presentation script

Presentation script.

Question- David Fincher uses cinematography to create mystery in his films does this make him an Autuer?

Projector: Clip from item 3 of people searching for the wife in Gone Girl.

Speaker: This clip is a part of the film which straight away, using cinematography, creates a atmosphere of mystery for the audience. The films narrative of the wife going missing doesn't make you aware of where the women has actually gone or what has happened therefore this is driving the audience forward by creating an enigma, this enigma fits in with the concept of Fincher having an atmosphere of mystery in all three of my selected films. The use of dark colours and dark lighting is also shown in this clip, a popular style of a cinematic technique Fincher uses, creating mystery as this is all done in the dark which suggests that something is being hidden, in this case it is the women ging missing but not only where is she she but what has happened to her.

Projector: Clip from item 1 where the main character, Robert Gray, is seen going through various documents of what he has collected about the case of the Zodiac killer.

Speaker: In this clip you can see the cinematography Fincher uses in his choice of shots. Through out zodiac the insert shot is used multiple of times. Fincher is famous for using this shot as it adds meaning in the narratives of his films just as it does in Zodiac "David Fincher's masterful and suspenseful thriller Zodiac makes extensive use of the insert shot, and it has a profound and meaningful impact on how the film's language interacts with and supports the characters and story"(item 5). Using the quick cut within a frame to some specific object, shows it to the audience in close-up without shifting perspective too much for the audience. Therefore this creating mystery in Fincher's Zodiac as it allows the audience to feel the same as that character does at that time of the insert cut, making the audience indulge and investigate the information being shown to them in the quick shots. Pushing them to think more whilst watching asking themselves questions of what it all means (in this case). 

Projector: Clip from the item 1 where three detectives are discussing the Zodiac case with other police officers.

Speaker: Fincher's cinematic techniques are not as obvious as others which have over the years made it easy to spot a Fincher film. Some of the more subtle techniques rarely used by Fincher can have more effect without realising. 'Its not what David Fincher does but what he doesn't do" (Item 4). Close up's that Fincher rarely uses have a deeper meaning when they are actually used and are more thought out to create a specific effect or to make a audience see/understand what he wants them to. Item 6 talks about how Fincher believes there are two ways to direct a scene yet one of them is wrong, item 6 quotes "blocking=staging of characters/camera in scene" is one of the ways Fincher believes is a way to direct a scene, showing his unique style of directing making him an auteur. In the scene 'Toschi's' team and the 'Riverside team' are sown in a long wide angle shot on either sides of the room to each other displaying how each have their own takes on the the murder case and how they both have their own seperate information on the case that they have not yet shared, seperating them in their knowledge then shown through their positioning. Fincher uses techniques in this scene to unconsciously connect the audience to the sittuation and the characters, Toschis team are shown in a medium shot at the end of the table all at the same eye level facing each other so they are all surrounding their case files, this suggests that they are all on the same mental level united together to achieve the same goal, that being going to where they have to find more information to catch the killer. However when looking at the Riverside team in a medium shot they are not shown on the same eye level and their bodies are facing away from each other, opposite to the other team who are positioned united with each other. This makes these two characters seem less interested in the case than Toschis team is, this sort of technique sets Fincher apart from other directors as it is his attention to detail which makes his stand out as an auteur. This all creating mystery in the scene as by Toshcis team going all that way it questions if they are going to find any more evidence or if the other police department have any information that is not already known. 

Projector: Clip from item 2 at the beginning showing characters in a work environment showing them in a busy office environment to then jumping to a flashback scene. 

Speaker- In this beginning scene you are introduced to main characters who are prominent through out the film. Fincher is known for using flashback scenes in his films to tell the narrative and which already adds to the mystery being created. Myself watching the film was straight away confused by the narrative as first you are introduced to characters such as Mikael Blomkvist, who is put on the case of the missing girl. The character Lisbeth Salander who works in the detective field is also introduced. When you first see her she is shown in a tracking shot and the diegetic speech of two men talking about her as being "different" suggesting already that she is a complicated and mysterious character, keeping her identity as this point hidden. You are not shown her face until she is shown in a medium shot behind a glass window seperating her from the other characters in the room where the two men who are speaking about her are waiting. Still to this point the young women does not speak or interact at all with the two men other than awcknoledging them. These cinematic techniques all create mystery in the narrative as it creates an enigma code making the audience ask questions and want to carry on watching to know this characters story. 


Projector- Clip from item 2 the narrative uses a flash back to the young girl who is missing past life.

Speaker- The flashback edit comes in of the young girl who is now missing showing her past life. However because of how the audience were previously introduced to a weird character Lisabeth, it led me to believe that Lisbeth was the missing girl and was showing you a flash back of her life before the event occurred that caused her to disappear from her life before and was the reason why she was portrayed as such a messed up individual. Therefore showing by Fincher using the cinematic technique of flash back does create great mystery for the audience because of the questions it makes you ask, who are the people in the flashback? what happened between the point of the flash back and the present point they are in now? and what is the event that causes this split?. Also in this flashback Fincher uses one of his most famous cinematic techniques, the contrast of dark low key lighting to high key lighting. In the present time things are very dark yet defined however in the flashbacks things seem to appear lighter yet less defined, as if its trying to be shown in a faint memory of what was, in these flashbacks it is a known fact in the case that a young girl goes missing but no body knows why or how, maybe this is why Fincher puts the contrast of the two different lightings.

Projector- Clip from item 1, in this scene the character known as Robert is sat in a man's house who he believes has something to do with the Zodiac case.

Speaker- Mystery being created in this scene is through the subtle cinematic techniques used by Fincher. Item 7 quotes " It is less about what he does do but more about what he does not do" this is sad because Fincher can take the smallest of details and make it stand out to have the biggest effect on the audience. In this scene the character Robert is sat down at a table in a close up shot, which is one of the techniques Fincher is known for using rarely, in the background of this shot is the other character who is suspected by Robert shown disorientated and blurry. This suggests that the character is hiding something as the image of him is unclear which therefor portrays as the information on him being unclear also. Item 7 quotes "drama happens when a character learns a new peice of information". Fincher uses the reactions of the character learning new things to create the mystery through techniques, how is that character going to react to the new information? and what does this mean for the narrative?. Fincher only moves the camera when needed which is demonstrated gain in this scene where the camera flips between long shots of the two characters, this could be so you are only shown what the character is aware of also at this point, therefore the narrative having the same effect on you  as it does on the character. In this case at this point in the scene its the question of is this man the killer and what is going to happen to Robert if he does go down the basement, by only showing that straight long shot of the man standing in the door way it gives you no extra detail about him as a character therefore no incline of what he is going to do, if he is going to do anything at all.

Projector- Clip from item 3 where the character Amy (the missing girl) murders the man she has been staying with.

Speaker- In this scene Fincher uses the cinematic techniques to create mystery through his camera shots. Fincher has a distinctive style in his films of following the characters perfectly with their body movements, item 9 quotes "he has the camera match the velocity and direction of the moving character in the frame, when the character stops the camera stops too and starts again when the character moves, the action here isnt close its perfect" this displays how Fincher is not just a director but this making him an auteur, in the way he is a perfectionist. Fincher would do this technique over and over again, matching the characters movements with the camera, until it was just natural for the actor actress to do so making it seem more real and less rehearsed, even though it is over rehearsed. These shots lock you into the behaviour of the character making the audience really feel the space they are in. The way this creates mystery in this clip of the film is how the camera shot follows every one of Amy's movements, this way it builds up tension for the audience wondering what is she doing next as the camera is focused more to detail on her it makes you feel like something is going to happen and that something being a bad something through the atmosphere being created not only through this cinematic technique of the camera shot but also through the concept of , reffering back to item 7 "its not what he does do but what he doesnt do", as in this seen there is no non-diegetic music in the background where as in usual scenes as such when somebody is about to get murdered you would hear eary or gloomy music in the background. However because in this scene theres is none it concentrates more on what is happening in the scene making you watch more and hightening your senses to the scene questioning her movements as you already know she is a weird character adding to the build up of the murder.