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David Fincher: Films
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David Fincher is a cunning player of cinematic psychology and acute observer of human conditions. This is reflected not only by post-cinema experience, but ... the film itself. Though sharing many thematic similarities with his previous productions, especially Se7en, Zodiac no more puts emphasis on the psyche of the criminal but attempts to take the audience to the world of those to whom the impact of the crimes have done. The Zodiac case lays merely a background. What drives the character is not the reward for finding the murderer but something else. Graysmith is neither a detective nor a victim, nonetheless his intuition hints a profound connection between him and the murderer.
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David Fincher grew up in North California. He lived a few houses away from George Lucas, who gave him his first film job. He worked as an assistant visual-effects camera man on “Return of the Jedi,” and had always been a “Star Wars” fan.
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Part of the allure of Fincher's Zodiac is the exploration of the notorious unsolved murders and the mystery surrounding the true identity of the Zodiac Killer. Still, another great aspect of the mystery and the movie comes from the attention to detail. Unlike most period movies that only get the era half-right, Fincher nails the 1960s and '70s to near perfection. The cars, clothes, and atmosphere of the times is spot on like no other film in recent memory. When you see Robert Downey Jr. smoking in the San Francisco Chronicle newsroom, you can almost taste it. Everything in each scene is spot on, from the old rotary phones to the popular vehicles of the era. You may have to use the zoom or angle feature on your remote to see it clearly, but Fincher was so adamant on accuracy that he actually had every desk on the set of The Chronicle filled with letterhead and pens from the real newspaper.
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Fincher cultivated a healthy respect for big-budget filmmaking as a teenager when he landed a dream job at Industrial Light and Magic. He worked on special effects cinematography for films like Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). As if this experience didn't already place him at the chewy centre of his generation's pop culture, he then went on to direct music videos for, among others, Madonna, Michael Jackson and the Rolling Stones. Fincher ... found a place directing lavish commercials for corporations like Nike, Levi's, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola; this profession has since sheltered Fincher from the whims of the studios, giving him time to choose his projects and negotiate a decent amount of control over them. It has also provided those who disapprove of Fincher's films with a convenient justification. There are dissenters who simply object to all “films of quality” and Fincher's work with commercials and music videos leads him to produce films with extremely precise lighting, editing, and décor.
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Based on his video and commercial work, Fincher was eventually tapped to direct his first feature film, “Alien3” in 1992. It was a big jump from the commercial world, and somewhat of a shock. “Shooting movies and shooting commercials are such separate kinds of disciplines,” he says. “In commercials, you learn how to make your point quickly, because you only have 30 seconds to do it.” Moving to features was, as he puts it, “pretty brutal.”
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Born in Denver, Colorado, Fincher started as an animator at Industrial Light and Magic in 1980 and stayed until 1984(?). In 1986, he founded the video-production company Propaganda Films. He directed big-budget videos for artists such as Madonna (including "Express Yourself" and "Vogue"), George Michael, Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones (including "Love Is Strong"), as well as commercials.
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