Case Study — David Fincher & The Social Network

so we all know about directors you probably have a few favorites their names are pasted all over films and they get a lot of credit for the final product being their vision but what do they really do does he or she just direct actors today I want to do a case study of David Fincher one of the most prolific and meticulous directors working today and discuss his role in the creation of the social network the screenplay for the social network was written by Aaron Sorkin one of the most well-known writers currently working Sorkin script was brilliant it was fast paced witty and filled with that signature Sorkin dialogue the script was immediately a big deal and it was definitely going to get made now it just depended on who would direct this is where David Fincher entered Fincher is known for being an exacting person he knows exactly what he wants and he's not afraid to fight for it former Fox chairman bill mechanic called Fincher systematically anti-authoritarian Scott Rudin producer for the social network explained that Fincher has an anarchist mentality and that Fincher success early in life created many people who try to take that from him which in turn continued his disdain for authority and systems Fincher was only 28 when he was brought on to direct his first feature film alien 3 and was fired three different times throughout work on the film his constant battle with the studio ended up creating a film that neither party was happy with so yeah I signed up naive and went off to Pinewood to be sodomized ritualistically for but that was back then Fincher came into the social network as an established director with a reputation of being strong-willed when Fincher sat down with a line producer to see what the film would cost they thought it would cost 42 million but the studio said they would give 25 million to make the film Fincher refused to make the film into the studio met his number without compromise this is amazing few directors have the strength or reputation to gain the full funding they want and long before actors crew and locations are chosen the director must fight for his film the studio also wanted to cut 30 pages out of Sorkin screenplay at a hundred and seventy eight pages it's a long script but Fincher refused he saw how brilliant the screenplay was at its current page lengths and insisted that because of the heavy dialogue it was a two hour film this is what Fincher does once he understands the vision he wants he fights for it Sorkin described Fincher as a bully that you want on your side Fincher wanted to understand how fast the script played in Sorkin's head because as the writer Sorkin knew his story better than anyone else so Fincher timed Sorkin as he read the script out loud then in rehearsal he talked to the actors about running the scenes exactly at the same speed that Sorkin had read them Sorkin read is seen at 7 minutes 22 seconds Fincher told the actors that the scene should play at 7 minutes 22 seconds this is extremely meticulous filmmaking but that isn't the crazy part the opening scene alone had 99 takes an insane number even with a fantastic script Fincher knew that the film would live or die off the actors performances this is where the directors relationship with the actors comes into play a director helps guide the actors to the emotional journey of a scene sequence and ultimately a film Fincher is known for his extreme amount of takes but we see stellar performances from actors in his films Jesse Eisenberg Andrew Garfield Justin Timberlake and Rooney Mara are just a few of the actors that had great performances in the social network initially it seems that doing that many takes would be torture for the actor but what do they think about this there's two things that I think are really advantageous to doing a lot of takes one is it takes the pressure off of the individual take you know because I never felt like the pressure was on me to get it right right away because there was an understanding on the part of the hundred people working on the movie the pressure never was on me because everybody knew that we'd be doing a lot of takes so I never felt personally responsible for the time that was being used and then the main thing is you could try different things you didn't worry that they'd only have those two options and they'd have to choose one they both kind of weren't hitting the mark I really like it I mean I have a lot of insecurities about performing so the more time to get to do it the more time to get a chance to do it right instead of torture doing so many takes pulled weight off the shoulders of the actors because you here with the director who likes to do that many takes and he's very much a perfectionist so if he doesn't think it's right he's gonna keep going until he gets what he wants which is as an actor the most comforting thing you can hear you know I feel very protective of us they didn't feel pressured to get it right the first time and they were allowed to experiment it's kind of scary because there's an actor you always want it to be new and fresh and to feel spontaneous and real and you're like oh god like after ten times how is it possibly gonna feel spontaneous but like it really even that take 9899 girl like let's do one more like it never felt stale it always felt really fresh with a script that would live off the actors performances Fincher created an environment where he could make sure the actors would get it exactly as he wanted so what does Fincher think about this you know people often you know ask well why you shoot somebody takes why do you I think actors want to act I don't think actors want to wait I want an actress in front of the camera most of the day I would love them to be in front of camera on a 10-hour day eight hours because I think it just makes him feel like I've exhausted the possibilities of that I left it all on the floor I there's nothing there's no I have no more questions about what that seemed could or should be Fincher is not trying to torture his actors he's trying to explore all of the possibilities of the scene with the actors through their performances instead of rushing through scenes he wants to make sure he not only gets what he wants but collaborates with the actors to explore the scene my philosophy is you spend twenty fifty thousand dollars on a set here put it on a soundstage to cost you five thousand dollars day you're gonna put eight thousand dollars with lights and the and then you're gonna bring it one hundred and fifty thousand dollar crew in you're gonna bring actors in from all over the world you're gonna put them up in hotels they're gonna come there and the idea is to get them out as soon as possible if I fly you in from Iceland and we're supposed to do one day I want to make sure that we get it working with Fincher can be exhausting for actors but it also allows for more creative expression once actors understand why Fincher does what he does it becomes possible for them to relax explore a character more and leave it all in the scene but one of the things Fincher talks about is that a shot isn't just about the actors - sure they're in the frame and they're what you see but so much is happening lighting camera moves focus pooling Fincher doesn't just focus on nailing performance he focuses on all aspects of making the specific shot scene sequence and ultimately film Jeff Cronin with is David Fincher's longtime director of photography and collaborator Fincher and kronenwetter worked together to create this hyper reality of dark dorm rooms dark buildings and high contrast shadows over their actors Conan West says that Fincher wanted the audience to visually see the change between the tradition and elitism of the Ivy League and the bright world of California this visual style is combined with Sorkin's writing style to create scenes that move back and forth quickly between close-ups and medium shots the film trades fancy setups and crazy camera moves for tight meticulously composed shots and intentional movement runnin with said let the actors act and not get complicated with egotistical lighting moves it would only distract directing is collaborating it's making a decision and fighting for it is being open to criticism and better ideas it's understanding how to communicate to an actor what exactly needs to be adjusted on their performance its collaborating to create a specific visual style it's fighting for every aspect of a film and making sure everyone around you understands what you're pushing towards david fincher isn't like all directors but i chose him to study because he has a unique style that works well his exacting intense meticulous nature has helped create amazing works of art you

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 99,919

Keywords: david fincher, tyler mowery, video essay, film analysis, movie review, the social network, lessons from the screenplay, nerdwriter, every frame a painting, kaptainkristian, star wars the last jedi, screenplay, behind the scenes, aaron sorkin

Id: XM_3pCpR2dY

Length: 8min 51sec (531 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 21 2017