With the release of his latest film Gone Girl just hours away (read Brad’s review here), David Fincher is the latest subject for online essayist Tony Zhou, who has previously talked about Martin Scorsese and Edgar Wright in his videos. Here, he talks about Fincher’s simplicity as a director, which is very refreshing because he can often be lauded for his highly complicated shot designs. For people who want to know a little about what goes into directing a scene, Zhou delivers a very basic lesson on how a master is able to do it.
He does spend the majority of his time on how the scene is edited without actually calling upon the editing, which is just one component to directing. He spends some time on camera placement and shot selections. I found it odd he does not mention how he works with his actors, which is pretty important. I go back to the old David Mamet adage on directing:
- What’s the scene about?
- What do I tell the actors?
- Where do I put the camera?
Zhou really only covers one of those, and I think he does a good job with it. As I said, it is a basic lesson, but a good one. It is nice to see someone point out the very small things that go into directing that often go unnoticed. The video does capture some of what makes Fincher one of the best directors working today.
You can watch the video below:
