David Fincher is one of the most brilliant and talented directors working in film today. Love him or hate him, his array of incredible work speaks for itself. Don't like the graphic violence of Fight Club or Se7en? You might love the romance, power, and morality of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Couldn't get into Gone Girl? Try watching Zodiac or The Game. If all else fails, The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg - one of the greatest minds of our generation. This guy's filmography is awe inspiring.
Fincher is an incredibly strong-willed director. He once said, "People will say, 'There are a million ways to shoot a scene,' but I don't think so. I think there are two, maybe. And the other one is wrong." His unique style of filmmaking works for him, so who are we to judge?
David Fincher has truly done it all, from commercials to propaganda videos, to music videos, to anti-smoking ads. And of course, he's directed some of the best films of the last few decades. If you want to learn more about the man who made some of your favorite movies, we've put together a list of answers for you! We've got trivia, quotes, stories, and anecdotes about David Fincher and his filmmaking style. Check out the most interesting fun facts about David Fincher below, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section.
http://www.ranker.com/list/david-fincher-facts/coy-jandreau,
His Goal is to Make a Very Specific Type of Cinematographic Experience
David Fincher is one of those rare directors where you can see a trailer and before the credits role you know exactly who directed the film. Heck most times you can see a single frame and know it's Fincher. His goal is very different than most directors that seek escapism in their viewers. Fincher's is to make them "feel uncomfortable."
"Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine. Some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything's okay. I don't make those kinds of movies."
Source: Biography.com
Fincher Always Intended for Fight Club to Be a Comedy
David Fincher originally intended for Fight Club to be a comedy, although many didn't see it that way. Roger Ebert himself called it "cheerfully fascist," "a celebration of violence," and "macho porn."
Fincher said to his critics, "I've always thought people would think the film was funny. It’s supposed to be satire. A dark comedy."
Source: Biography.com
He Grew Up Making Movies
By the time Fincher was 8 years old, he was already making movies on the 8mm camera he received for his birthday. Throughout high school, he produced a local television new show. At 19, he began working professionally at ILM.
Source: Independent.Co.Uk
He Considers Himself a Director, Regardless of the Medium
Fincher has shot propaganda films, commercials, a myriad of music videos, and incredible feature films, but he doesn't consider himself above or below anything in the world of directing.
"I do music videos. I do commercials. I would do live theatre. I would do musicals. I would do the opening of the Olympics. I live to try new stuff. I don't think of doing a television commercial as slumming. I don't think of doing a music video as slumming. It's different muscles."
Source: Independent.Co.Uk
Young David Fincher Really Looked Up to George Lucas
As a boy, David Fincher grew up in Marin County, CA. He used to visit every film set that rolled into town - including the set of George Lucas' American Graffiti. Lucas actually lived a few doors down from Fincher and his family, and eventually gave Fincher a job working at ILM.
Source: Biography.com
The 1990 MTV Movie Awards Were His to Win
Back in 1990, MTV used to actually play music videos. No seriously, it was a real thing that happened, and mattered a whole lot to the music community. Music videos were super expensive, and often had feature-film sized budgets. Needless to say, the MTV Music Video Awards were a pretty big deal. David Fincher was nominated in 1990 for best director of three out of the four videos nominated for the prestigious award.
His direction of Madonna's "Vogue" music video won by a landslide.
Source: Wikipedia
His Work at ILM Helped Shape Him as a Director
Fincher worked on a number of huge, genre-defining films during his time at Industrial Light and Magic (such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Return of the Jedi). "It was a great film school," he jokes.
ILM definitely helped shape his vision - the independent work that Fincher produced after his time at ILM would become his trademark as a director. He also worked on propaganda films and American Cancer Society anti-smoking ads, including the incredibly dark, edgy, smoking ad featuring a fetus puffing on a cigarette.
Source: Biography.com
He Always Re-Uses Actors He Trusts
Like Wes Anderson, and Tim Burton, David Fincher is known in Hollywood for working with the same actors over and over again. It only makes sense - once a director knows the actors' style, it's much easier to hire the same person again than to take a chance on an unknown. That's why Fincher has worked with Brad Pitt three times, Jared Leto twice, and Holy McCallany twice.
Jodie Foster was originally supposed to be Sean Penn's part in The Game, but she was unavailable. She went on to star in his 2002 thriller, Panic Room, instead.
Source: FrenchToastSunday.Com
He Saved the Original Ending of Se7en
The screenwriter of Se7en, Andrew Kevin Walker, was a first time screenwriter when he managed to get his script in to New Line. He apparently cold-called writer David Koepp and asked him for his help. New Line, o course, loved the script, but hated the now-infamous "What's in the box?" ending. After a few drafts, Walker changed the ending.
In comes David Fincher, ready to save the day - and the ending of the movie. He was fresh off Alien 3, and wasn't planning on directing another film ever again because of the negative experience he had. He read Walker's screenplay and loved it - including the severed-head ending. He lobbied to get the film made, and managed to keep the proper ending intact.
Source: MovieFone
No One Hates Alien 3 More Than David Fincher
David Fincher was fired from directing Alien 3 three times. He just couldn't get the studio heads to see eye-to-eye with him about the cost of production.
He said, "There were a lot of enormously talented people working on that movie. When a movie starts from a unified concept, and once you've unified the concept, it becomes very easy to see the things you're not going to spend money on. And if a movie is constantly in flux because you're having to please this vice-president, or that vice-president of production... I think a movie set is a fascist dictatorship - you have to go in and know what it is you want to do, because you have to tell 90 people what it is you want to do, and it has to be convincing. Otherwise, when they start to question it, the horse can easily run away with you and it's bigger than you are."
Fincher also went on to talk about how much he hates Alien 3 as a film. "If a movie gets off on a wrong foot, when you've never done it before you assume everyone is going to be there to help you right the ship, but really you're beholden to a lot of banana republics. I worked on it for two years, got fired off it three times and I had to fight for every single thing. No one hated Alien 3 more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me. It was a baptism by fire."
Source: IMDB