Fight club - analysis of a sequence

The film I have decided to analyse in this essay is Fight Club (1999) directed by David Fincher (Se7en) and based on the novel by Chuck Palahunk. The film points fingers at numerous issues in society, namely the effect of consumerism on people’s lives, and how it is gradually taking over those lives.

The story is told trough the eyes of a narcoleptic named Jack, played by Edward Norton (American History X,). Jack’s only joys in life are the possessions he owns, until he meets Tyler Durden played Brad Pitt ( Se7en). Tyler believes that it is self-destruction that makes life worth living, not self-improvement. The very same night they meet, an explosion blows up Jack’s apartment and possessions. Tyler offers Jack a place to stay but on one condition – Tyler “I want you to hit me as hard as you can”. Despite Jack’s doubts about hitting Tyler he does and discovers that fighting for recreation can give the ultimate high. This leads to them setting up Fight club which gradually sweeps across America taking with it Tyler’s influence and philosophy.

The big shock of the story comes when Jack realises he is Tyler, a

. . .

Sound

Throughout the majority of the sequence there isn’t any non-diegetic sound apart from at the very end when Tyler punches Jack the bass beat of a song starts. This helps to illustrate that Jack is merely looking back over previous events as the plot starts at the end of the story. The first is in the parking lot when Tyler asks Jack to hit him, the second is in a movie projection booth where Tyler splices sex organs into films, the third is in the Pressman hotel dinner area and kitchens where Tyler urinates in the soup, and the final reverts back to the parking lot where they start fighting. The cut used to join the sequence up again when the paused time scene is over is a basic straight cut. He wears whatever he wants, not what some fashion ‘designer’ says he should wear. When this combines with some of the lighting it creates some excellent effects.

The next two scenes use the ‘fourth look of film’.

The sequence I am analysing made up of four sections. The colour of the picture itself seems as though it has been bleached during the developing stage, a technique Fincher used in Se7en. I feel this demonstrates Roland Barthe’s semic code. This is also a semic/symbolic code as it represents his boredom. Sound design is quite important at the end of this scene as the sound of a lorry passing is manipulated and combined with the voice over to put emphasis on the break in narrative and ‘time freeze’.

Common topics in this essay:
Tyler Jack, Barthes Reference/Cultural, Fincher Se7en, Sound Throughout, Roland Barthes, Despite Jacks, Se7en Tyler, Chuck Palahunk, Jacks Oedipal, , tyler jack, projection booth, medium shot, tyler punches jack, camera tracks, throughout sequence, shot tyler, basic straight, start fighting, freeze frame, features scene,

Approximate Word count = 1791
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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