Gone Girl shot by shot analysis

My portfolio project will be based on the genre thriller. As my group member and I develop the elements of our project, we are researching opening sequences in the thriller genre in order to stay convectional. I completed a shot by shot analysis on the movie 2014 movie "Gone Girl". I observed the convectional techniques and ways that they cause tension in their audience.

Shot 1

A single close-up shot showing the top of the head of a blonde women.

The first scene is a POV shot from man's perspective, it's a shallow focus close up shot of a woman laying down on his chest. The woman looked up at the man, or camera, which is positioned at a higher angle above her. She is showing a very serious expression on her face. This could be interpreted that something is bothering her or something seriously awful will happen. This man is looking down at her. Like she is frail and weak. This contributes to the relationship dynamic: the male has the power or control. She seems to also be wearing comfortable clothing lounge clothing. The scene fades in beginning and out at the end. The prologue begins with an J-cut. From the prologue we know it's a husband talking disturbingly to see the inside of her head or to understand her thoughts. The male's non-diegetic voice over talking about want to break his wife skull open gives the viewer's a psychopathic or a deranged background on the character which contributes to the prologue type of opening. Since prologues conventionally go with flashbacks. It's likely that the scene on the blonde women was a flashback. 

Shot 2

This is an establishing shot of what looks like the sea with the shore that begins with a fade in. This is typically conveys calmness.  Right after an uncomfortable close-up of the woman from scene 1. The opening credit scene names and title fade in and stayed for about 3 seconds to fade out. The credit and title appear in white font. You can see a ship or boat in the distance. They could be on an isolated island or land. The sky appears to be a light blue and pink color, signifying it's either around sunrise or set time. 

Shot 3

A full shot of a building.

Shot 4

A close up low angle of a sign.

Shot 5

Another angled down close-up of a building.

Shot 6

A medium shot of a building.

Shot 7

A wide shot of a house.

Shot 8

A full of a reduced house from the front. 

Shot 9

A full shot of the landscape of a house.

Shot 10 

A close up lifted pavement.

Shot 11

A medium shot of a alley way.

Shot 12

A medium shot of a supply store.

Shot 13

a close up picture of a safety sign and building in the back.

Shot 14

A close up shot of a pillar.

Shot 15

A full shot of a broken down house.

Shot 16

Shots 3-16 are of abandoned buildings in town. The shots emphasizes the abandonment elements of the setting or the characters. 

Shot 17

Shot 17 is a panning shot from the bottom of the clock to the top showing a broken clock that stopped at time 7:55. This could be significant later on into the story. The eerie non-diegetic music gets louder as the sequence continues. This contributes to the tension element.

Shot 18

Scene 18 is a knee-level- shot of a male standing in front of a house looking lost.

Shot 19

scene 19 is a long shot to the left of the man standing in front of the house.

Shot 20

Cuts back to a knee-level shot to the man turning around facing the house like he is looking for something.

Shot 21

He starts to walk towards the house in an extreme long shot.

The last scene is of a man wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans. Gray conveys compromise, neutral, control, practical. His plain clothing or the color of them give no insight or a neutral feeling of who he is. This adds a mysterious effect. Or its just to show how "normal" he really is.

The very low lighting  and lots of shadows throughout the opening conveys tension. The tones used are very dull blues, grays which the audience a very fickle feeling. The light blue tint that is there throughout the whole opening sequence represents the feeling of isolation, passivity, and calmness. Isolation was showcased in the opening the most. It's another element that contributes to the disconnected and mysterious feeling