Major Project Research - A deep dive into David Fincher's colour palette

 This part of a research will focus on analysing the colours in David Fincher's filmography.

I chose Fincher's films as an inspiration for my major project, because I wanted to create a depressing, heavy, and uneasy atmosphere. Therefore, I chose the movies, that I think are the definition of these emotions.

I will be analysing the colours is three films, which were made during Fincher's career - 'Zodiac', 'Seven', and 'the Social Network'.


ZODIAC
the photos are screenshots taken directly from the film
IMDB

The first film I want to analyze is one of the most vibrant in colour films of Fincher. However, do not be mistaken, it is not a vividly coloured film by any means. 


In this scene, we can observe the very typical for Fincher colours. The dominance of shades of gray, mixed with light blue and very delicate yellow gives the viewer a feeling of ease. We tend to connect the warmer tones with the feeling of being safe. Fincher knows this very well and exactly in these moments he changes the narrative to throw you off balance. The example of this we can see in the next frame.



As I said in the previous paragraph, Fincher likes to use the warmer colour palette in the scenes filled with action to create the opposition between visual and narrative parts of the story. This frame is as vivid as it gets, regarding the Fincher colours. The vivid blues of the water, the rich oranges of the grass and the outstanding blacks of the Zodiac killer are still desaturated enough to look Fincheresque, but also vivid enough to capture your attention and catch you by surprise.


SEVEN
the photos are screenshots taken directly from the film
IMBD

Even though it is one of the earliest films of David Fincher, we can already recognise the uncanny look in its frames, that will evolve into an actual aesthetic in the his future projects.


In this shot we can clearly see desaturated, bland colours, which are supposed to create cold and uncomfortable feeling. This technique is the opposite one to the one used in 'Zodiac'. Here, we are expecting the action, and we are let to the minds of your characters to feel their fear.

This frame on the other hand, has a clear subject. Here Fincher is using the vivid, punchy redness of Kevin Spacey's uniform to separate him from the monochromatic, desaturated background and the main characters. This way Fincher is showing us which element of the frame we should observe. Here we can also apply the colour science, which tells us that red is a colour of anger and danger.



the SOCIAL NETWORK
the photos are screenshots taken directly from the film
IMDB

Now for one of the Fincher's more recent films and from my perspective the most defining one. I believe, that the Social Network had the most impact on Fincher's style.



Similarly to the first frame in the 'Seven' analysis, this shot is very monochromatic. Nevertheless, we can already see the hints of green in this shot. This film has been a fundamental one for the future of the Fincher's colour palette just because of this hint of green, which we can observe in this shot. Besides the greens, we are also surrounded by warm, orange tones, which similarly to the ones in 'Zodiac' have a purpose of giving us the misleading feeling of security.


Exactly as I said, in this shot, which is later in the film, we can see the green tint all over the frame. The same green tint Fincher will be using in almost all of his future projects. This technique is actually a merge between the 'cold and desaturated colours' technique used in 'Seven', and the 'Misleading warm and punchy colours' used in 'Zodiac'. The colour green is the opposite one to the red on the colour wheel, and as we know from the analysis above, red is a colour of danger. The deep, dark greens are also quite cold shades of this colour. 
The combination of the colour opposite to red, which should give you the feeling of peace, and the coldness of this green, which should trigger in you the feeling of uneasiness combined together create the exceptional feeling, which is so unique that you will never forget about it.




I have learned a lot during this research. I have analysed the meaning of colours in Fincher's films and the techniques he uses to create the desirable feeling in his viewers. I will definitely use this knowledge in my major project and probably in other future projects as well. The work of David Fincher is very exceptional not only in colour, but in other aspects, like camera movement and the implementation of CGI. Maybe I will revisit this subject in the future.


________________________________________
References:
YouTube. 2019. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHy9VrtbHIE> [Accessed 14 November 2020].

YouTube. 2017. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAW09Jy48bM> [Accessed 15 November 2020].

Morton, J., n.d. Red. [online] Colormatters.com. Available at: <https://www.colormatters.com/the-meanings-of-colors/red> [Accessed 15 November 2020].

Comments

  1. Zoe Van-de-Velde15 November 2020 at 15:41

    What you did not learn is how he did this which would have been much more useful - you have told us what we know about the colours! I have looked, dare I say, deeply into this and you need to actually really look harder ! - https://ascmag.com/articles/flashback-seven-1995 - just as an example here

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zoe Van-de-Velde20 November 2020 at 15:04

    You need to add all work from classes this week and you need to be moving forward on the development and process of your project - please just catch up on things you have missed

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aga Ward25 November 2020 at 12:17

    I find your post very useful as, despite of reading about colour palettes I never seen the analysis or thought about it whilst looking at the film. I am glad you talked about it here. This will help me in my further development.

    ReplyDelete

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