fight club ; deconstruction

7/27/2019 Fight Club ; Deconstruction

1/5

Fight Club (by David Fincher 1999): Title sequence deconstruction.

Titles: Throughout the whole sequence the titles appear in a chemical blue flash

and then fade out for the next one. As the titles continue to appear the camera

starts to fly backward through synapses and the inner workings of the brain

(CGI) gradually moving towards a one to one scale of a crazed mans face with a

gun in his mouth. The use of the chemical blue colour really portraits the nervous

system well, whilst suggesting the film is going to be psychological and contain

scenes that are electric. It also provides an excellent example of a symbolic

sequence that shows what is going to come in the film. It acts as a foreshadowing

of events. The events are not always obvious but are subtle hints about

character, theme and the mood of the film.

Sound: There is a frenetic soundtrack which shows a pulsing of the nervous

system with a techno upbeat pulsating beat like a heartbeat increasing. When the

camera protrudes through the skin there is a flare up in the music, breaking the

surface. As the tip of the gun appears the music dies down and as the camera

tracks down the shaft of the gun it builds up until the audience is looking down

the sight at the man. As the focus switches to the mans face the music reaches aclimax and then cuts out completely to be replaced by his voice narrating the


2/5

scene. Another character starts to speak as an ambient street sound fades in, to

which the man mumbles because of the gun pointed into his mouth. As the scene

progresses we hear the sound of water dripping, a chair creaking as he turns and

footsteps as the character moves across the room. The sounds echo to create the

sense that they are isolated and there is no-one to help the man. Also, during the

dialogue between the two characters the mans speech dips in and out of theconversation and his current thoughts which are aimed directly at the audience.

As the man looks out the window the ambulant street noise increases in volume

and when the camera drops violently down to street level there is a sound of

rushing air and a low rumble to make the audience feel as if they are free falling.

Editing: Firstly the company Regencylogo rolls by fading in and rotating around

the x-axis and then fades out. Then the titles start to fades in with music.

Throughout the title sequence the CGI of the inner brain is very dark and very

stereotypically biological. This is good because the viewer can easily recognize

what they are watching and it gives them an idea of what is to come throughout

the film. The inner workings of the brain. This will be a psychological thriller. As

we are flying through the brain the titles appear in a neon burst of colour (in

correlation with the music) like the chemical diffusion between synapses. The

titles are displayed for a short period of time before they diffuse into the

background. The fact that the viewer has only a short period of time to take in


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and process the information makes them want to pay attention and try to work

out what is happening. Further into the title sequence the brain cells in the

background start to slightly flash and pulsate in time with the beat. Afterwards

the brain sequence fades out and the screen goes black for a few seconds apart

from little specks of light travelling away from us to continue with the illusion

that we are panning out. Then there is another short biological sequence ofvarious tissues and cells from which we exit from the pore in the mans skin. The

skin appears to have beads of sweat on its surface which suggests that this

person is under a great deal of stress or pressure. The camera to continue to pan

outward down his face ending up at the sight of the gun as previously mentioned.

Up until this point the whole sequence is CGI and we are greeted with the first

real scene we find a traumatized man staring at us with a black eye. Then it cuts

to a shot of the same man with a gun pointed into his mouth. Afterwards it cuts

to the same shot but from the gun holders viewpoint and then cut to another

behind the gun holders right leg. The next shotis focused purely on the hostages

face turning to the left. And finally it cuts to a shot outside the building looking in

at the gun holder.

Camerawork: The starting title sequence involves the camera panning

backwards out of the brain to the surface of his sweaty skin. It then continues to

move microscopically down his face to his moth where it meets the barrel of a

gun, which it then follows down the shaft to the sights. The focal range then

switches to the previous out of focus face and draws it into shot. The next shotinvolves the hostage with the barrel of the gun pointing down his throat in a low

position with the man holding the gun in the higher position. This indicates

status within the shot and leads the audience to believe the hostage has no

control over this event. The next shot is another portrait of the hostages slightly

off centered face as the man pulls the gun out of his mouth. As the man continues

to lower his gun-wielding arm the camera cuts to a shot behind his right leg

involving match on action as the arm comes to a stop. This is done to create focus

on the gun, which is the power and control in the situation. This shot then pans

right to see the man walk off behind the hostage. It then cuts back to another

portrait of the hostages poorly lit face turning to the left and finally the camera

is located outside of the building looking in on both characters with a mid-shotof the mans chest cutting off the top portion of his head.


4/5

Mise-en-scene:Throughout the whole sequence the two characters are located

in a dark, damp, empty room high up in a tower block which is under

construction. The walls behind the characters are large glass window panes

which overlook grimy metropolis. The scenes are very lifeless due to the only

light source being the street below and from the apartments opposite.

Conclusion: Due to our low budget we would focus on the actors and the acting

rather than the CGI. One aspect I would use in my own production would be to

start the sequence with the ending of the film to give the viewer a taste of what is

to come. This has a cyclical feel to the film and it makes the viewer think and

work out how the characters get in that situation. How do the events affect the

ending?


5/5

fight club ; deconstruction

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