The Girl on the Train is a 2016 American mystery thriller drama film directed by Tate Taylor and written by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on the 2015 debut novel of the same name. The film stars Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Édgar Ramírez, Lisa Kudrow and Laura Prepon.
The movie is about main protagonist Rachel Watson, an alcoholic woman who divorced her husband, Tom. She fixates on the relationship of her neighbours Scott and Megan Hipwell, on her daily commute into work, which is thrown into turmoil when Megan is supposedly missing.
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| The opening credits display the production companies using simple fade in transitions, unlikely to cause any particular interest, with the exception that the opening is in silence for at least 5 seconds, increasing tension, even though no characters or plot line has been revealed. |
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| Two tracking shots are used to establish a setting and a character. An extreme long shot is used to emphasise the home setting. The prominent orange sunset against leafless trees suggest to the audience that this home is overcast by secrets, just like how the shadows of the trees are cast over the white patio. The blonde woman (Megan) is seen only for a second, but it can be assumed that she is quite confident and mysterious , from her silk overall and revealing pink underwear. Her clothes match the white background around her; her eyes are following the camera suggesting that the camera is now acting as a character walking by, for example |
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| The titles used are black Caps lock typography against a cream/beige background, which mirrors the last shop's overall colour pallette. A Birds eye view shot followed by a quick straight cut to a mid shot of the woman's body suggest that this woman is of significance. The Non dietetic piano crescendos into a lower bass, suggesting that the woman's actions are foreshadowing a later event. The crowd coming into focus in the background whilst the woman looks away suggest that she is disapproved of in the community |
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| Here, Post production techniques allow the passing of the Train to look more dramatic with an interrupted fade to white. The Non dietetic music is now recognisable; with the single line:" In the night, I hear them talk", the action immediately cuts to a secondary title, documenting the success of the book. This is in the reverse colour pallette of the first two titles. |
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| The editing here immediately picks up speed with faster transitions between mid shots, close ups and establishing shots. This becomes smoother with the additional panning. The colour pallette remains the same throughout, until the action cuts to black after the end of the slow zoom, suggesting that the action afterwards is ominous. |
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| Here, the editing is made obvious, as it keeps parallel and synchronous to the words: :To a woman so heartless". An extreme close up of the blonde woman's lips, a close up of her skirt being pulled up and her looking straight at the camera suggest that this woman is either promiscuous or very comfortable in her sexuality. Beige, blonde and black are a recurring colour pallette being viewed in every shot. Juxtaposed with the close up of the brunettes worried face in only back lighting, this suggests that the blonde woman's actions are being exposed and watched by the brunette. |
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| From a quick fade from black, a dietetic voice over from the brunette ( Rachel) emphasise the action onscreen. In the first shot, hand held camera movements imply her fragile state of mind, emphasised by her simple action of brushing her hair away from her face in the mirror, as if to self evaluate. The voice over doesn't actually give all the story away, allowing the audience to form their own conclusions about the characters, typical of the thriller genre. Another tracking shots of the forest is used ending with sunlight acting as a transition into the next extreme close up of Megan. This immediate changes into a two shot with a man( Tom) as the main focus of the frame. His blue shirt stands out against the dull oranges, browns and blondes |
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| Many tracking shots are used to highlight the moving of a train here. Minimal lighting is key to establishing that the story is much darker as more information is given to the audience, this,coupled with the echo of "heartless" and more voice over, increases the tension. In the last shot, chiascuro lighting is used to highlight a suspect in Megan's disappearance. |
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| At this point, the echo of the ND soundtrack fades to complete silence. This emphasises the ominous nature of the next shot, which is a black shadow of a man holding a weapon. Handheld camera movements are used again to position the audience as the character, which is even more shocking when a hand yanks Megan's hair back, towards the audience. This is stylistically matched by a time lapse of the moon going down. The navy blue hue of the moon contrasts greatly with the dark beige backgrounds of the previous shot, suggesting that a murder was committed. |
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| Only front lighting is used in the first close up, possibly implying that this is an intimate moment. However this is juxtaposed with a high angle shot of a man strangling Rachel in slightly brighter light. The shots begin to become more emphasised as the words :" How could you be so heartless?" ring over the dietetic noises of breathing and screaming. |
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| The final few shots are synchronous with every syllable of the ND soundtrack which is an interesting style of editing.The lack of vibrant colour and the paleness of the hand present the cold, detached and brutal nature of seeing a dead body. The next two shots are tracking shots showing two characters seemingly running away, suggesting to the audience that these two are the top suspects. The last shots use contrasting lighting to end the sequence with a bang. Red lipstick smeared on the mirror suggest violence, death and desire, which Rachel may be distressed by. |
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| The close up of Rachel's face suggests pain and sorrow as she says the words :" Because I'm afraid of myself", which is followed by 1 second of silence, highlighting how grave her words are. |
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| Finally, the dietician screech of the Train is ripped over Megan's scream, followed by post production static, adding extra tension after the climax of the trailer. The ending tiles document the name of the movie, which is blurred capitalised white typography on a black background. It could be said it's blurred to replicate the movement of the train. The final frame documents the release date as well as the Facebook page. |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoEE1i0CX8
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