Item ten: Interview with Quentin Tarantino on David Fincher

Interview with Quentin Tarantino in which he discusses the difference between David Fincher and himself (A Writer-Director).

What is the importance of mise-en-scene and/or sound in creating meaning and generating response in the films you have studied?

The City of God uses mise en scene within many of its shots to generate meaning and create response. This is used in the scene of The Story of the Apartment. In this we are able to see the effect that drugs has over time through the decay of an apartment. This can be viewed metaphorically, with the apartment symbolizing the home and the slow destruction portraying their loss of any stabilization or safety due to the result of drugs and the want for power.

At the start of the scene, the apartment is owned by a woman, Dona Zelia. The mise en scene used in this portrays an un-threatening environment, through using warm colours combined with tidy mise en scene, to create what appears to be a stable home. The mise-en-scene within the shot combined with the voice over creates a strong juxtaposition to what is happening there and what the environment looks like, creating a sense of impending doom for what is to come through selling drugs.. Towards the end of Dona Zelias held over the apartment, we see Big Boy dragging her out of the apartment whilst she rips of the table cloth. This destruction of the mise en scene sparks the erosion of the apartment. This could also link to social issues within the film, surrounding the treatment of women, as towards the end of the shot, we see Big Boy dragging Dona Zelia out by her hair, generating response within the audience surrounding social and cultural issues.

As Big Boy takes over from Dona Zelia, we see a big change in the mise en scene in the shot. We are able to see drugs and alcohol displayed on the table. The could link to the idolisation of drugs, as Dona Zelia sold drugs to support her daughters after the death of her husband, Big Boy uses it for power, which sparks social and cultural issues surrounding gender representation and the ideology within Brazil. It could also represent the erosion of using drugs, portraying the ever heightening need for more money and power. In the background of the shot, we are able to see the mise en scene of the posters of naked women, which again can be viewed in the sense of power, by the men using this to place themselves above women, through derogatory pictures. The apartment has also become messier through the transaction of Dona Zelia to Big Boy, through the mise en scene of miscellaneous boxes and clothes being carelessly places around. This references gender, through social and cultural issues of the juxtaposition between male and female respect and care for their home. We also see a loss of many of the mise en scene shown through the transaction of Dona Zelia to Big Boy. For example, the curtain, the chest of drawers and also the photo frames on the walls, which are later replaced with pornographic images. This loss of mise en scene is used to represent the destruction of the apartment and its slow transaction from a home into a gang hide out through the result of drugs, creating a response from the audience surrounding the constant underlying issues within this film.

 

 Carrot, Big Boys favourite drug seller, then takes over. We see a slight change in mise en scene on the table, with more alcohol and drugs being displayed. This again links to the ideology of power and also the obsession and destruction caused by drugs. The apartment also shows signs of physical erosion, through the ripped wallpaper. This shows a lack of care for the apartment, and instead of seeing it as a home, (like Dona Zelia) they merely see it as a place for drugs. The apartment also begins to look bare, through the result of slowly loosing mise en scene. This changed the appearance of the apartment, making it appear more like a factory, rather than a home. We then see the transaction between Carrot and Blacky. The mise en scene for this shot proves the effect that drugs have, through the slow erosion and decay of the apartment. We are able to see the wallpaper torn off and various miscellaneous boxes in the background, showing a disregard for their environment.

 

Through-out the flash back of the apartment, the one piece of mise en scene which remained stable was the table and chair in the fore ground of the shot, used for the placement of drugs and alcohol. This is used to represent the similarities of the effects of drugs, therefore portraying that the people change however the story remains the same. I feel that this scene showing the story of the apartment uses mise-en-scene to create meaning and generate response within the audience surrounding the effects of drugs and show the underlying issues caused by drugs within the film, through the erosion of a home.

Item Eight: Alex Billingtons (FirstShowings.net) interview with David Fincher (Internet)

Item Eight: Alex Billingtons (FirstShowings.net) interview with David Fincher (Internet). Good reference for the research project, giving me an insight into David Finchers use for lighting, and how he uses it to create a mood with specific referencing to Zodiac. The interview includes references to breaking the conventions of a stereotypical horror/crime film through the lighting again referencing to Zodiac.

http://www.edward-norton.org/fc/articles/filmcom.html

Item Seven: Gavin Smiths interview with David Fincher for Film Comment Septemer/October 1999 (Magazine)

Item Seven: Gavin Smiths interview with David Fincher for Film Comment September/October 1999 (Magazine). Good resource for investigation. The interview includes various comments from David Fincher surrounding his previous films including Fight Club, Se7en, The Game and Alien 3. He discusses lighting techniques in which he used to make the image appear 'ugly'. The interview also discussions the approach to film in a visual sense, through referencing colour and the importance of controlling the colour pallet to create the desired mood.


http://www.edward-norton.org/fc/articles/filmcom.html

Item Six: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Audio Commentary (DVD).

Item Six: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Audio Commentary (DVD). Good reference, containing audio footage of David Fincher talking about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It contains explanations of certain scenes within the movie, and explains them and their use in the film, linking to the style of having a bleak narrative. Various other comments made however none linking to visual style.

Item Five: Introducing Film by Graham Roberts and Heather Wallis (Book)

Item Five: Introducing Film by Graham Roberts and Heather Wallis (Book). The book is a useful resource, containing information surrounding theories, concepts and a discussion on key areas of film. The book contains a chapter which discusses the auteur theory. Areas of this chapter specifically reference the theory of what it an auteur, through visual traits and the narrative structure. The book also contains a chapter on cinematography, including the use of colour to manipulate the shot in the desired way.

Item Four: David Fincher; Films That Scar (Book).

Item Four: David Fincher; Films That Scar (Book). Useful book written by Mark Browning, which discusses various sections of his work, including his earlier pieces in commercials and pop videos which allows an insight into the evolution of David Finchers style. The book discusses elements of David Finchers films through linking them together (To Catch a Killer: Seven and Zodiac). The book then breaks the films down to subheadings which pose questions surrounding the narrative and the underlying issues within the movie, whilst constantly referencing to the text and some of his other films as well. The book specifically discusses a link between most of his films, being the bleak narrative and is addressed in a chapter called "A Sense of an Ending-No "Happily Ever After". The book only slightly references David Finchers stylistic approach towards his films, through referencing the narrative.

Item Three: The Game (1997)

Item Three: The Game (1997). Very useful, showing David Finchers stylistic approach to film, with strong uses of colour connotations and lighting to create a certain mood or atmosphere within the shot. Lighting is also used in the film to create a strong juxtaposition by placing the protagonist, Nicholas Van Orton (A Wealthy financier) in a completely opposite environment, causing discomfort in the character and in the audience. Colour is used to display comfort (warm colours) and places of discomfort (scenes with a blue undertone). Uses film noir elements like rain streaked streets combined with fluorescent lighting to take full advantage of pathetic fallacy. Lighting and colour also used to create tone and textures within a shot, to help aid the preferred view of a certain location which then adds to the narrative.

Detective David Mills and Detective Lt. William Somerset

The characters of Detective Mills and Detective Somerset can be seen as a representation of David Finchers stylistic yet bleak approach towards film. This is used throughout the juxtaposition of their idolised and media stylised job, whilst still depicting issues they acquire such as loneliness and being the product of over exposure to scarring situations throughout their job. This causes them to be an example of David Finchers style, showing the dark issues behind someone as highly represented as a detective. This is shown through the narrative of Detective Somerset confiding in Detective Mills in the bar about wanting to quit his job. Here we are able to see the effects of their job, therefore seeing the underlying issues within the narrative of Se7en and proving that it is much more than just a conventional crime film.

Item Two: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Item Two: The girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). Useful in showing one of David Finchers latest films and how his style is still very similar to Se7en (1995) supporting his auteur state. There is a strong use of colour connotations within the film, due to it being mainly set around Sweden, therefore using snow to aid the narrative of bleakness. Also snow is used to present how the protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist is out of his comfort zone, linking to the films underlying issue of safety. Most scenes within the film use a blue undertone which links to the cold heartedness of the characters and narrative (How Martin views and treated women) but also the environment ( the treatment of women in Sweden) Lighting is used to create a juxtaposition between the crime and the environment, showing the crime scene in Martins house to be a well-lit, to re-enforce the underlying issue within the film of a lack of safety (supported through the characters backgrounds of rape and abuse, shown through flashbacks).

Item One: Se7en (1995)

Item One: Se7en (1995) Focus Film. Very useful, displaying David Finchers style in one of his earlier pieces. There is a strong use of hard and low key lighting to create atmospheric and disturbing scenes without showing any violence. Also used as a juxtaposition, with High key, soft lighting used in the crime scene of Greed, to create a sense of discomfort within the audience surrounding safety. David Finchers stylistic approach also uses strong film noir elements, using hard lighting and a very bleak colour pallet, again creating juxtaposition to what seems like a very conventional detective film combined with a disturbing narrative with an ending containing no moral relief. Colour connotations used to create the desired feel to a scene, aiding again the narrative and also used in some to represent the sin in the crime scene. 

Interview With David Fincher

"Light, to me, makes a mood. So the mood can either be an appropriate one or it can be an inappropriate one. Sometimes it's right to be inappropriate. Sometimes if you want to have a shocking murder take place, like in Zodiac, the fact that it happens at three o'clock in the afternoon on a bright, sunny September afternoon, that can be... that's what was shocking about the murder. That's what was shocking about what took place Lake Berryessa, is that it happened in broad daylight. And here were these people screaming for their lives and you go, "How is that possible?"

      -  http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/interview-david-fincher-discusses-having-final-cut-themes-more/ 


Interview with David Fincher shows his view and use of lighting to help create a mood and atmosphere, specifically referencing to Zodiac. This also relates to many of his films, like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) (The crime scene in Martins basement, being well lit, and with the house being shot using warm colours, to appear non-threatening). This supports David Finchers stylistic approach to film, using lighting for shock value and specifically in Zodic and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to create a feeling of lack of safety.

Draft Research Question

Draft Research Question: Does David Finchers stylistic approach to film combined with his constant use of bleak narratives make him an auteur?