“Entertainment has to go hand in hand with a little medicine, some people go to the movies to remind themselves that everything is okay. I don't make this type of film. This, to me, is a lie. All is not well." -David Fincher. David Fincher is the director I choose to pay homage to for a number of reasons. I personally find his films to be some of the most profound, well-made and beautiful films of recent times. However, it is Fincher's approach to storytelling and filmmaking in general that makes me admire his films so much This quote exemplifies this and is something I fully agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my opinions about the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture they are helping to create. In this article I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces he makes and what I can take away from it and apply to my films. It can be argued that most of David Fincher's films share stylistic similarities in narrative and story more than any other way. This is a very interesting statement considering that Fincher does not write his own screenplays, but most of his films deal with overall similar themes and characters. This can be best illustrated by looking at films from different points in Fincher's career. Fight Club is a film that heavily criticizes materialism, capitalism and in some places even religion. In fact, almost everything Tyler Durden says is largely anti-Western in general. Until the end of the film, society is in a sense the story's greatest antagonist. Se7en also shares a similar disgust for society. In Se7en both Detectiv......middle of paper......have the atmosphere and feel he wants from the film. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sound effects are used very subtly to motivate large parts of the plot. For example, in the scene where Martin Vanger allows Mikael into his house and offers him wine and dinner, a constant whistling of the wind can be heard until Martin finally gets up and closes the door, allowing Martin's lover to reveal that no one knows she is there, thus giving Martin the ability to kill her. This sound effect returns later at a crucial point in the story when Mikael breaks into Martin's house to find evidence, and is caught by Martin because Martin hears the whistle of the door being opened and goes to close it. It's this kind of attention to detail that makes Fincher's films so articulately entertaining, but also extremely profound and important for his time...