Murch's Editing Theory - "Gone Girl"

Click here for more information on Walter Murch's "Rule of Six".

I have chosen to analyse the trailer for David Fincher's Gone Girl (2014) for the use of the various aspects of Walter Murch's "Rule of Six". The genre I would like to use for my opening sequence is either thriller or drama, therefore I have chosen Gone Girl, which fits in to both. Here is the trailer I will be analysing:

Emotion

• Slow editing in the beginning to show the romance between the two characters. It allows the audience to see how they look at each other and him leaning in to kiss her. You can see they are both happy and have strong feelings for each other.
• When the police are in the man's house, the editing is fast. It connotes the tension and hostility in the room and between the characters. The close-ups also mean that the audience can see their facial expressions. The police look as though they think he is the suspect, and he is uncomfortable and taken aback by their assertions.

Story

• In the beginning, you can see the man and woman kiss, and a ring being revealed from a book. This denotes to the audience that they are in a serious relationship and are becoming engaged.
• A few shots later, a silhouette is shown walking towards her menacingly. This denotes that something bad is going to happen to her and disrupt the equilibrium.
• The next shot is her face on a missing persons billboard. This denotes to the audience that she is missing. This is the disruption in the main plot.
• The police are shown in the man's house, treating him as the suspect. This connotes that the battle for resolution involves the assertion that he is the person that made her go missing.
• Multiple shots are shown that involve him and others looking for her and him talking to people about her. This connotes that the battle for resolution is mainly about finding his partner.

Rhythm

• The editing goes from roughly mid-speed in the beginning to fast in the end. This connotes that the film will have a long, steadily-paced build up in rhythm.

Eye-Trace

• In the first few shots, the audience is made to look at the characters' facial expressions. One of the shots also involves an engagement ring being revealed. They connote and denote that they are in a serious relationship respectively.
• Later on in the trailer, the camera pans toward a pile of broken glass and furniture. It connotes that someone is in danger, and when combined with the previous shot, that the woman is in danger.
• The shot in which the policewoman is placing a marker next to the blood on the door frame draws the audiences attention to the blood. This connotes that the woman has been at least injured by her attacker.

Two-Dimensional Plane of Screen

• As aforementioned, the engagement ring being revealed from the book in the restaurant denotes to the audience that the two characters are in a serious relationship.
• As aforementioned again, the blood on the door frame when the police are in the man's house connote that the woman has been at least injured by her attacker and that the man is a potential suspect.

Three-Dimensional Space of Action

• The editing is slower in the beginning of the trailer to let the audience see that the man and woman are very comfortable around each other (talking, kissing).
• When the police are in the man's house, the camera is placed so that you can see that him and the police are spaced a fair distance away from each other. This connotes the hostility between the characters to the audience.