointing result was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, an eye-catchingly stylish but thematically empty (and, frankly, unnecessary) English-language remake of an entirely serviceable Danish/Swedish hit. Now, with this grippingly caustic adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bifurcated novel (which the author has brilliantly adapted and reconfigured for the screen), Fincher is back on form, mixing the forensic procedure of Zodiac with the playful high-gloss sheen of The Game to ingeniously wrong-foot the audience, leading them on a merry dance of death through the murderous maze of modern marriage.

Shooting in handsome 6K digital widescreen, cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth keeps the visual tone cool and detached even as events heat up, eschewing the tics and flashes of yore. This is a picture-perfect world, presented with the untouched clarity of a crime scene, fine-tuned and framed by Fincher, whose obsessive attention to detail mirrors that of his titular muse. At 149 minutes, the film never drags nor does its mood settle, slipping from classy narcissistic humour to exploitation-inflected thrills in an instant; mercurial, mystifying – and tantalisingly missing.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/05/gone-girl-review-two-different-readings-modern-marriage

These modes all trade in stereotypical views of the essences of masculinity and femininity. All are politically incorrect by definition. All seem to have had at least some bearing on "Gone Girl." The movie is sick joke, a fable and a lament. It's "He done her wrong" and "She done him wrong." It's "Men are spineless pigs" and "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."  If you make blanket assumptions about what men and women are capable of, and the circumstances under with they're capable of it, this film will confirm them. "Your chin," Amy tells Nick in a flashback, "it's quite villainous." He covers it up with his finger, but now that she's pointed it out, you can't not stare at it. 

The most intriguing thing about "Gone Girl" is how droll it is. For long stretches, Fincher's gliding widescreen camerawork, immaculate compositions and sickly, desaturated colors fuse with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's creepy-optimistic synthesized score to create a perverse big-screen version of one of those TV comedies built around a pathetically unobservant lump of a husband and his hypercontrolling, slightly shrewish wife. For most of its running time, "Gone Girl" is "Everybody Loves Accused Wife-Murderer Raymond," sprinkled with colorful-verging-on-wacky supporting players (including Tyler Perry as a Johnnie Cochran-like defense attorney and Neil Patrick Harris as a former flame of Amy's who's still obsessed with her). Then it takes a right turn, and a left turn, and flips upside down. 

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EMPIRE

Poster Analyses

The Silence of the lambs

The Silence of the lamps is crime thriller about a young named  FBI Clarice Strarring portrayed by Jodie Foster interview the psychopath Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins)who is serving a life behind bars after committing various of murders and  more disturbing, cannibalism. The film poster depicts the main character Clarice Starring staring directly into the camera which which may make the viewer feel uncomfortable, as her face has been edited to appear pale, ghost like making the film appear eerie and haunted making it connote death as well as her blue eyes has been edited to a rich copper brown so it could go with colour scheme of yellow, black , orange and white. Making her eyes stand out significantly along with the butterfly which is covering her mouth shows that there is a connection to what ever the character has witnessed she cannot speak of it  as the title of the film 'the silence of the lambs' written in orange standing out from the black background informs that this 'silence' holds a secret, making the audience wonder what it is. Usually a butterfly signify nature, innocence, delicacy and beauty but the audience cannot help but notice a skull patterned on the butterflys back which symbolises what ever the scerte is, it is deadly but what is more frightful, in which the viwer might not acknowlegde very well is that the hallucination of the skull is  in fact naked women positioned to create that shape. The designer adapted that from one of the 1950's  most infamous, most scandalous photograph, 'In voluptas Mors' by Phillippe Halsman and american potrait photography known for his art for being absurd and surreal as the translation to 'In Voluptas Mors' tramslate to 'pleasure to death'. On the top of the film title is the names of the big actors, 'Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glenn' written in white to stand out from the dark background my written in a smaller font with low capitals so it could be noticed after the viewer looks at the film title, this informs  audience who would in the movie and putting major stars at the cover may encourage fans to watch.  

GOOD FELLAS

 

Good Fellas film poster depicts the three main actors playing the 3 detectives and at the bottom of the poster is of a man who is presumably dead as he is posing as if he is dead which informs the audience that it is about murder. The three detectives are placed on top of the city which emphasises their power in society as cops. The main colours is black and white the cop in the middle with his arms crossed staring straight ahead, the red connotes danger

 

Gone Girl

Ben Affleck's character is the protagonist in this film. In this poster a wide and long shot is used with him in the middle which shows he is the center of attention. His body language connotes that he is angry and miserable. His arms are muscular and are not relaxed which may suggest he is eager to resolve something. His head is facing down and his back his turned to the audience. This connotes that he is in trouble. The editing on this poster shows how the shape of his body is disorientated as its quite disfigured. Which shows the audience that his role is puzzling and misleading and requires deep thought to figure out. This creates a sense of enigma which intrigues the audience and makes them create questions and think for themselves. Additionally, the poster also displays the male isolated from society as the setting is simplistic and deserted only showing buildings, greenery and a lake in the background. His isolation could imply that his character may not be favored by society.  Nick Dunne (Affleck) is wearing casual clothing such as; trousers and a navy short sleeve t-shirt. This conveys the idea that he isn't too concerned on his appearance more on the whereabouts of his missing wife. At the top of the poster there is a an extreme close up of his wife's eyes looking away.This adds more mystery to what happened to his wife and may make some audience members feel he was involved with her disappearance because her eyes are fading away. The large lake surrounding Mr Dunne may suggest to some that his wife's lifeless body is inside the lake. This lake could be an iconic setting in the film as it may relate to his wife's whereabouts. Moreover this poster is for a police crime thriller film genre.  A convention for this poster is the fact that males are predominantly the dominant and protagonist figure because they always try to protect their loved ones and significant others from harms way. However, they can be viewed as the antagonist at the same time due to their violent actions. On the other hand, Above Nick is the tagline which uses an ellipses at the end to make the audience finish the sentence and show that the investigation isn't fully complete. The title is fading away beneath the clouds which relates the title to his missing wife. The names of the actors are at the very top of the poster. These names are very recognizable which encourages the target audience to see the film as they know what famous actors are in the film. The size of the word 'GONE' is bigger than girl. This emphasizes his wife's disappearance. Furthermore, at the bottom of the poster there is a disorientated news headline showing the search for his wife. this is visually pleasing and adds more tension showing how important his wife was to a community. The credits at the end of the poster lists all the important names and the studio who made the film possible. This allows the audience to research more on the film and the people behind it. The release date and film website is also at the end which gives the audience all the information they need to prepare for the films release. The top of the poster is dark blue then changes to a lighter blue in the middle and becomes more clearer towards the end. This may suggest that the darkest areas are more tense and lifeless in comparison to the lighter areas that is more pragmatic. This is called a chiaroscuro effect. The demographic for this film is male and females who are aged 18 and over . Who take interest in watching films after reading the novel or who are just simply fascinated or fans of the police crime thriller genre and also fans of the famous actors. 

DAVID FINCHER

American film director, music and  tv producer best known for directicing psychological thrillers such as Seven (1995) Fight Club (1999) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and now Gone Girl (2014). 

In an interview he spoke about the challenges of directing the film, ‘The Challenge was the tone of the movie’ describing it as a ‘Bizarre Journey’ as it starts of as a mystery it suddenly transforms to an absurdest thriller and ends as a satire. Fincher usually creates movies with a plot twist but the challenging was to try to get all of the actors on the same page and the same pitch. Fincher admitted that it 500 hours shot of material within 100 days, 500 hours is excessive but he did it because he wanted his actors to fully connect with their characters. Fincher usually works with a variate of actors whilst directors tend to stay with same or similar casts he says it creates an ‘Alienation’ a room to experiment new things with a new actor and that he believes the actors he finds are destined to be that character or they have some sort of connection such as Rosamund Pike, he had been looking at her works but never worked with her, but talking to her he found that her life paralleled with Amy Dunne, such as being the only and having a side that the actress does to show to people he said, ‘She will endure all of her dignity’. The key to creating a successful film is that he does not ‘Make films on the spite of who are making them , I make them for the people who finance

There are many key aspects of mise en scene which elaborates and aids in creating a tense atmosphere for the audience.

ACTORS

The audience are immediately informed of the two main protagonists and their significance in the films plot. Because they are the first two characters the audience are introduced to. In the beginning a shot of Rosamund Pike's character Amy Elliot Dunne  is shown in a close up with the camera at a high angle and her looking up. This results in her character being the main focus emphasizing her importance and meaning within the plot. Her facial expression looked very neutral which led to no suspicion as it was shown in the opening scene however as the film developed and we learn more about her character the scene in shown again in the end which makes the audience gain a more in depth understanding of that particular moment and realize her neutral facial expression is quite alarming and nerve racking.  In terms of her clothing we couldn't really see what she was wearing as the her body shoulders down was out of focus only her face and shoulders were mainly in focus this could suggest the intimacy between her and her husband. Moreover, Ben Affleck's character Nick Dunne is stood on a porch outside of  his house for quite a while, which shows the distance between himself and Pike's character. This may imply that there is already friction between the married couple. He looks effortless as he only seems to be wearing lightly coloured clothes such as; a white t-shirt and trousers. This could connote the idea of naivety and innocence. His body language also suggests his fatigue and desperation for change.

LOCATIONS

The majority of shots taken show the particular town the couple live in and the different locations Amy ends up in. The buildings in the town look quite old which suggests that its quite a traditional town. For example 'the bar' which doesn't have many costumers if so they're old, the home of Nick Dunne's ailing father, the courthouse which is a landmark in the area and has stood since 1854 etc. In contrast, the houses such as Nick and Amy's looks very modern. In addition to this the opening titles are shown when the scenes are outdoors which helps introduce the audience to the town where the film is set. As the film begins establishing location shots appear and last for a very short amount of time. This suggests the many clues the film may have to offer. Furthermore, the credits are positioned on top of the visuals. The credits are displayed in the beginning which informs the audience of the actors, producers and the director involved with the making of the film. During the beginning of the film Nick Dunne is already established as the male protagonist when there is an elongated shot showing him in the midst of self company in front of his house maybe reminiscing his past. The film uses cross cutting to differentiate the scenes and show the on going investigation for missing Amy to Amy's disguises and current whereabouts .

LIGHTING

The opening scene takes place in the early hours of the morning, right before dawn. The dark tones and dull lighting puts emphasis on a very moody atmosphere. The shots of the titles look quite dark creating a cold and sombre visual. Furthermore, During this time of day people are usually asleep or just waking up which suggests that nothing suspicious usually occurs during this time period as the atmosphere is calm and relaxed. The lighting is low key because of the time of day. The low key lighting could be a metaphor in relation to the characters thoughts, feelings and actions. In the beginning their lives are quite dull and strategic then it develops into hatred and separation because a terrible event is about to occur that will 'awaken them' which compares to the idea of dawn. The use of dark and shadowy shots creates mystery which intrigues the audience and metaphorically shows relation to the plot.

SOUND

The non diegetic music used throughout the beginning accompanies the visual aspects. Making the opening to the film much more eerie and tense. The sound usually became intense, louder and quicker to suggest the build up of the scene and the characters actions. For instance, when Amy was about to kill her high school admirer. The volume of the sound increased and was repetitive to make the audience feel uncomfortable and shocked as it wasn't expected. The sounds of grasping, screaming and blood squirting was intensified which makes the audience feel no sympathy for Amy Dunn's character as she brutally murdered her lover.

Genre research

Genre Research: Police crime thriller

Police crime thriller is a hybrid genre. The genre is known to create intense elation and suspense. Audience members often feel a rush of adrenaline and highly anticipate the plot. This creates anxiety and tension. Furthermore, this genre usually builds towards a climax and uses the theme of enigma to create questions for the audience.

The conventions of this genre include; fast pace editing such as zooms and fast cutting (a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration e.g. 3 seconds or less).Police Investigation, antagonists and protagonists, high Intensity action scenes such as fighting or car or on foot chases. In addition to this someone usually perishes in a police crime thriller whether it is the antagonist or protagonist.

Characters in this genre commonly include; criminals, stalkers, people involved in twisted relationships, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, sociopaths characters with deep dark pasts, terrorists,psychotic individuals, cops and escaped cons, psycho-fiends and more. Themes of the genre frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit or romantic triangles leading to murder.

The sound in a police crime thriller film is mostly used to frighten and startle the audience. The music also helps build up the climax when approaching a scary scene. Non diegetic sounds are generated by a computer and helps create the dark eerie sounds which suggests the mood in the scene. Additionally, the music starts slowly and gradually speeds up helping promote nervousness.

Se7en and Gone Girl are excellent examples of police crime thriller. In the trailers fast cut scenes are used to help build enigma for the audience and draw their attention to the synopsis. Low key lighting is used in both trailers to put emphasis on the dark and dramatic plot and create a mysterious effect. Back and under lighting is also used to create shadows which creates a sinister and menacing tone.

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The Pitch

THE PITCH

Group Members: Maureen Ndungi, Amy St Louis, Twyana Stephenson, Olivia Ndila

Chosen Genre: Police/Crime Thriller

Title of Film: TBC

Outline of Ideas:

Tagline of Film:

For better for worse

Basic Plot Synopsis:

Jennifer Conway is a secondary school teacher at St Angela’s and her husband Chris Conway is a rookie Police Officer. They were childhood sweet hearts who loved each other deeply. It seemed as if her life was perfect until she had her first child. After the birth everything started to go downhill. She developed a Post-Partum Psychosis and during an episode she suffocated her baby with her hands. Knowing what she’s done she buries it in the back garden and goes back into the house to do some cleaning. After a while she goes back upstairs to tend to the baby but she cant find it. Panicking she hurries to the police station to tell her husband and he reports it missing. The Officers check the house and question neighbours whether or not they have seen some strange activity within the neighbourhood recently.

They start to investigate the abduction and begin to suspect family members – his mother who never wanted him to marry Jennifer and blames the kidnapping on her. When the story doesn’t check out they start to suspect Jennifer’s sister Lizzy who does not have the ability to get pregnant and has wanted a baby for a long time.

After failing to come up with any leads the attention is turned to the Chief Officer Clara who has had an affair with Chris and is jealous that he has a family with another woman. Through this period Chris starts to become sceptical of his wife who has recently has been acting strange, as earlier during the week she was out in the garden checking on the baby. As they talk about the horrendous events these past months her stories and accounts of what happened are becoming confusing and no longer make sense.

One weekend he sends her out shopping and takes the opportunity to investigate what is at the back of their garden late one night. He discovers the bones of his dead baby.

What type of characterisation will you have?

Jennifer Conway- Secondary school teacher. She’s a clever, helpful woman who develops post partum psychosis after giving birth to her first child.

Chris Conway- Rookie Police Officer. He’s smart, romantic but has made a lot of mistakes in the past, including cheating on his wife with his boss.

Clara Johnson – Chief Officer. She’s sly and seductive but she is envious of Jennifer as she is the wife of Chris whom she had a short affair with.

Grace Conway- Mother to Chris Conway. She’s a traditional African mum who had never accepted the marriage between Chris and Jennifer.

Elizabeth Lewis- Older sister to Jennifer. She’s a humble woman but is unable to have children and is a suspect in the investigation.

Lily Conway- Newborn child to Chris and Jennifer. She is murdered by her mother.

Describe Mise-En-Scene to be used or any visual motifs?

Costume: Suits and casual clothing.

Accents: Standard English besides from the mother of Chris (African accent)

Location: Police station, house(kitchen etc.), school, garden.

What are your ideas about Cinematography/Photography?

Contrast, the ratio of dark and light of an image using low contrast to get the naturalistic lighting along with low key lighting of dark scenes this is to contrast between light and dark to distinguish between good and evil for example this could be used in a tensed scene when scene of Chris having an affair with the chief, low key lighting will emphasise how scandalous the affair is how love is mistaken for lust.

A shallow depth of field to make the audience focus on the most significant aspect of a scene along with close up shootings and shooting in low light condition this could be used in a scene when someone secretly hearing a conversation behind them and so the camera would focus on the people having the conversation whilst the other individual is slightly blurred out. Zoom shot could be used in the beginning of a scene to introduce the characters by focusing on them for example a medium long shot of people in a party to medium close up of Chris and Jennifer holding a glass of wine to indicate that they are the hosts of the party.

Angle of framing will be used to indicate the relation between the character and the camera’s point of view to either express vulnerability or power for example as the chief who rules the police station will often  be portrayed  from a low angle, therefore aggrandizing her figure. Whilst Chris her employer the rookie cop could be shot from a high angle emphasising she has more power.

Conventions of Trailers/Posters/Film magazines you plan to reinforce or reinvent?

 Gone girl- the plot twist

What resources will you need? (Include actors, props, costumes and settings)

The costumes should emphasise on the characteristics of the different characters. Jennifer should be dressed in smart casual clothing to show her authority as a secondary school teacher. However as her authority decreases and she becomes a suspect her choice inclothing changes to match her status. She will begin to wear casual clothing, such as baggy t-shirts, denim Jeans, trainers etc. Her husband who is a rookie police officer should wear a long trench coat to suggest his type of job. He can also wear gloves and carry around a badge to help him deceive people into thinking he is a chief officer in order to investigate deeper. Clara Johnson who is the chief police officer should dress very flirtatiously. She could wear a tight suit with heels and stockings and she should also have her hair in a ponytail and wear red lipstick to show how seductive she is. Props will include a fake baby doll, a police badge, desk stationary. Settings will include a school corridor, a living room, an office, a baby's bedroom, a garden.

Actors: We will have the two parents, and (fake) baby, a Chief Officer, Grand mother, sister, (extra’s) Officers.

Set: A home (living room, bedroom), Office, Garden, Corridor,

Justification of any ideas in relations to genre and recognisable film influences, also what is your unique selling point:

One movie which heavily influenced us was GONE GIRL. It’s about the disappearance of Nick Dunne’s wife, Amy. However there is a twist to the plot and it turns out Amy faked her own kidnapping. An idea like that is so interesting and unique and we want to bring that sort of concept to our storyline.

Also the film ‘Seven’ which stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman gives an incite of police detective work and how it led to new leads, similar to our story line.

Our film trailer idea is quite adventurous but I think that’s what makes it unique. Not a lot of films have issues about mental illnesses mixed with the idea of police crime work so I think exploring this will definitely make this film stand out. Our film emphasises on the destructive nature of love, family vs law, mental illness vs morality unlike most police crime films it is all about the antagonist or the importance of the cops figuring out the mystery; we look from the viewpoint of Chris as he discovers who killed his child.

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