Poster Analysis - Gone Girl

Focusing on the film poster for “Gone Girl” I think this appeals to the target audience in many ways. The male who is the main focus of the image is the protagonist character in the film. The poster denotes a long shot of him; he is being represented as an unhappy man with a serious look on his face due to the fact his wife has just gone missing. The editing on this image denotes his body shape looking disoriented as it is slightly disfigured which connotes that he has committed a violent, physical act and that could be the reason why his wife has disappeared. This appeals to the target audience as it creates an enigma for them and makes them think for themselves what was the husband’s role in his wife disappearance. Linking this to the ideologies of males, males like to have authority and in times stand alone so this image of the protagonist character standing by myself conforms the ideologies of males, as males like to be individualists. Which again, this appeals to the target audience as it creates confusion and it bewilders them to think why a husband would ever do anything bad to their own wife whom they truly love.

 The poster denotes a male standing with a harsh look on his face and has his hands placed in his pockets. The connotative level of this is that he is thinking to himself about the events that have occurred, in addition to this that the events have affected him in a way that he feels isolated from society as he his body language denotes that he is standing in a timid way. He is wearing casual clothes of a shirt and trousers connotes that he does not care about his physical appearance at this particular time which makes the audience think that all he wants is his beloved wife back. As well as this the poster denotes an extreme close up of a female’s eyes in the sky above him; looking down on him. This appeals to the audience as the female (his wife) is being represented as an angel, which makes the audience think that she is not alive so he will never find her. By the eyes looking down on him, this is a connotation that she will always look down on him and look after him no matter what he has done to her. The location of this image denotes a large lake, which connotes that maybe the wife died, disappeared or was even found in the lake. The institution wouldn’t just show the audience a lake for no reason, so this lake could be an iconic lake when watching the film. This altogether appeals to the audience, as via the film poster this is one of the first times the audience come to terms with the film.  They will remember everything they see on the poster before going to watch the film and it encourages them to go and view the film for themselves to find out what happens.

 The poster follows the narrative theory of Tvzetan Todorov and Roland Barthes. Firstly focusing on Todorov’s theory, as he believes that all storylines have three stages the first stage being the equilibrium, where everything is balanced. The audience assume that the couple were initially happy together otherwise they wouldn’t have been together in the first place. The second stage being disruption, where something goes wrong at this stage the audience know that the wife has suddenly gone missing but they don’t know the reason behind her disappearance, which then links, to Roland Barthes’ theory. Roland Barthes believes that there are five codes, which are woven into any narrative. The hermeneutic code which is the codes of enigmas and puzzles which the audience are currently experiencing and this is why the poster appeals to them as they are having to face a challenge themselves to find out the answer behind the women’s disappearance.

 This poster is for an action; thriller film and the conventions of action thriller films are to be fast paced and created disorientation for the audience. By the editing techniques used on this poster of the protagonist’s character body being disfigured this creates confusion for the audience. In action films, males are predominately the protagonist characters as they always try to protect their loved ones and fight everyone else yet can be viewed as an antagonist character at the same time.

The main assumptions underpinning the film poster for “Gone Girl” is that the male has been hugely affected by his wife’s disappearance, which is denoted by his facial expressions and body language. By the women’s eyes in the sky it connotes that she had sadly passed away and he will never see her again. Therefore this appeals to the target audience as it emphasises the fact she has gone missing but it is up to them to find out the reasons behind her disappearance. The target audience this poster is aimed at are both males and females, from the age of eighteen upwards due to the age rating of the film being an eighteen; no viewers under the age of eighteen are able to see the film in the cinema. As part of the audience the main assumption I make from viewing this poster is that the husband has a role in his wife’s disappearance and she has passed away. However, I will not know the truth unless I go and see the film for myself.