Genre Research: Gone Girl

    Camera angles play an important role in this film. The main characters Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy (Rosamund Pike) are shown as two completely different people, very subtly, based on the angles and shots. For example, Nick is shown as little, and almost submissive throughout the movie using a series of wide and long shots. However, towards the end of the movie, when a resolution has been come to, he appears closer to the camera signifying his dominance. On the other hand, Amy is shown as the dominant one throughout the majority of the movie with a collection of close-ups and extreme close-ups. Lighting plays an even bigger role in this movie than camera angles. The director uses light to show dominance and chemistry between the two characters. At the beginning of the film, Nick is showcased using dim lighting and a lot of shadows as he hides from his own demons. However, towards the end, he is shown brighter and more confident in himself now that the story has resolved. In Amy's case, she is foreshadowed as an evil character using the dim lighting and shadows upon her face in the last two acts of the movie. For the scenes themselves, practical lighting is used a lot, such as the scene where the town hosts a memorial for a character. The actors are all holding candles and the only other light is the moon and a few pavilions that can be seen in the shots.

    Sound is low and ominous in the movie. The suspense of scenes is built up using rising music and little to no ambient sound. There is music in the movie as well. Special effects don't seem to be too present throughout the movie. Instead, the editors decided to use more practical effects like the use of the classic corn syrup mix for blood. Scenes were most likely enhanced in the editing studio for changes with lighting a such, however, nothing too major seemed to be done with the original shots. Moreover, the addition of music was used to enhance the scenes and make the viewers more attached to the film. As for elements of the "thriller" genre throughout Gone Girl, it seems to stick to the conventions of using little to no sound in a lot of the scenes to make the shots more suspenseful and gripping. Also, the importance of lighting in the film showed how they wanted to make the movie suspenseful and to fall in line with the "thriller" genre.

    I liked the use of little sound in a lot of the scenes, as well as the rising score to cause the scenes to make you worry for the characters. That is exactly what I was doing throughout this movie. I would be rooting for one character in one scene, but in the next, I would be rooting for another one. There wasn't much that I didn't like about the movie, in fact, it was probably one of the best movies I watched in 2014.