Extreme Closeups in the Films of David Fincher

Jacob T. Swinney is back again with another fantastic compilation, this time an exploration of David Fincher's use of the closeup in his movies. Here is Jacob on the video:

The extreme close-up may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of David Fincher's unique visual aesthetic. That's because Fincher's extreme close-ups don't call attention to themselves. The filmmaker stitches the shots into his pictures in a way that is subtle and fluid, yet impactful and abrasive. They often go unnoticed, sitting just under the surface and scratching at our eyes. In my previous two "Extreme Close-Up" videos, I looked at Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson, two masters of the ECU. If Tarantino and PTA use the ECU as explanation points, Fincher's are used as hyphens, semicolons, and parentheses.

Fincher's style oozes from every single one of these shots — dark, gritty, and coming from a world that's been lived in. The closeups have always stood out to me in Fincher's work, especially those from films like Se7en. All of these shots add an additional layer — another bit of texture we can almost reach out and touch.

For more of Jacob's terrific work, check out his page.