Research on David Fincher's work and Career

1. DAVID FINCHER
Research Project
“How does David Fincher use Visual effects to
immerse the audience in his films?”

2. Early Life and Career Beginnings
When Fincher was 2 years old, he moved to California with his family
from Denver Colorado. Fincher knew from a young age that he wanted
to be a filmmaker. One of his main inspirations, George Lucas was one
of his neighbours. He moved to Oregon as a teenager, before
relocating to Los Angeles soon after graduating High School.
After High School, Fincher worked for Korty Films and Industrial Light
and Magic (ILM), where he worked as an assistant cameraman on
films such as Star Wars: Return Of the Jedi and Indiana Jones. After
this he would direct ad’s for companies such as Pepsi, Sony, Converse,
Chanel and Coca-Cola. After directing a commercial for the American
Cancer Society, depicting a fetus smoking a cigarette, he was brought
to the attention of producers in Los Angeles. After this, he began to
focus on directing Music videos.
He worked extensively with Madonna, filming her music videos for
‘Express Yourself’, ‘Oh Father’, ‘Vogue’, and ‘Bad Girl.’
After directing several music
videos, Fincher’s feature-length
debut was Alien 3 (1992), where
the Film was plagued with script
and budget issues.
A Star of the Film Charles Dance
stated that,”Fincher had the
studio on his back the whole
time, phoning him at all hours,
day and night-not taking into
account the time change.”
After being asked in an interview
about Alien 3 in 2009, Fincher
stated,”No one hated it more than
me; to this day, no one hates it
more than me.”
After this Fincher went back to
directing music videos stating, “I
thought I'd rather die of colon
cancer than do another movie.” It
wasn’t until he has given the
screenplay for Seven, that he
agreed to make another film, but
this time how he wanted.
Even though the film
received an Academy
Award nomination for
best Visual Effects, it
got negative reviews
from critics.

3. List of David Fincher Directed Films
Alien 3 (1992)
44% Rotten
Tomatoes
Seven
(1995)
80% Rotten
Tomatoes
The Game
(1997)
72% Rotten
Tomatoes
Fight Club
(1999)
79% Rotten
Tomatoes
Panic room
(2002)
76% Rotten
Tomatoes
Zodiac
(2007)
89% Rotten
Tomatoes
Curious Case of
Benjamin Button
(2008)
72% Rotten
Tomatoes
The Social
Network (2010)
96% Rotten
Tomatoes
The Girl with
the Dragon
Tattoo (2011)
86% Rotten
Tomatoes
Gone Girl
(2014)
88% Rotten
Tomatoes

4. Colour Palette and its
significance in his films
David Fincher’s films share a prevalent colour scheme, using
predominantly desaturated colours such as greyish bleached
yellow/green, dark blue and black. This helps create a dismal or
dark atmosphere to his films.
Also, the colour grading is also used to describe the characters
emotions or energy in a particular scene. The overemphasis on
black on the highest clip could convey the protagonist's’ mental
instability, as well as symbolising how little the narrator knows about
what’s going on with his mind.
Another example of this is in his 2007 film Zodiac. When Graysmith
and Melanie are waiting for Avery’s call, the colours are more
diluted at the end of their date than when it started. This shows that
time has passed, as well as illustrating that their energy levels have
decreased due to them not being able to find anymore clues about
the Zodiac killer.

5. Camerawork StyleLack of
Hand-held
shots
Handheld shots are very common in modern-
day filmmaking, however Fincher rarely relies
on them. Zodiac only has one handheld
scene, while The Social Network only has one
shot. Seven is his film with the most handheld
scenes, with 5. Handheld usually conveys
that someone is there, adding a presence to
the audience. Fincher does the opposite, with
his fluid shots creating an ominous
atmosphere, like the audience is spying on the
characters without their consent.
Even if he does use handheld, it usually has a
purpose. An example of this is when the
camerawork is shaky when focused on the
detectives, but solid when on John Doe. He’s
calm and composed, his plan is happening
exactly as he imagined it-while Pitt’s character
begins to suspect what Doe’s done and the
purposeful shake shows his growing mental
instability.
Close ups
Fincher doesn’t use close up shots unless it’s completely necessary. This is due to his
unwillingness to disclose information to the audience until the completely right moment.
And if not, new information would not have had as big of an impact if the film used
close up’s in most scenes.
An example of this is in the Social Network, at the very end of the film. Mark looks up
his ex-girlfriend, Erica Albright on Facebook who dumped him in the opening scene
and afterwards he had proceeded to insult her humiliatingly on the internet.
The close up between her Facebook profile and Mark suggests that he feels guilt and
regret for his actions, regardless of the success he experienced ever since they broke
up.

6. Visual Effects pt.1
● Another trademark of Fincher’s work is
Visual effects.
● He specialises in when and how to use an
effect, and this proves pivotal in deceiving
the audience about what’s real, and what’s
not.
● Fincher uses CGI to flesh out environments
in the film that would be very difficult to
accomplish using traditional shots.
● An example of this is in his 2007 film Zodiac.
In order to make everything period accurate,
he used CGI to establish where the majority
of the film would take place. Instead of
using an establishing shot of the Golden
Gate bridge like many films, he digitally
modified the San Francisco waterfront and
made the skyline to be historically accurate
to how it was in the 1960s.
● Another example in Zodiac is after the
second murder. Because the shot is
handheld, the entire environment was built
using camera projections to create a 360º
3D model that could be tracked onto the
original plates to match perspective.
The Social Network has more Special
effects than Godzilla (2014).
Digitally created 1960s San Francisco
waterfront and Skyline

7. ● By using CGI for minor details, it creates a level
of immersion that would be difficult to replicate
otherwise.
● An example is the Henley Royal Regatta scene
in The Social Network.
❖ Every single shot in this sequence is a special
effect.
❖ Each background was digitally altered by using
3D tracking software, as well as depth maps to
create the look of tilt-shift photography.
❖ This makes the Winkelvoss twins seem isolated,
and shows how everything around them seems
insignificant in comparison to Zuckerberg and
Facebook.
❖ He also uses CGI blood whenever he can,
preferably because of how inexpensive it is.
❖ It also gives him more power in post production,
as he has absolute power over the blood in the
editing process.
Visual Effects Pt.2

8. Unconventional
Storytelling
While, not all of his films are controversial, Fincher pushes the
boundaries against classic stereotypes in all of them. This
happens especially with his depictions of characters.
This links with the fact that often the protagonist of his films don’t
improve themselves in a socially-accepted way. This is evident in
The Social Network. Mark Zuckerberg is regularly labelled as a
genius and a good man, regardless of what he did to get to his
position. The Scene above demonstrates Mark’s bitterness at the
beginning of the film, and he remains bitter and angry at the end
of the film.
An example is in the climactic scene of The Social Network.
Mark’s best friend and Co-founder of Facebook Eduardo Saverin
discovers that he had been effectively kicked out of the company
he helped create.
The fact that Mark destroyed a good friendship out of jealousy
and pettiness, suggests that Mark doesn’t deserve the audience's
sympathy because he hasn’t done anything (except from being
successful and intelligent) that could make him likeable to the
audience. Many of the protagonists in his films could be
considered anti-heroes such as; Mark Zuckerberg, Tyler Durden
and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) in Gone Girl.
Example 1
Climactic scene

9. Unconventional Storytelling Part 2
The majority of Fincher’s films have unhappy endings,
with the main character either dying or being in a
situation they wouldn’t want to be in.
An example is Seven. When the protagonist David
Mills (Brad Pitt) and his partner Somerset (Morgan
Freeman)are brought to the locations of John Doe’s
(Kevin Spacey)’s other victims, Doe reveals what he
did to one of the other main characters. Mills is
horrified and distraught by the news.
Doe did what he did to garner a reaction out of Mills,
and complete the 7 deadly sins, with the final one being
Wrath. Even though Somerset pleads with Mills not to
exact retribution, he does anyway. Mills is
institutionalised, and the audience is left stunned by
how quickly Doe got the upper hand, and especially at
the unfairness of the situation.
In Seven, the murderer gets what he wanted- 7
murders, each fitting the themes of the 7 deadly sins.
Most detective films and television shows end in a
satisfying way, with the detectives finding the culprit of
the crimes. This isn’t the case with Seven.
Seven changed the detective genre to
become darker and more disheartening.
Fincher did this because the police in
reality don't always catch their guy.
Films such as Memento and Zodiac
were obviously inspired by Seven,
largely because none of them had a
gratifying resolution. The antagonist
succeeded in his plan, and the
protagonists Mills and Somerset failed
to stop him from achieving it.

10. Insert Shots
● Fincher’s frequent use of the insert—the quick
cut within a frame to some specific object, to
show it to the audience in close-up without
shifting perspective too much—runs throughout
Zodiac, Fight Club and Seven.
Insert shots from Zodiac showing various vital
documents to the plot
Insert shots of Tyler into random moments of the
Narrator’s life. It shows that the narrator is beginning
to hallucinate due to Insomnia.
● The Insert shots in Zodiac lets the audience get a
look at the various documents vital to the plot, but
also helps create the atmosphere of paranoia and
obsession that runs throughout the film, focusing
closer and closer onto page of deranged scrawlings
and random clues.
● In Fight Club, Tyler is shown in a single frame of
several shots at the beginning of the film, giving
clues to the audience about the Narrator’s growing
instability.
● This links to a previous slide revolving around close
ups-Fincher only uses Close up’s to convey that
something is important. Therefore the insert shots, if
watched closely, holds important information
regarding plot.

11. Thanks for
watching!