David Fincher’s film career has experienced a transition from analogue film cinema to digital media, and his technological innovations and unique narrative structures in the film industry have also formed an integral part of contemporary digital cinema while inspiring and promoting the development of digital cinema. “I don’t know how much movies should entertain. To me, I’m always interested in movies that scar. ” (Fincher, 2010). In addition to the continuous innovation of film technology, he also tries to analyze the view of human nature through cinema. David Fincher’s early professional experience included special effects, advertising & MV shooting. The former gave him more attention to film awareness of technology upgrades, while the latter gave him exquisite film design thinking.

“His preference for shooting on digital film and inserting CGI techniques into dramatic live-action narratives is not simply part of his aesthetic signature but is inextricably intertwined with his films’ contemplation of the connections between corporeality and identity, feeling and knowing, texture and surface-connections.” (Schreiber, 2016). In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, he used advanced digital cinematography and visual effects technology to develop the protagonist’s ageing backwards over time. It took 20 years for the film to go from planning to release. Before that, reproducing this process required the production technology of the analogue film industry and the digital media special effects technology. At the same time, the film portrays the delicate emotions between the characters through a ridiculous story.

In addition, Fincher is very good at using post-production effects, lighting, and set design to create his visual language. He is good at using accurate camera composition and colour correction to restore the sense of reality and using the lens to tell a deeper story. For example, in the movie Gone Girl, there is a press conference scene in which the man wears a blue shirt, but the colour of the whole picture is warm yellow. Such a shot implies the antagonistic relationship between Nick and everyone at this time and the public condemnation of him. Fincher’s films contain a lot of similar visual language, and he likes to use the warm light of yellow to describe the feeling of warmth and comfort and the cold light of livid grey and blue-white to convey the sense of cold and severe, without emotional temperature. Fincher will also deepen the psychological light effect in post-production colour correction.

In addition, Fincher uses special effects to achieve many details that would be difficult to achieve in reality, such as splashed blood and human faces. Using special effects would reduce the time needed to retouch makeup and Reset the Scene, giving him more time to direct the actors to another shot. His special effects language is used throughout the film and focuses on details, through which he effectively engages the audience. He will eliminate the trace of the artificial camera through the later stage to make the camera movement more stable and smooth. 

Reference:

Walker, T. (2010) David Fincher: All the best connections. Independent, 09 October. Available from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-fincher-all-the-best-connections-2101849.html [accessed 20 November 2023].

Schreiber, T. (2016) Tiny Life: Technology and Masculinity in the Films of David Fincher. Journal of Film and Video, 68(1) 3-18. Available from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jfilmvideo.68.1.0003?read-now=1#page_scan_tab_contents [accessed 20 November 2023].

Fincher, D.(dir.) (2008) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [DVD]. Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures.

Fincher, D.(dir.) (2014)  Gone Girl [DVD]. 20th Century Fox

By Shuangshuang Ma 33748491