Fight Club Analysis

Lighting

• Low-Key: Employs very little fill light, creates strong contrast and often creates strong shadows that obscure parts of the principal subjects.
• High-key: Fill light is raised to almost the same level as the key light: images are usually very bright and feature few shadows on the principal subjects.
• When a movie is in shadows nearly the entire time, flashes of light become very noticeable and very important
• For example: after we see Tyler fight in this scene, he stands above his opponent and a light shines behind him. This lighting expresses to the viewer how highly the narrator think of Tyler at this point in the film
• Tyler is a god-like figure in this scene - the narrator puts him on a pedestal.
• Fight club utilises predominately low-key lighting
• Dark themes and twisted storyline in the film are enhanced
• The narrators insomnia and mental illness are represented through these shadows - detachment from reality, "darkening" of outlook

Props/Décor

Help circle scene:

• The large size of the rooms show how small/insignificant the men feel because of their loss of masculinity through their traditionally feminine emotions, to the reality of their situation.
• The American flag in the room represents the American dream, of which Tyler later refers to as ultimately unachievable.

Tyler's pad:

• There are various things in the narrators bachelor pad that help reinforce themes of consumerism
• Seems that he is trying to achieve hipster perfection - his apartment has loads of furniture while his fridge remains nearly empty. - not looking after himself? not conforming to his biological needs? too busy to eat? too lazy? This contrast is a reference to the fact he cares more about his own vanity satisfaction than his basic human instincts.
• Conventionally, decorating/furnishing is not considered a masculine activity yet the narrator is at one point keenly focused on it, reflecting the films theme of loss of masculinity.

Costume/Appearance

• Costume plays a large part in the mise-en-scene - it can instantly tell us the character's personality, social status and job.
• Tyler clothes resemble that from a thrift shop. Instead of a named brand clothing. - anti consumerist anti corporation.
• Shirts are not completely button or tucked in. His jacket is the colour of blood
• Narrators clothing are all expensive designer clothes - CK shirts, DKNY shoes and AX ties. His shirts are always tucked in and buttoned up. His wardrobe is very respectable. Embraces consumerism and is extremely materialistic.
• The narrators costume changes over the course of the film to plain clothing. No designer clothes anywhere. Stops trying to be perfect in the way he looks. Fight club sets him free from materialism.
• Tyler's appearance has noticeably evolved dramatically throughout the film. He has shaved his head and started to wear clothes similar to that of a pimp. It is as though his evolving style is a result of how the narrators has started to view Tyler as less of an inspiration of how he desires to be and more of a troublesome character with more malicious intentions. 

Camera and Character placement

• Birds-eye view - shot from above the subject. Usually used to make the people in the scene less significant to the viewer or to notice/concentrate on the surroundings.
• High Angle - reduces the size of the subjects. To imply harmlessness or insignificance, but not as much as at the birds-eye view.
• Eye-level shot - clearest view of an object, creates a less dramatic feel because it tends to be the norm.

 Scene Analysis - 'Jacks smirking revenge':

• The room is dull in colour - black grey and white.
• The lines are very straight non diagonal - conformist.
• His clothes are un-tucked - throne one - he no longer cares about the superego demands - completely following his id.
• Rule of thirds is followed - structure or order is present.
• The cinematography is ironic: the traditional low high angle power dynamic is reversed - tyler is the actual one with power in this scene.

Scene analysis - 'I want you to hit me':

• The scene is shot from a parallel angle - the left side of the screen mirrors the right shows how Jack and Tyler are the same.

Scene analysis - 'The first rule of fight club':

• The 360 shot around Tyler/jack shows they are the centre of attention - the id is the centre of attention.
• The queer gaze takes place in this scene - specifically at Tyler's body - does this indicate Jacks narcissistic tendencies?
• Jack sees Tyler as the ideal version of himself, the self he wants to be.

Scene analysis - 'Letting yourself become Tyler Durden':

• The narrator learns that he and Tyler are the same person. A great combination of cinematography and editing is combined to intensify the revelation to the audience. For example, numerous flashbacks in which the narrator takes Tyler's place in the scenes are shown and intercut with Tyler and the narrators reactions to this flashback, of which they both seem to experience.
• The fact that Tyler also seems to have seen what the narrator saw, reaffirms the narrators belief; that Tyler is in fact an imaginary construct of the narrators desires.
• Tyler casts two shadows in this scene, symbolising his split personality.In one instance we are shown a shot whereby Tyler is no longer seen sitting on the chair, we are outside of the narrators imagination. A dutch angle is used to show the narrators reaction to Marla calling him Tyler Durden. 
• Thought this clip, the shots are edited together to ensure that the narrator and Tyler see eye to eye, meaning that for example if in one shot Tyler is on the left hand side of the frame looking towards the right, in the next shot the narrator is on the right hand side of the frame looking towards the left - seemingly looking at each other if you were to overlay the images. This framing continues up until Tyler confirms the narrators suspicion that they are in fact the same person. From this point onwards the narrator is positioned in the centre of the frame and is hence no longer seeing 'eye to eye' to with Tyler. Perhaps this change signifies their different perspectives on the situation. The narrator is seemingly shocked and troubled by this revolution whereas Tyler is grinning.

Cinematography
 The cinematography of Fight Club is distinctively two polar opposites. In some scenes such as those that take place at the narrators workplace, the cinematography is primarily of a higher key in lighting and is predominately grey in tone. The cinematography in these scenes are intended to signify how mundane the narrator sees his work. This is in complete contrast to for example the fight club scenes whereby the cinematography is very low key with neon colours intended to signify an excitement.