'Fight Club' Lighting

 'Fight Club' 

Fight Club adapts multiple lighting styles throughout the film. The two most used styles are low key and high key lighting. The contrast of the lighting lets us know which personality is in control. Overall the film possesses a dark tone which is shown through the choices of lighting 

 

In this clip Tyler is portrayed in low-key lighting. Low-key lighting creates heavy shadows and accentuates Tyler’s features, while also concealing a lot of Tyler’s face. This gives the impression that Tyler is a powerful and very masculine character who enjoys violence. In this scene the lighting is also further emphasised as the scene is highly saturated which helps show a further contrast between the characters and their personalities. In all the scenes in the movie Tyler is portrayed in low key lighting to further illustrate his personality and that he does not care about causing trouble.

Low-key lighting is most prominent in the fight scenes and mainly in Tyler’s world. This creates mystery as he is concealed by shadows and never seen in bright lighting. The constant use of low-key lighting creates a divide from the spectator and Tyler reiterating the fact that we know very little about this character. The shadows further express this. Tyler’s scenes have chiaroscuro and a high contrast ratio which exaggerates his characters personality and that he is a darker, and more sinister character.

 

In this clip we see Jack in his office which uses high-key lighting. This makes Jack seem very bright and have very few shadows unlike Tyler. This creates a lighter, more upbeat mood though this is paired with harsh blues and cold hues still in keeping with the overall tone of the film. Jack is very well lit perhaps presenting Jack as more ordinary and dull with a tiresome office job. This evokes a more positive reaction from the spectator about the character as he is, when not around Tyler, presented as a lighter and more ordinary character that some people are able to relate to. Jack has a very low contrast making him appear dull and uninteresting. 

 

In this scene there is very minimal light with further contrasts the brightness of the clips when Jack is in his office. Tyler when giving his speech is backlit as he has two dim lights on behind him, but they don’t really have much of an affect as they are not very bright. Perhaps illustrating that what they do is not very ethical and is gruesome and dark. 

 

This scene uses lots of incident light which is light from lamps etc. making this scene appear more natural, but also highlighting that they are not in a special place like a proper fighting ring but in a basement making the mood more sinister and intense also highlighting that what they are doing is wrong. 

 

Top lighting is used in this scene. Tyler’s face is highlighted so he is the brightest in the room making the spectator engaged in what he is saying as he appears to be the most important person in the room. Our point of attention is focused on Tyler as he delivers his speech just like all the other characters in the room.  The surroundings are covered in shadows illustrating that we are unsure of where this is taking place. The only thing we can see is people’s faces as the rest of the room is engulfed in shadows. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC1yHLp9bWA