Gone girl trailer analysis

Gone girl was brought out in 2014, it is a crime thriller involving the disappearance of a man's wife, the high media attention and suspicion turns to Nick when he becomes a suspect.

 At 0.11 a clip of the main character nick appears, he is standing in front of a poster of his missing wife Amy, this is an important clip as it gives the first indication of the plot. The lighting of this clip is very dim, this begins to set the mood of the trailer, low key lighting works really well with thriller/horror films and has become a key element for this type of genre.

At 0.15 the first glimpse of the other main character appears, this shot shows Amy looking lovingly up at her husband whilst laying in bed. This gives the audience a first impression of their relationship, it shows love and affection, a happy marriage. However, low-key lighting is still used in this shot, reflecting that this is not a love story but a thriller.

This is another shot that builds on the idea that Nick and Amy are in a loving marriage, he has his finger on her chin pulling her up for a kiss, the setting is low key, this is implying a romantic setting.

At 0.24 we see a shot of Nick walking into his house, the mise en scene of this clip implies that Nick is an average man who led a normal life, his costume of jeans and a t-shirt accompanied by an open shirt is casual and is a typical outfit for a regular man leading his day to day life. The setting of his house is also that of an average house, from this shot it is clean and tidy - no indication of an issue.
However, at 0.26 there is a shot-reverse-shot of Nick to the living room to Nick again. The living room shows a smashed glass coffee table, this is the first clip that shows signs of a struggle and danger. This constrasts with the normalisation of Nick and his life from the first shot.

The shot at 0.32 is a slight high angle shot of Amy in the bath, she is looking at her husband storming out on her in a hostile manner, the angle of this shot gives the impression that Amy is vulnerable and has less power than Nick. The argument taking place in this scene gives the impression all is not what it seems between the once happy couple and thickens the plot by adding suspicion.
Another shot to add to this idea is at 0.45, the over the shoulder shot is slightly low angled towards Nick, this is once again implying that Nick holds the power, he also has his arms spread wide, this can be seen as threatening and the audience begins to suspect he could be responsible for his wife's disappearance.

 At 0.50 there is a mid shot of Nick, once again in front of the missing poster of his wife, however this time instead of having a concerned look on his face he is smiling, this is abnormal behaviour for a man with a missing wife and creates further suspicion for the audience.

At 1.01, half way through the trailer, it is put clearly that Nick is the prime suspect for his wife's disspearance by displaying a news report titled 'Nick Dunne wife killer?'.

Nevertheless, by 1.09 there is a point of view shot showing an envelope labelled 'clue one' in women's handwriting, this adds mystery to the thriller and makes the audience question the plot, did Nick kill her? Is this a game? This is the response a thriller wants from the audience as it keeps them interested and questioning.

Towards the end of the trailer is a close up of Amy underwater, this is implying she is or was drowning, adding more suspense to the plot of this film, contradicting the earlier message that the shot of the envelope gave, this is another plot twist that keeps the audience engaged.

One of the final shots is an establishing shot of a setting, it looks like a lake at sunset when the title 'gone girl' appears followed by 'October 3' in simple white text. The titles are simple yet effective at relating the same message that was given throughout the whole trailer that not all is as it seems. As the titles appear there is a non diegetic sound of Nick pleading his innocence, whilst eery music plays quietly underneath to add an uncomfortable vibe to the words.