Explore the Early Career of David Fincher, From His Music Videos Through 'Alien 3'

Filmmaker Cameron Beyl of the Raccord collective has already offered up a terrific and exhaustive look at the work of Stanley Kubrick in his Directors Series, and now he's back with a new set of videos exploring the work of David Fincher. Part one takes a look at Fincher's career through his first feature Alien 3:

One of the interesting things about Fincher, and probably one of the reasons his work stands out (and why he's considered an auteur), is that even in his earliest works, his style is very distinctive. The director of photography plays a big part in how something looks, but Fincher's work stays consistently dark and gritty even through his first feature, and through a number of different cinematographers. Though he has since worked with DP Jeff Cronenweth on a number of features, it's likely that his work would still carry a distinct visual stamp regardless of who was shooting it. 

It's fascinating that someone like Fincher, who had such a singular vision, would choose to take on the third film of a big studio franchise. Besides wanting to move into the feature world, it likely had something to do with the directors who had done the previous two films, Ridley Scott and James Cameron, and the hope that he'd be able to put his own stamp on the franchise. He did eventually get through all of the difficulties and come out the other side with a film, but one has to wonder how it would have turned out if he'd gotten to do things his way the entire time. 

Stay tuned for the rest of The Directors Series on David Fincher, which will explore the rest of his career.

Source: Raccord Collective