Fight Club uses audio in more flamboyant and artificial ways than the other films we have looked at, with the varied use of a voiceover , a combination of diegetic/non-diegetic musical scores and found rock music , and exaggerated hyperreal sound effects all combining and bouncing off each other to form a lively and disorientating sound mix. This clearly matches the confused and twisting narrative of the film as well as the mood of the main character.
Analyse how sound ( music, voiceover, dialogue and sound effects ) create mood and meaning for the audience in Fight Club , focusing on one key scene ( see below). You can also refer to the practical techniques mentioned in the vide essay. (500 words minimum)
As the Narrator walks into the boss’s office he is accompanied by a sound bridge, the previous scene was one with a comedic element, this leads the viewer onto believe that this scene will also be a fairly funny scene. However for the people that are aware of what is going to happen know that this sound bridge is used sarcastically as the humour shown in this scene is that of a very dark taste darker than that of the previous scene which shows a priest and a car wash worker fighting. The narrator walks into the room and sits down in the chair in front of his boss, the boss drops his pen on the table which is quite loud so this sound was likely added in in the Foley studio to give a pleonastic feel to the scene, the 2 characters start to talk as the jingle like music fades out making the dialogue loud and clear, the boss in this part of the scene is louder as he is the dominant character (for the time being) and because he is angry.
The boss gets up and calls security, the scene is quite quiet so even the tiniest sound can be heard this would mean that many “office” sounds would be re-recorded in the Foley studio, then the audience can here the narrator’s voice again except he isn’t speaking on screen so he is actually narrating again also when this starts a low hum starts in a crescendo building up to the point where the narrator punches himself in the face. When his fist makes contact with his face the music stops briefly as to emphasis the already exaggerated punching sound, after the first punch a drum beat starts to accompany the music giving the whole scene an eerie and evil feel.
The narrator continues to punch himself in the face and then pauses for a moment looks back and uppercuts his own face causing him to fall back into a glass table which smashes in a pleonastic kind way – this would seem to be becoming part of a sound motif for this scene. A low synth-bass line accompanies the dark music now which juxtaposes the on screen image even more as it is a bright well-furnished office, every time the narrator moves there is the sound of glass moving and cracking. After he stumbles around the office more he throws himself into the glass shelf as he nearly hits the shelf the screen pauses and the narrator says some dialogue then there is the huge crash of the shelves smashing, as soon as he hits the shelves a guitar starts to join the background music. In the next shot the music becomes quieter and the faint office sounds become more dominant along with the sound of the narrator squirming through the glass on the floor making his way to the boss, there are lots of Foley fixes in this part to emphasise the gore behind the physical injuries the audience can see. The seen ends with the office door bursting open and the music cutting out.
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