Gone Girl Scene, “Should I Know My Wife’s Blood Type?” [0:00-1:10]
(20th Century Fox on YouTube. Viewed 29 August 2019. found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KNvRccCgME)
This scene in David Fincher’s Gone Girl [2014] shows Nick at the police station, being questioned following his wife’s disappearance. In the whole of Gone Girl, there is a colour palette of green and orange tones. This scene in particular has a green/blue colouring, enhanced with post-production editing. Additionally, the costume and production design assists with the effect – for example each character is wearing a different shade of blue, and the chairs around the table and other background props are green and blue.
This whole scene, the character’s faces show a chiaroscuro effect, facilitating the mysterious atmosphere of the scene, and the mystery of each character. The audience and Detectives Boney and Gilpin alike do not know if Nick is innocent or guilty. Equally the Detective’s thoughts on Nick are also undecided. The lighting defines each character in the space to achieve this atmosphere overall in the scene. Actor’s facial features are also consequently emphasised, enhancing individual movements. Additionally, the background walls are light-coloured, so the characters in front do not disappear into the background.
For example in the frame below, the key light is coming from above, a hard light, wrapped around Detective Boney’s left side and shoulders. This mimics where the average ceiling light would be in the interview room. There is also a soft directional hair light, showing that strip of shine on the top of her head. The fill is coming from behind the camera, both bouncing and softening the effect of the key. The light on the face is modelled, with the shadows falling expressively under the eyes, enhancing the hollows and creating the creepy look. If all is to be expressed in the eyes, then Detective Boney is staying hidden.
For Nick, the lighting space is similar to Boney’s shots, encouraging continuity in the scene. The light is directional from the top shining down, and hard, to define certain features. It comes from his right, placing Nick in a relative position to Boney. The hair light is top-lit and slightly enhances the front, as the rest of his hair is dark. The fill light is faced towards Nick’s face, only slightly softening the shadows, and creating a tired and worn-down look – especially in the puffy eye-bags and drooping eyebrows. Additionally, the light on his shirt is perfectly exposed to reveal the creases enhancing his dishevelled and lazy look.
Detective Gilpin (shown below) is the most underexposed character, with the same hard key light from the top, exposing his forehead and nose. There is negative fill on the left, darkening his shirt, and creating the angular modelling to the face. The light on his hair enhances the shine, and the perfectly combed shape. Gilpin, the seemingly least impactful character in the scene, embodies this by being mostly out of the light. When all three characters are shown together, the lighting choices from the individual shots are skilfully replicated on to each character.
The interview room in this scene is surrounded by glass. Glass walls and doors were important in this instance because the of the open-ended conclusions of the characters, and the nature of the questioning. Nick is not, and cannot see himself as trapped at this stage, and the Detectives have not (seemingly) got Nick cornered. It does not indicate complete transparency, but the unknown situation that Nick is locked into. In terms of lighting, this necessary glass background poses the challenge to light the scene without reflections.
The only distinct reflections seen are of the characters within the room. The entire hallway in the background has been lit, which helps combat the reflection issue. This could just have been by using white-coloured overhead lights. Additionally, cutters may have been used to block out the top lights from hitting anywhere but the characters below, including the glass surrounding. When Nick leaves the room, the lights outside the door are easily seen, indicating the exposure is balanced so that this set detail is not lost while the characters are appropriately lit.
Overall this scene has a noir quality consistent with the rest of the film, and particularly plays with shadows to capture the mysterious atmosphere.