Category: 1995. Seven

Holt McCallany Answers Every Question We Have About “Fight Club”

By Roxana Hadadi, a Vulture TV critic who also covers film and pop culture
October 16, 2024
Vulture

Holt McCallany can talk for a long time about filmmaker David Fincher, with whom he’s worked three times. On the beloved crime-thriller series Mindhunter, which was unexpectedly canceled by Netflix after its second season. On Alien 3, the prison-planet sequel that was Fincher’s directorial debut and so plagued with interference from 20th Century Fox that Fincher wouldn’t talk about the movie for years. And on Fight Club, the cult classic that has been misinterpreted in bad faith since it came out 25 years ago. McCallany can mimic Fincher’s tone and jokingly recites his advice from years on set together. And he can just as vividly recall a grudge he’s harbored since the movie’s release.

“I remember sitting in a dentist’s office, and the TV happened to be The Rosie O’Donnell Show. She’s talking about Fight Club and she says, ‘Whatever you do, don’t see Fight Club. It’s demented, it’s depraved. I don’t think I’ve ever hated a movie more.’ I’m thinking, Gee, Rosie. Do we go on TV and bad-mouth your show? Is this really necessary, this kind of abuse?” McCallany says. “It angered me. I won’t pretend otherwise, because we were very proud of the film, we had worked very hard on the film, and we were very loyal to David.”

In Fincher’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, McCallany plays The Mechanic, a devoted follower of anarchist philosopher Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) whose unflinching glare and menacing physicality are always in service of Durden’s anti-consumerist ideas. McCallany exudes such certainty of self that once you notice the Mechanic cheering in the background of fight scenes, doing chores in The Narrator (Edward Norton) and Durden’s dilapidated mansion, or threatening to “take” a police commissioner’s testicles with a knife, you’ll keep looking for him, wondering what those wild eyes and set jaw are getting up to. The Mechanic tightened McCallany’s relationship with Fincher (who had previously wanted him for a small role in Se7en), and his melancholy-yet-adamant delivery of the film’s iconic mantra — “His name was Robert Paulson” — indicated how fully he could inhabit heavies with a heart.

Read the full interview

This Shot from “Seven” is Not a Visual Effects Shot

Todd Vaziri, VFX Compositing Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic
October 16, 2024
FXRant

A filmmaker friend reached out to me with a question about one of our shared favorite movies of all time, so I did what I sometimes do – I went totally overboard to find a satisfying answer and then wrote a long-winded article about it.

Near the end of David Fincher‘s 1995 masterpiece Seven, John Doe takes Somerset and Mills to the middle of nowhere to reveal his final surprise. They drive to a desolate area surrounded by high-tension power lines and towers. A combination of long lenses and wide lenses were used to alternate between images of long-lens compression of the space, and scattered wider lenses to illustrate the desolation of the environment.

Then comes this gorgeous shot. A simple, slow tilt down of the car racing down the road, filmed with a long lens. It’s breathtaking because it looks other-worldly, and some of that is due to the visual “compression” that happens to a scene filmed with a telephoto lens: objects that are far apart from each other “compress” in depth to look like they’re actually existing very close together in real-world space. Filmmakers make lens choices to give a scene a deliberate, artistic feel. It’s one of the many tools in a filmmaker’s toolbox.

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Litepanels ‘Inspired By’ Episode 3: David Fincher

Garrett Sammons & Quinton Myricks
July 31, 2024
Litepanels

In this episode of Inspired By, we step into the meticulously crafted universe of David Fincher. Host Garrett Sammons welcomes director Quinton Myricks to lift the veil on Fincher’s signature chilling style.

Join us live as we uncover how he utilizes reverse key lighting, reflections, and harsh light to craft his hauntingly beautiful worlds.

03:15: Introducing Quinton Myricks
07:30: Scene breakdown 1
16:30: Scene breakdown 2
22:48: Scene breakdown 3

Products Discussed: Gemini 1×1 Hard, Gemini 1×1 Soft, Gemini 2×1 Soft

Follow Litepanels: Instagram, Facebook, Ex-Twitter

Follow Garrett Sammons: YouTube, Instagram

Follow Quinton Myricks: Instagram

‘Inspired By’ Episode 1: Roger Deakins
‘Inspired By’ Episode 2: The Bear

Lex Fridman Podcast: Kevin Spacey, Power, Controversy, Betrayal, Truth & Love in Film and Life

Lex Friedman
June 5, 2024
Lex Friedman Podcast

Kevin Spacey is a two-time Oscar-winning actor, who starred in Se7en, The Usual Suspects, American Beauty, and House of Cards, creating haunting performances of characters who often embody the dark side of human nature.

OUTLINE:

0:00:00 – Introduction
0:02:44 – Seven
0:06:24 – David Fincher
0:14:16 – Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman
0:19:46 – Acting
0:28:10 – Improve
0:36:54 – Al Pacino
0:40:38 – Jack Lemmon
0:49:55 – American Beauty
1:10:04 – Mortality
1:12:52 – Allegations
1:30:50 – House of Cards
1:49:25 – Jack Nicholson
1:52:27 – Mike Nichols
1:58:01 – Christopher Walken
2:05:08 – Father
2:14:00 – Future

Listen to the podcast:

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Film Secession: Darius Khondji Exhibition

Richard I. Suchenski
February 2024
Film Secession

The singularity of cinema lies in its unprecedented capacity to transform the energies of the other arts into an integrated audiovisual experience. This synthesis makes cinema particularly engaging, immersive, and resonant, although, precisely because the constituent elements are organically fused together, it can easily be taken for granted. Film Secession creates new ways of exploring the ideas and artistic currents that have shaped different filmmakers, periods, and art forms. Subscribers will discover nonlinear pathways through the histories of the arts, be able to watch rare films provided by the world’s preeminent studios, production companies, and archives, and have special access to events held worldwide.

The Vienna Secession is a key inspiration. Created at the very moment of cinema’s emergence (1897-1905), its motto was, “To every age its art, to every art its freedom.” By fostering deeper understanding of our cinematic heritage and revitalizing our shared creative legacies, Film Secession will similarly provide opportunities to reimagine the future.

Join and support Film Secession

Darius Khondji is one of the most acclaimed and influential cinematographers working today. This exhibition explores Khondji’s work – especially his approach to light, color, space, and framing – and the larger question of the role of the cinematographer as a shaping agent in the overall style of a film.

Explore the Darius Khondji virtual exhibition

Innovative Lives: Beverly Wood

March 8, 2023
The Lemelson Center

Meet Beverly Wood, an innovator in color technologies for major motion pictures. She began working as an analytical chemist in the early 1980s before moving from the east coast of the U.S. to the west coast—a move which greatly influenced the trajectory her work. Her specialized knowledge of chemistry, engineering, and filmmaking led to her award-winning contributions to the creation and development of Color Contrast Enhancement (CCE) and Adjustable Contrast Enhancement (ACE) motion picture processes.

During this live online interview, you will be inspired by the story of Wood’s career, helping cinematographers, like Darius Khondji and Roger Deakins, to achieve their visual goals, and guiding them through the transition from chemical to digital technology, which changed how we see films today.

Learn more about Beverly Wood and the CCE process on Seven

For ‘Seven’ Restoration, David Fincher Went Back and ‘Kissed in Some of the City’

On the eve of its Chinese IMAX premiere, Fincher told IndieWire about excavating and remastering his breakout 1995 serial killer neo-noir.

Bill Desowitz
April 19, 2024
IndieWire

David Fincher is a philosopher as well as a perfectionist. When asked about the significance of his 8K remastering of Seven (premiering April 19 at the Chinese IMAX in 4K as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival), he told IndieWire, “If you think of it in string theory, it’s like a volumetric capture of where all these careers were at, and what these people wanted and needed and infused the thing with.”

Fincher was referring, of course, to Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, and the rest of the cast and crew who made his breakout 1995 serial killer neo-noir. The film was a brilliant analog product of the era (with only seven weeks of prep) but also ahead of its time in conveying a dark, creepy, nihilistic police procedural that got under our skin like no other film (select release prints even underwent a bleach bypass, silver retention process that provided greater color density and black levels).

“It is what it is, warts and all,” Fincher said. “And some of it is spectacular and some of it is stuff that I would change or fix today, but I didn’t want to mess with that. There’s a lot of imperfections, there’s a lot of things that you just don’t see on film. When people say they love the look of film, what they’re talking about is chaos, entropy, and softness. Now, of course, we live in an HDR world where you get those kinds of very deep, rich, velvety blacks for free.

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David Fincher talks us through the off-screen torture of making ‘Seven’

David Fincher on the set of Seven (Peter Sorel/New Line Cinema)

Joshua Rothkopf, Film Editor
April 18, 2024
Los Angeles Times

By any reasonable measure, David Fincher had made it by 1990. He was directing rapturous music videos for Madonna (Express Yourself, Vogue) and doing lucrative ads for top brands worldwide. The production company he co-founded, Propaganda Films, had cornered the MTV market, helping launch the careers of such future notables as Spike Jonze and Antoine Fuqua.

But there was Hollywood to conquer and Fincher, not yet 30, rushed headlong into his feature debut, one that no superfan of Ridley Scott (also a genius director of commercials) could pass up: the third movie of the Alien franchise. While it has since found a hardcore base of defenders, 1992’s dour, much-mussed Alien3, a troubled production, was a disappointment that Fincher has largely disowned.

A little over three years later, however, he was back with a movie that has since come to define him, even with future Oscar-nominated titles on the horizon. Starring Morgan Freeman and a rising Brad Pitt as detectives — one deliberate and cynical, the other impulsive and naive — in an oppressively rainy city hunting down a ghoulish maker of tableaus based on the deadly sins, Seven yoked Fincher’s gift for atmosphere to Fritz Lang-worthy material that approached metaphysical profundity.

“Who wants to spend their time bitching and moaning about transgressions that were done to you?” says Fincher, 61, of the tough years between Alien3 and the breakthrough that cemented his style. “That seems like a waste of time. I don’t think I was persecuted on Alien3, but I definitely learned what my limits were.”

The story of his rebound, though, remains a valuable one, even if the director himself would rather move on. In advance of Friday’s world premiere of a newly remastered 8K Imax version of Seven at the TCM Classic Film Festival, it feels like time to tell it again. Fincher is in a sharply funny, self-deprecating mood — his typical M.O. — when he connects on Zoom from his Los Angeles office.

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Dave Macomber, Stunt Coordinator: Visualising a Fight for David Fincher, Unreal Engine & VFX

Hollywood Stunt Coordinator & VFX Artist Dave Macomber discusses pre-visualizing the fight sequence for David Fincher’s The Killer and his new Unreal Engine project.

Jamie Bakewell
April 11, 2024
The VFX Process (Bigtooth Studios)

Dave Macomber is an award-winning stunt/fight coordinator and second-unit director in the film industry. With a passion for Visual Effects (VFX), Dave seamlessly incorporates VFX elements into his stunt visualizations, providing a comprehensive template for directors and the rest of the crew.

Having worked on iconic blockbusters like Transformers, HBO‘s Watchmen, and numerous Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Dave’s expertise shines through. Just a glance at his IMDB page showcases his impressive portfolio.

In his latest project for David Fincher‘s The Killer, Dave coordinated a gripping 6-minute fight sequence shot mostly in darkness. Join him as he shares insights into working with David Fincher, revealing that Fincher is an extremely collaborative director, and how his background as a VFX artist dictates his approach to photographing sequences in his movies.

‘Killer vs Brute’ exemplifies Dave’s mastery in delivering high-impact action sequences. Even though the scene turned out to be a success, Dave states that it was “the most intimidating thing I’ve ever done in my career.”

Venturing into Unreal Engine filmmaking during his spare time, Dave’s creativity knows no bounds. Last year, he unveiled The Ronin, his first Unreal Engine short film, showcasing a fight scene performed entirely by himself, using Rokoko Motion Capture technology. Now, with The Widow: Assassins Highway, Dave enlists a team of Marvel stunt performers to help him capture the stunts and elevate the action.

This episode offers a captivating glimpse into the VFX pipeline, the Hollywood stunt process, and Unreal Engine filmmaking.

Listen to the extended version of the conversation as a podcast:

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David Fincher to Premiere Restoration of ‘Se7en’ in Imax at TCM Classic Film Festival

Steven Spielberg will also introduce and discuss his director’s cut of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’

Kristen Lopez
March 21, 2024
The Wrap

Turner Classic Movies has revealed more guest presenters and films that will take place during their upcoming TCM Classic Film Festival (April 18-21, 2024), including the world premiere of David Fincher’s restored 1995 feature “Se7en” in Imax.

Fincher will be on-hand to introduce his thriller, which stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as two detectives on the hunt for a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as inspiration for his crimes.

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