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Okay, so apparently I need 1000+ words(which I just found out). I'll just have to put in that stuff I took out because I thought it was detracting from the main point of the paper back in, since I only have 533 words. D:
(I took out stuff on what defined subliminal s**t).

Oh, I need help with my conclusion. It sucks. Like major bad.
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Disassociative Cinematic Procedure as Displayed in Fight Club


The movie Fight Club, as directed by David Fincher, is a cinematic enigma. As an innovative maneuver, one of the characters, Tyler Durden, is portrayed in ways opposite his environment. However, these techniques only appear in subliminal cuts. In these cuts, not only is Tyler lit differently, he is also, at times, filmed in a different perspective from the rest of the shot.

One of the strongest examples of Tyler's deviance is the last scene in which he appears subliminally, which is in front of the First Methodist Church. In this shot, not only is Tyler lit differently, he is also in a different focus. Shot in deep focus, Marla, who is walking away from the narrator, is in focus while the narrator himself is not. Tyler is staged in between the two, lighting a cigarette. He defies all by being completely in focus, yet also lit in the exact opposite manner as the rest of the shot. Because Tyler is the best lit object and in focus while at the depth of planar staging where he should not be, the eye is drawn directly to him, whether the viewer is consciously aware of the character having shown up in the scene or not.

At the testicular cancer meeting, Typer is behind the counselor with a tough look on his face. He is shot from a low angle while the rest of the scene is filmed straight on, giving the character a slightly disproportionate appearance. The light source also comes from the top right instead of the bottom left, as in the rest of the shot, giving the impression Tyler is “... too good for his surroundings”(c).

The hospital is the next scene Tyler shows us his presence in a subliminal manner before he is formally introduced. Although he is standing behind the doctor, Tyler has no shadow in his front. This is peculiar since he is again lit in the opposite manner from the rest of the scene in the one frame he exists. While the entire hospital is filled with soft light, Tyler is brightly keyed. If Brad Pitt's character were to coincide with this rest of this frame, he too would be softly lit, and from the right, instead of the left.

In accordance with the standards of subliminal imagery, the final scene this essay will discuss is in the office where the narrator is copying papers and drinking a Starbucks coffee. In this scene, Tyler appears, but he is lit softly from opposing sides rather than by strong keys, as in the rest of the scene. If he were in conjunction with the scene, he would be brightly lit from the front. Instead, it appears as if he were lit in the complete opposite manner.

Used in these ways, Tyler Durden within the subliminal cuts were a brilliant plot device. Lit and sometimes shot in the opposite ways of his environment, Tyler draws the attention of the viewer's subconscious as he flashes by. This style makes the themes and images in the movie rich and meaningful(d), which is why David Fincher's rendition of Fight Club is so captivating and unusual.

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Anyone interested in the frames I'm talking about, they're here:
http://www.purepwnage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42183

edit: Wow that essay is shorter than what it seemed like it would be. o.o
That's what I get for working on it for only two hours while the teacher was yelling at me about how I didn't do it at home. >_>