Detailed Textual Analysis

Gone Girl  

Our film is to be a Crime-Mystery so for my Detailed Textual Analysis I chose to analyse Gone Girl. I chose this movie because it portrays a similar female character to that which I will be playing in our film - Amy Dunn (Gone Girl) to Raven Hearst. Both of these female protagonists are psychotic murderers. I am going to analyse the use of Camera Work, Appearance and Lighting. 

                      Camera Work

Amy Dunn - Gone Girls psychopath was generally framed within a close up shot which enables the audience to view her facial expressions. 

However when she is doing something physically she is framed within a medium shot so that the action is included but also still at a distance that her serene facial expressions can be seen to be unchanged despite what she is doing. 

At one point, when committing a murder a high angle shot is used (as shown below). This makes the audience feel as though they are on top of her, it may even make them feel like they are present whilst it is going on. This can relate to the psychotic nature of her character to deceive others minds, just like the camera is doing with the audience. 

Appearance 

(Hair, Make-up and Costume)

The close up shots of Amy Dunn allow the audience to clearly observe how set her complexion always is. Her hair is always neat and make-up is always simple but effective in making her seem mysterious. 

Throughout the movie she does not let her facial expressions slip to give away that she is in fact a psychotic murderer.  

Lighting

The lighting shown in the above images is generally low key which adds to the darkness of her character. There is also an interesting use of shadows on her face, where one side is in the light and where one is in shadow. This creates an eerie effect hinting that she could in fact have two faces, one in the light - her composed outer face, and one in the dark - her psychotic inward face.