Elle North Bishop-Saunders A2 Media
Candidate Number: 5271
Centre Number: 22357
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DAVID FINCHER
David Fincher is what is known as an Auteur. An Auteur is a director who influences their films so much that they are known as their author. David Fincher started making his making his mark on in the business from the age of eighteen working for Korty Films. Fincher then worked for Industrial Light and Magic in the visual effects department working on films such as “Return of the Jedi”. He left the company in 1984 to direct a commercial for the American Cancer Society, this brought him more commercial work. However Fincher began to develop his own style more directing music videos. Fincher then started working on big-budget music videos. Working with the like of Madonna and Michael Jackson which lead to his first feature film.
"Alien 3" Fincher’s debut, proved to be a difficult production, with numerous disputes between the director and Twentieth Century Fox over budget and script issues.The film opened to tepid reviews, convinced that his career as a feature film director was already over; he returned to directing music videos. Fincher did'nt return to directing feature films till “Seven" in 1955. This grossed over $300 million internationally. Fincher followed with 1999’s "Fight Club", “Panic Room” in 2002 and “Zodiac" in 2007.
In 2008 Fincher worked on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the film earnt Fincher his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. And in 2010, “The Social Network,” a film written by Aaron Sorkin about Mark Zuckerberg and the origins of Facebook; earned Fincher a Golden Globe for Best Director and won three Academy Awards for Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Finchers most recently directed the highly-anticipated American film adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” and based on his sucess is signed to do the other two adaptations of the following books. Fincher has many trade marks to name a few:films about finding a serial killer (Seven (1995), Zodiac (2007), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Backstories filled with flashbacks.
At the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, three out of four nominees for Best Direction in a Video - "The End of the Innocence" by Don Henley, "Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith, and "Vogue" by Madonna - were directed by him ("Vogue" won.).
Fincher's Style
One of Fincher's most well known trademarks is that he requently starts his movies with creative title sequences which expresse the theme of the movie. This is a true sign of an auteur. This creativity is not always seen in directors.
Similarities found in two of Fincher's Opening titles from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Seven. David Fincher has many close ups in low key lighting of objects that the audience find hard to make out what they are. Both films are about finding a serial killer, this style of title sequence adds mystery and interest that closely links to what the film is about.
In Express Yourself by Madonna and Stabilisers One Simple Thing both start with establishing shots of buildings with tilts. This could be seen as one of Finchers favourited styles. In the different videos that fincher has directed for Madonna we can also find simliarities with what the artist and Fincher liked between them. Pans and zooms were both very popular. Fincher and Madonna were close friends leading to them both having a very good working relationship together.
This video found on http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/02/tony_zhou_s_video_essay_explores_david_fincher_s_directing_style_across.html
looks into David Finchers Film Directing Style and how what he doesnt do on purpose to make his filming so great. The vimeo is shows various of Finchers films as Tony Zhou talks us over what makes Fincher a true auteur. The video also includes bits where David himself speaks and make comments. Due to my A2 media task it is more important to look into music videos he has directed more than his films. However i found that this video was to good not to share. Looking into him overall as a director including his work in films is also beneficial as it gives me a better understanding to how i to can become an auteur.
