Spoiler Review ( Fight Club )

   

''Fight Club'' satisfied me as a thriller as the film contained all the main elements that you would expect to discover in a thriller genre. This includes a huge aspect of the film which was mystery and suspense which is presented through the plot, characters, cinematography and special techniques with the effects that keeps the audience guessing.

At the very start of the film the director creates mystery as in the opening credits its flashing through the nervous system of the brain , this confuses the audience as they think the film is about fighting (based on the name) so this makes them guess why the nervous system of the brain right from the start but in the end this all becomes clear as the narrator turns out to be a schizophrenic.

The Narrator of the film describes his lifestyle at the start which is quite ordinary apart from he is an  Insomniac, by doing this it instantly keeps the audience thinking where the film is heading and what is going to be the main topic as fighting was suspected to be , but it hasn't even been introduced in the first 30 minutes of the film. But if noticed by the audience subliminal messages are sent throughout the start of the film, as flashes of fighters appear in point of view shots of the narrator this shocks the audience and make them question themselves if they actually saw it, this is a great atmosphere to create in a thriller genre.

Marla Singer is a character that is introduced in a very mysterious way by her smoking and wearing sunglasses and strolling in on a council meeting standing out from the rest , this instantly signifies to the audience she is an important character and will play a main part in creating mystery and this turns out to be true as she is the one the narrator calls to reassure he is a schizophrenic as he sleeps with Marla later on in the film and she saw him as Tyler Durden.

Then Tyler Durden is introduced and straight away he clicks with the narrator and they create the fight club and go out creating reckless crimes, this builds suspense as the crimes and the entire fight club as a whole are like a build up to the twist at the end and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as the fighting scenes keeps the audience interested. Also the fact the two characters click unnaturally fast makes the audience question if he is real or not this can also be suspected through the characters strange and unnatural costume .

The director creates mystery and suspense through the cinematography as he specifically throughout the film uses camera angles and shot types to never have Marla, Tyler and the Narrator in the same shot in a set which makes the audience wonder why the director has done this, and it builds suspense up to lead up to the audience discovering  the Narrator is Tyler Durden and he physically saw his conscious and had a split personality.

Here I have attached a few stills and important scenes that resemble the style of the film and how it is presented :

Overall I feel the film delivered brilliantly as a thriller genre as the twist at the end was very successful and made all the past of the plot become crystal clear which brought the shock factor to the audience. So for these reasons I rated 4/5 for Fight club as a thriller.

How to Adjust the Camera's, Exposure, Focus and White Balance in Manual Setting

Click the ''Menu'' button to be presented with the listing of adjustments.

Use the ''Left'' and ''Right'' buttons on the side of the camera to scroll throught the options.

Click on ''Function'' to be presented with exposure and white balance options.

Scroll down to ''White Balance'' button to adjust the white balance.

Scoll down to your chosen white balance option and then hold the ''Menu'' button until your chosen option flashes twice, then the setting will be set. (Options depend on if you are shooting inside or using sunlight as your light source).

Use the top two ''Zoom'' buttons to zoom in and out.

Go back , then press the ''Menu'' button again and then ''Function'' to get to the exposure setting.

Use the scrolling buttons to select the ''Exposure'' setting.

Press the ''Manual'' button to adjust the exposure.

Scroll up and down to select the exposure number you wish to use , depending on the surroundings.

Press ''Focus'' button located above the scrolling pad to be presented with the focus setting. Then use the left and right button to adjust the focus.

Personal Photography of a Thriller Setting

I photographed a dark alley as a thriller setting. I chose this because this is a common place in a thriller where a murder could take place. Also the lighting of the lampost gives an eary, suspicious atmosphere to the photo and the two walls closing in together makes the audience feel claustrophobic , which is a good feel to give the audience in a thriller. The light fading into pitch black in the foreground also produces a sense of mystery.

Genre Iconography Mood Board





















Thriller Collage

I created a thriller collage of DVD Covers, Film posters , Typical thriller scenes, Costumes, Lighting and Props. I did this to develop my knowledge on key aspects of a thriller.  Instantly you can tell that the collage is a thriller because of the colour scheme, which includes black as its associated with death which is very common in a thriller, black also gives a sense of mystery and suspense as its a very unrevealing colour. Blue is also used which is a very emotionless colour that describes some of the characters personality in a thriller ( Murderer, Cold blooded ). Green represents jealousy which can be a common theme in a thriller.  The lighting in each individual set design photo is  dimmed and dark blueish , this may be done to create mystery as the lighting can cover the killers identity and keeps the audience guessing. Dimming the lighting can also create a sense of suspense as it tells the audience something is going to happen. The characters create mystery as they are commonly dressed in dark clothing which  doesnt give away the characters personality straight away,  they also dont give a lot of information away through their facial expressions.  You realise its thriller based due to the type of characters involved: Cop, Detective, Hooded killer and Victims which are all common characters played. The props consist of guns, police tape, torches and blueprints which also tells the viewer that the genre of the collage is a thriller. The location is a key aspect of a thriller as they are mainly based in the adult-world like Cities, Houses and Warehouses, as you can see these types of locations are present in my collage.

AS Media Studies , Mark Scheme

The class researched the mark scheme thats followed and tasks that need to be produced in the course and the deadline dates . Then we gathered together to go through it all and make sure we understand what we have to do and what is expected of us.

Class Analysis of a Thriller Film

At the end of the lesson the class gathered together as a whole to put all our knowledge of what we have learnt together on the whiteboard about the mood and atmosphere of thriller films. Every student had some input on this activity.

Written Timeline Tittle Sequence (Splice)

Title Sequence Timeline - (Splice)

                                         0.05

                                          0.10

                                         0.15

                                         0.20

                                         0.27

                                         0.33

                                         0.39

                                         0.45

                                         1.07

                                         1.19

                                         1.39

                                         1.42

                                         1.47

                                         1.53

                                         1.59

                                         2.02

                                         2.10

                                         2.14

                                         2.18

                                         2.22

                                         2.27

                                         2.30

                                         2.33

                                         2.38

                                         2.42

                                         2.45

                                         2.53

                                         2.55

                                         3.01

                                         3.08

                                         3.17

                                         3.23

Why have I done this Timeline Task?
I did this task to acknowledge how many slates there actually are in an opening 3 minute title sequence , so when it comes to making my own creation I can make my project look as professional as possible. Also looking at the sequence it made me became aware that the names of the actors and companies involved need to be projected in a certain order, ( Production company ALWAYS has priority of first slate as the production is their property ). I also learnt that the main actors also prefer to own there own slate as it represents more importance and some actors may become very competitive when it comes to this. Whilst watching numerous title sequences it also helped me to get an idea on how to create a title sequence which suits the genre of film I will be creating and how to give an insight to the viewers on what the films going to be about and keeping them interested at the same time, ( Horror genre-  Erie, dark music, suspence, tense and creepy atmosphere, mood of fear , glimspe of villains and weapons,  gothic or bloody styled font, spooky abandoned setting ). I also learnt that title sequences had to be at the begining of every single film due to legal and copyright reasons , and that some directors despise them as they are commonly known to cause the viewers to loose interest. Most directors would prefer to jump straight into the storyline to hook the viewers onto the film.