CM Analysing an opening sequence: Representation and Ideology, Media Audience, Institutional Context

Fight Club: David Fincher: 1999

Representation and Ideology:

• The social groups represented in the opening sequence are both middle and working class, the two classes are represented via their clothing, with the middle class man wearing a shirt and jacket and the working class man (Brad Pitt) wearing a coloured tank top and denim jeans holding a gun. This represents the lack of funding to be able to afford nicer more presentable clothing, as apposed to the middle class man.
• The values and beliefs upheld in this opening are the stereotypical view of males with cuts down their faces, most likely due to violence which is a male trait and also the weapon of a gun being held in the man's mouth which suggests again violence. This is regressive towards the male gender as is stereotyping them as violent and not reasonable.
• The characteristics of a thriller are that the opening is enigmatic in order to capture the audiences attention. In the fight club opening which is a film aimed at a male audience it begins with starting at a cell in the body and the camera back tracking through and out of the body and then seeing a gun within a persons mouth. Instantly there are questions of why is this happening, who are these people, and why are they injured (cuts down their faces) this attracts the male audience due to the fact is macho.

Media Audiences:

• The target audience of "Fightclub" are men between the ages of 18-26, this is a large audience that enjoy watching thriller films that are based around male interests. Thus "Fightclub" will be able to connect easily with that target audience and the pitch when it was trying to get green lighted had a target audience identified that they knew got seats in the cinema.
•  The probable audience reading of the text is that a man is being held hostage with a gun held in his mouth and is in a deadly situation. However the possible reading is that these two characters are friends and have had a slight falling out due to the fact that the gun gets taken out of his mouth and that you hear narrate "I can't think of anything" in a mocking tone of voice suggesting that they have a connection that will be discovered during the film and that it is also the end of the film as the audience would want to know how they know each other.
• As a British Teenager, who is sixteen, male and from a middle class background read this media text in its possible reading. As I have evaluated the situation and enjoy trying to work out what could be happening underneath the surface of the film, thus I don't accept the probable reading. Due to my age I can be naive to watching eighteen certificate films and may not understand if I am supposed to take a probable or the possible reading. Also as I am male, I enjoy watching films to be entertained and occasionally enjoy just taking the probable reading as want to just consume what I am being presented with, without giving any thought to what could be happening or about to happen.

Institutional Context:

• A star has been used in this film Brad Pitt one of the lead roles of Tyler Durden. This is important as he is a big actor and will have a huge fan base which will attract people outside of the target audience to come and view this film due to wanting to follow Brad Pitts work.
• 20th Century Fox produced this film in 1999, this makes the film industrial as a big conglomerate has funded the production being able to get bankable stars and a good director to create the film.
• The film had trouble marketing as the studio didn't know how to attract the audience they where hoping for as they weren't too sure whether the film was an industrial film or an art house film. In the end the studio gave an investment of $20 million to fund a large-scale campaign to provide a press junket, posters, billboards, and trailers for TV that highlighted the film's fight scenes. The studio advertised "Fightclub" on cable during World Wrestling Federation broadcasts, which Fincher protested, believing that the placement created the wrong context for the film.
• The opening does have very evident institutional context mainly by having the two stars of Brad Pitt and Edward Norton immediately shown which are expensive actors that independent film producers wouldn't have been able to afford.