From the next shot we get a good idea of what the movie is about. It has two men fighting on a small mat made out of flattened cardboard boxes stuck together with tape. Because of its location, the fact that the fighters aren’t wearing any protection and the people watching the fight we know for certain that it’s illegal. This would make the audience want to know why they are fighting each other. This again makes it seem more interesting and dangerous.
This next shot also brings humor to the audience. After seeing a load of very large, muscular, testosterone driven men we now have an over the shoulder shot of a beefy man who doesn’t look very strong or dangerous at all. He doesn’t look like a good fighter because of his stance and the way he is moving. He has his hands in the air with his palms open like a pussycat. This is unlike the other men because they all have their hands in fists ready to punch someone. The main part of the humour is the fact that the main has exteremily large breasts. The light is shining right on his face and chest, this is done to make sure that the audience doesn’t miss the humour intended by the directors. The breasted man is also wearing a “World Gym” shirt. This seems odd because he isn’t the kind of person you would expect to find in a gym.
The next shot has some of the thugs that were fighting with Tyler walking somewhere underground. It looks like the underground of a rundown factory. Although Tyler is not at the front of the “Pack” Our eyes still seem to find him because of the light positioned on him. I think that it might also be due to him wearing a nice white suit, walking with a bunch of thugs with black eyes, scars and other such things and he is wearing pink sunglasses.
The next shot is a close up of Tyler’s face with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He is violently grabbing a person in front of him who we can’t see. Because he has a cigarette in his mouth while doing this doesn’t make him seem professional. But he looks very cool, collected and like he knows what he is doing.
The next shot is of Jack looking out the window of a passing bus. The camera stays in a fixed position but pivots to follow his face. The light is focused right on him so that we look there instead of being distracted by the other people on the bus.
The next shot is of a golden colored ball being blown out of the base where it sits. I think this is the scene that would make the audience think that fight club is more than just a fight club. I think they have used a ball to blow up because it represents the earth they are trying to cause mayhem on. It could also represent a testicle; testicular cancer is a fairly large part of the film.
The next shot shows the same white suit dressed men barging their way into a room and putting on balaclarvers. They are looking around the room very agitated, maybe looking for another person they are doing something wrong. It then has Tyler looking tired and unshaven finishing off his sentence. “Do not talk about fight club.”
The next shot is of Jack in a windy, icy cave with a penguin jumping up then sliding down off the screen. This would create a sense of confusion by the audience because this is nothing like what has been seen before in the trailer. It would make them wonder what that has to do with the film and how it fits in with the rest of it. There are two sources of light in this shot. One comes out of a hole in the side of the cave shining onto Jack. The other shines down from a crack in the roof positioned behind the penguin.
For the next shot the music changes from its quick, modern beat back to the depressing roaring undertone. The next shot is of Marla. She is wearing all black: black hat, black shaded sunglasses, (while she is indoors.) and a black dress. Her skin looks very white and unhealthy. She has just taken a drag from the cigarette in her mouth and is letting the thick wall of smoke rise slowly out of her mouth and above her face. We only see this shot of Marla for two seconds but from what has been seen the audience has already got a good idea of what her character is like.
The next shot is of Tyler looking down at an old dirty desk lit only by one small lamp in a dark room. Tyler slowly turns his head from looking down at the desk to looking at the audience through the camera. While this is happening Jack is narrating in the background “Let me tell you about Tyler Durton, he had a plan.” This is over the scene of the computer showroom being blown up. This would make they audience feel a sense of tension and unease because they would know that it’s not a good plan. From the tone that Jack uses and the use of the word “Had” makes the audience think that the plan didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to. The audience also get a feeling that Jack looks up to Tyler because he is telling a story about him and the way he says it also gives off this feeling.
The next shot is of a man, the audience doesn’t know who he is because he has his back to the camera. He is standing unmotionly watching one old, tatty, falling apart suitcase go around on a revolver.
This next shot is again another one with a purpose to bring humour to the audience. It’s of Jack being pulled into Bobs breasts. We don’t see Bobs face but we do see a name tag with his name on it stuck on his shirt. This shot would be well remembered by the audience because of the situation. It would also bring confusion to the audience because it would make them think why does someone with extremely large breasts have a name tag Bob. I think they have chosen the name Bob because it is a very stereotypical name for a man.
The next shot is of the same earth/testicle shaped ball, which was coming off its stand. It is now rolling down some stairs and towards the camera. When the ball hits the first step the camera shakes like it was in an earthquake. I think this was a very effective way of showing the danger of the ball.
The next shot is of an airplane hurling towards the ground. It’s falling at such a speed that the chairs are being ripped out of the floor, the trolleys and peoples luggage are being thrown all across the screen. We then have a close up on Jacks face, he is not moving and is looking calmer then the audience would expect. This would make the audience feel that Jack doesn’t really care about life and that he couldn’t care less weather he lived or died.
The last shot of Tyler saying “If this is your first night at fight club then you have to fight.” This would cause the audience to feel a great amount of tension from hearing this. Specially because it is the last thing the audience are left with.
Sam Gould
