Monday 28 February 2011

Thriller Analysis - Fight Club - Georgia

Fight Club - 1999

Fight club is an American film directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. The opening sequence of the film is about a man who is dis-contented with his standard life as an office worker, and not only does he collect furniture from his IKEA catalogue to give meaning to his apartment, he suffers from insomnia. The movie quotes that "i am never really asleep, and i am never really awake," which is the exact way to describe his character as he is very bland and average. He starts going to support groups such as testicular cancer support, and tuberculosis support although he is not suffering from them, but he goes there to be able to cry and let out his emotions, in which he then is able to sleep. As the film goes on, the plot of the film is confusing and really makes you think and you feel very shocked when you realise what has actually been happening. As the film goes on, it just gets more and more enticing.

When the film begins, it is a clip of the character sitting in a chair with the character Tyler Durden putting a gun in his mouth. There is a voice-over of the character in the chair explaining and narrating the story occasionally. And then he takes the viewers back to understand how he got into that situation. This is a clip of the very start of him explaining the way he got there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYDLv8rK4z8

Editing: he style of the opening sequence and throughout the film is continuity editing which is fast paced. It is fast paced because the speed in which the cuts to another scene occurs quickly and frequently. There are a lot of reaction shots of him.  And occasionally there is a glitch of a person appearing on the screen for no apparent reason. In the first few seconds on the youtube clip above, there is a wipe transition of the starbicks cup across the desk, and match on action shots of the man but in different locations. There is also a voice-over of the man occasionally throughot especially in the opening sequence, explaining his life to the viewer.

Mise en scene: The setting location is of the man's life. i.e his work, his apartment, his support groups etc. The costumes of the people are very standard and average. As the film progresses as we meet 'Tyler Durden,' we see that the man's clothes are very un-unique to Tyler's as he is wearing flashy clothes that make him stand out, and the man is simply wearing a plain white shirt and a tie, but gradually loses the tie and becomes more scruffy the more he is with Tyler. The lighting is all natural light, either night or daylight. The body language of the man is very inferior and discrete and he slumps and is very unenthusiastic in his facial expressions.

Camerawork: In the opening sequence there are a range of shots. For example, It starts with a close up of him tied up in the chair, leading onto a close up shot from the shoulders up when he is at his support group, then to a mid shot/high angle, from the waist up and looking down on him when he is in bed, back to a close up when he is at work and throughout the opening sequence there is not that much variety in the camera angles apart from that. The camera is usually in a fixed position with slight movement in the opening sequence, becoming more varied as the film goes on.

Sound: Throughout most of the opening sequence, the sound is diagetic and is of the sounds that are around him. However there is a voice over of him which is both diagetic and non-diagetic as it could be his inner thoughts while the film goes on.


1 comment:

  1. This is a very sensitive and insightful analysis.
    When you talk about the thriller conventions, such as a web of intrigue, make sure it is clear to the reader that you understand.
    It is excellent.

    ReplyDelete