Fight Club Editing Analysis

David Finchers Fight Club is a dark satire that is narrated by a nameless businessman who follows every order given to him and is nothing out of the ordinary until he meets his soon to be friend Tyler Durden. The two start a fight club and at first get along quite well until the narrator starts resenting Durdens ideas and begins to realize that he is Tyler Durden. Fight Clubs editing style helps the audience understand the narrators thought process, the intense fighting sequences, and the narrator’s realization of his alter ego Tyler Durden.

In the beginning of the movie subliminal messages are added in a few scenes before the narrator meets Durden. The editor inserted one frame of Durden so that in just a glimpse of the eye, the audience would be able to see him. This allows the audience to piece together that the narrator is slowly starting to create Durden in his mind and that both characters have significant meaning to each other.

The film lacks a formal structure, which is replaced by random jump shots, inner thoughts of the narrator, and flashbacks. This informal structure adds to the chaos and confusion of the narrator’s journey throughout the movie. Also, throughout the movie are cuts to the narrators inner thought process. The film cuts to a frozen cave where the narrator seems to walking about aimlessly trying to figure out his problems. One of the scenes with in the frozen cave the narrator sees Marla, a women who he notices is also addicted to attending self help groups. Adding this scene within movie allows the audience to see how the narrator is captivated by her.
During the action sequences of the film, short shots and fast edits are used. These techniques are used in these scenes of movie to make the audience feel like they are actually in the fight. It engages the audience to feel the quick punches and the rushing adrenaline of the fighters.

The editing of Fight Club allows the audience to understand what is going on within the world of the narrator and to understand that Tyler Durden is just an alter ego. It also allows the audience to feel emotionally involved within the movie.