Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Creator / DavidFincher

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%% Per Administrivia/CreatorPageGuidelines, only tropes associated to a creator's works are allowed on this wiki's pages.
4%% Tropes that only apply to the creator's personal life as if the creator is a fictional character are not allowed.
5%% Please do not apply tropes about the creator's personal life as if they are a fictional character.
6%%
7%%
8[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/david_fincher_9325.jpg]]
9
10->''"I don't know how much movies should entertain. To me, I'm always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' is the fact that I've never gone swimming in the ocean again."''
11
12David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American filmmaker who's highly acclaimed for his gritty, stylish films.
13
14After a brief stint working at Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic on a few films (specifically ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' and ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''), he started out directing commercials and music videos, most notably "Vogue" by {{Music/Madonna}}. His movies tend to be very dark, both visually and thematically, and to evoke sensations of paranoia and {{claustrophobia}}. He is best known for ''{{Film/Se7en}}'', ''Film/FightClub'', ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' and ''Film/GoneGirl''. He was also a producer on the Creator/{{Netflix}} anthology ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots''.
15
16----
17!!Fincher's directorial efforts:
18[[index]]
19!!! '''Film:'''
20* ''Film/Alien3'' (1992) ([[CreatorBacklash disowned]] due to ExecutiveMeddling)
21* ''Film/{{Se7en}}'' (1995)
22* ''Film/{{The Game|1997}}'' (1997)
23* ''Film/FightClub'' (1999)
24* ''Film/PanicRoom'' (2002)
25* ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}'' (2007)
26* ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' (2008)
27* ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' (2010)
28* ''Film/{{The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|2011}}'' (2011)
29* ''Film/GoneGirl'' (2014)
30* ''Film/{{Mank}}'' (2020)
31* ''{{Film/The Killer|2023}}'' (2023)
32!!! '''Television:'''
33* ''Series/{{House of Cards|US}}'' (2013 - 2018) (Pilot of [[CulturalTranslation American adaptation]] of the [[Series/HouseOfCardsUK series]])
34* ''Series/{{Mindhunter}}'' (2017 - 2019) (directed seven episodes along with producing the show)
35* ''Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsBadTravelling'' (2022)
36[[/index]]
37
38!!Notable music videos directed by Fincher:
39* Music/RickSpringfield - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYOCR6ZXO8M Dance This World Away]]" (1985) [[note]]Fincher's first directorial effort[[/note]]
40* Jermaine Stewart - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWZisnZ-RGE We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off]]" (1986)
41* Music/{{Loverboy|Band}} - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AeRtYEtRX8 Notorious]]" (1987)
42* Music/{{Foreigner|Band}} - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5atiLWT4emI Say You Will]]" (1987)
43* Music/{{Sting}} - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk Englishman in New York]]" (1988)
44* Johnny Hates Jazz - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctwqa3QCwMw Shattered Dreams]]" (1988; American version)
45* Music/SteveWinwood - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_vkKozA8OI Roll With It]]" (1988)
46* Music/PaulaAbdul - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El1kgCqD7Xk Straight Up]]" (1989)
47* Music/{{Madonna}} - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsVcUzP_O_8 Express Yourself]]" (1989), "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJQSAiODqI Vogue]]" (1990)
48* Music/{{Aerosmith}} - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqQn2ADZE1A Janie's Got a Gun]]" (1990)
49* Music/GeorgeMichael - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYAc7gB-0A Freedom! '90]]" (1990)
50* Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te6VBiRjhqA Love is Strong]]" (1994)
51* Music/TheWallflowers - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXDiGtgPL6E 6th Avenue Heartache]]" (1996)
52* Music/NineInchNails - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwvLlEtxX3o Only]]" (2005)
53* Music/JustinTimberlake - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUsVbTj2AY Suit & Tie]]" (2015)
54
55!!Notable tropes in David Fincher's career and films include:
56%%
57%% As with all Creator/ pages, trivia tropes about the creator specifically are to be posted here,
58%% not a Trivia/ page, as they technically are InUniverse in the case of the person's career.
59%% However: As with all Creator/ pages, items that could go on a specific work's trivia page go there, not here.
60%%
61* AntiHero: These are the closest thing to a character worth rooting for in Fincher's work and it's usually a miracle of good writing and movie star charisma that they even reach that level.
62* ArtisticTitle: Several of his movies (such as ''[=Se7en=]'' and ''Fight Club'', to name a few) make use of these.
63* AssociatedComposer: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (of Music/NineInchNails fame) have composed all of Fincher's films since The Social Network.
64* AwardBait: ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' is generally regarded as such.
65* BittersweetEnding: If you're the lead in a Fincher film, this is pretty much the best you can hope for by the end of the story and with a heavy emphasis on the bitter part.
66* BlackAndGreyMorality: His characters tend to be seriously flawed and damaged people and usually the only thing that makes them worth rooting for is that they're going up against someone who is either much less sympathetic, goes too far in their actions or is just flat out monstrous.
67* BlackComedy: His films have a lot of humor and characters will regularly make jokes and quips in a ''very'' dark manner. If Fincher's films aren't traumatizing you, they're probably making you give an inappropriate laugh. Or often both at the same time.
68* ColorWash: His films tend to alternate between having yellow/green and blue tints.
69* DeadpanSnarker: If there's any humor in his films, it's usually in this form. Listen to his commentaries and you'll find out he's a great one himself.
70* DownerEnding: His films don't tend to have happy endings. The best many of his characters can hope for is leave the film alive and without their life having gotten ''that'' much worse than it was at the start.
71* FanDisservice: Oh yeah. Fincher just loves casting beautiful actors with their bodies on full display but in a manner which kills practically any possibility of arousal.
72* TheFilmOfTheBook: ''Fight Club'', ''Zodiac'', ''The Social Network'', ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'', ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (which doubles as a ForeignRemake) and ''Gone Girl''.
73* FilmNoir: Much of his work is at least influenced by noir, but especially ''Film/{{Se7en}}'', ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}'', and ''Film/TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo2011''.
74* GrayAndGreyMorality: Characters are neither unambiguously good nor bad.
75* OddFriendship: With Creator/CameronCrowe. As detailed above, Fincher believes in movies that [[DownerEnding don't end well for its characters]], while Crowe's outlook tends to be more optimistic, mostly making movies that are either EarnYourHappyEnding or, at worst, BittersweetEnding. Yet when Fincher was having issues with getting the script to ''Film/FightClub'' right, he turned to Crowe for help, and it was Crowe who suggested fleshing out Tyler Durden.
76* OscarBait: ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' was widely accused of this, [[LighterAndSofter a sentimental, PG-13 fantasy/drama film]] with heavy similarities to (and the same screenwriter as) ''Film/ForrestGump'', standing in stark contrast to the [[DarkerAndEdgier dark, edgy and subversive hard-R films]] that Fincher was known for. For better or worse, it worked: ''Benjamin Button'' received more Oscar nominations than all of Fincher's previous films combined.
77* ProductionPosse:
78** Creator/BradPitt has acted in three of Fincher's films, and was set to work with Fincher a fourth time on the ''Film/WorldWarZ'' sequel before it was cancelled; Creator/RooneyMara, Creator/JaredLeto and Creator/CharlesDance have also made two films each with Fincher.
79** Producer Cean Chaffin ([[CreatorCouple who is also Fincher's wife]]) has worked on all of his films since ''Film/TheGame1997''.
80** Costume designer Michael Kaplan worked with Fincher from ''Film/{{Seven}}'' until ''Film/PanicRoom'', while Trish Summerville has worked as costume designer on three of his films.
81** Editor James Haygood initially edited a number of Fincher's music videos before collaborating again with the director on ''Film/TheGame1997'', ''Film/FightClub'' and ''Film/PanicRoom''. Fincher's most prominent editing collaborators have been Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter (together, they won the Best Film Editing Oscars for ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' and ''[[Film/TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo2011 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]''). Though past that, Fincher decided to solely work with Kirk Baxter alone.
82** Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth has [[Film/FightClub shot]] [[Film/TheSocialNetwork four]] [[Film/TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo2011 films]] [[Film/GoneGirl for]] Fincher and before that was a mere camera operator on one film and second unit cinematographer on another; similarly, Conrad Hall Jr. has worked with him three times--the first two as camera operator and the third as cinematographer--while Claudio Miranda has also worked with him three times(twice as a gaffer and the third time as cinematographer); gaffer Chris Strong has worked with him twice. Darius Khondji worked with Fincher on ''Film/{{Seven}}'' and was set to reteam with him on ''Film/PanicRoom'' before quitting several weeks into filming. And as of now, Erik Messerschmidt (his Mindhunter Cinematographer) has now replaced Cronenweth starting with Mank and is looking to reteam with Fincher on his upcoming movie, The Killer.
83** Donald Graham Burt has served as production designer for all Fincher's films since ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}'', while Laray Mayfield has been casting director for all his films since ''Fight Club''.
84** Ren Klyce and Creator/SkywalkerSound have done the sound design for all of Fincher’s work starting with ''Film/{{Seven}}''.
85** Music/HowardShore composed music for ''Film/{{Seven}}'', ''Film/TheGame1997'' and ''Film/PanicRoom''; since ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', all of Fincher's films have been scored by [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]] and Atticus Ross.
86* SignatureStyle: Dark neo-noirs with low MoodLighting, a cold, claustrophobic feeling throughout and one or more gut-punch moments, often soundtracked by [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross]], protagonists who could most charitably be described as troubled and antisocial, pitch black humor and usually a less than happy ending.
87* SirSwearsALot: The man certain isn't shy about swearing, as any interview of him can prove.
88* SternTeacher: Widely known as a taskmaster, who will have actors do take after take after take until it's perfect. However, many actors end up respecting if not outright appreciating his methods, since he makes them do nothing he wouldn't do himself if it were possible and is known for being respectful and amicable towards those he works with, making the process far easier. Fincher also mentored Mark Ruffalo when the latter directed his first film, the two having worked together on ''Film/{{Zodiac|2007}}''.
89* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
90** He was considered to direct ''Film/SpiderMan1'' before Creator/SamRaimi; his version would have covered the origin story in the opening credits and been based on "ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied".
91** Was considered to direct ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'', but turned it down in order to direct ''Film/PanicRoom''.
92** Was originally set to direct ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII'', before dropping out and being replaced by Joe Carnahan (who also walked from the project before Creator/JJAbrams was hired); Fincher's version would have dealt with the black market trade of body parts in Africa.
93** He was set to direct ''Film/TheBlackDahlia'', but left during pre-production as he felt he would be unable to make the film exactly as he envisioned, being replaced by Creator/BrianDePalma.
94** He was hired to direct a remake of ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' for Creator/{{Disney}} in 2010, but the project fell apart after Fincher and Disney disagreed over casting (Fincher wanted to cast Creator/ChanningTatum as the lead, while Disney wanted to cast Creator/ChrisHemsworth).
95** He was selected to direct ''Film/SteveJobs'' in January 2014, but departed in April over contractual disputes.
96** He was set to reunite with Brad Pitt on a sequel to ''Film/WorldWarZ'', which was ultimately cancelled in February 2019 due to Creator/{{Paramount}}'s concerns over the film's budget, leading to Fincher moving on to direct ''Mank'' for Creator/{{Netflix}} instead.

Top