In making a film, a director calls on a number of film techniques, for example, lighting, sound track, composition and camera work, to link scenes, attract our attention to a particular person, object or event and to develop plot, characters and theme. The given scene from Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, incorporates many of these aspects. However, in this essay I will focus on the mise-en-scene elements of colour/lighting, composition, costume, and camera shots and how these technical components of the scene contributed to the audience's understanding of the themes of anti-consumerism, underworld life and group mentality, as well as enhancing the character(s) of Jack and Tyler.
             One important aspect of mise-en-scene in the excerpt studied was colour/lighting. Throughout the scenes featuring the underworld, the colour is very dark, using a lot of shadows and dim lighting. This showed that Tyler was in control during these scenes, as he is the 'dark side' of Jack's personality. It also highlights the way of life in the underworld, where people and what they do are usually hidden, not brought out into the light. These scenes are contrasted with the scenes of Jack at work in his boss's office, which are extremely bright and help to emphasise the fact that this is the 'real' world. A blue filter is also used in the underworld scenes, bringing out the yellow in them. This use of colour is most obvious in the scene in which Tyler is threatening the dairy owner, when Tyler is also wearing a yellow shirt, while Jack is costumed in blue. {Comment on effect of this missing]
             Lighting is also important for the portrayal of the character development of Jack and Tyler. Symbolically, in this scene, these two characters are both half in shadow, foreshadowing the ending when it is discovered that Jack and Tyler are actually two halves of the same person, Jack, who suffers from split personality ...