Frame & Reference is a conversation between Cinematographers hosted by Kenny McMillan. Each episode dives into the respective DP’s current and past work, as well as what influences and inspires them. These discussions are an entertaining and informative look into the world of making films through the lens of the people who shoot them.
Gone Girl was the fourth feature collaboration between director David Fincher and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, ASC since 1999;Fight Club, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo being the other three. Additionally the pair worked together on multiple commercials and music videos, creating a working chemistry.
Their 2014 feature Gone Girl, for which Rosamund Pike earned a Best Actress nomination from the Academy, was deftly shot and flowed quicker than its 149-minute runtime would suggest, resulting in one of the best psychological thrillers of the 2000s.
The film was shot digitally on Red Dragon cameras, using Leitz Summilux-C lenses and “a fairly comprehensive lighting package,” which included ETC Source Fours, Mole-Richardson incandescents, and Arri M Series HMIs. Further details can be found in our cover story published in AC Nov. 2014.
In addition to Pike, the filmmakers rounded out the cast with Ben Affleck, Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Missi Pyle, Emily Ratajkowski, Casey Wilson, Boyd Holbrook, and Scoot McNairy.
Cronenweth’s chief lighting technician on this show was Erik Messerschmidt — now an ASC member whose feature credits as a cinematographer include Fincher’s Mank and The Killer.
What follows is a curated collection of unit photography by Merrick Morton, a founding member of the SMPSP who also shot stills for features including L.A. Confidential, Fight Club, Zodiac, and The Bad Batch, and the series Mindhunter.
This is a cinematography experiment for fun and education. To explore Macro techniques, we recreate David Fincher‘s iconic MINDHUNTER title sequence and, of course, we give it our very own twist.
We also test & review the new Laowa Sword cine macro lenses. Macro Lenses open a whole world of technical possibilities and perspectives that are impossible to achieve with normal lenses. Macro and extreme close-ups can play an important role in cinematic storytelling, product videography, Stop-Motion work, and practical effects.
Then, we take you behind the scenes and show you how the different scenes were set up and lit. The LAOWA Sword macro cine lenses cover full frame and offer a wide range of focal lengths starting from 15mm all the way up to 180mm. We give you test shots and talk about our experience.
00:00: Intro & Contents 02:23: Extreme close ups in cinema 04:02: What is a Cine Macro Lens 07:52: Laowa Sword introduction 13:20: Laowa Sword Lens Test 18:15: Reimagining the Mindhunter titles 22:10: MACROHUNTER 25:48: Making of & Tutorial 29:10: Staging Marie – Skull shots tutorial 32:12: The Verdict 34:19: Laowa Aurogon introduction 37:19: Thank You
Here is our short with all MACROHUNTER sequences next to behind-the-scenes.
Disclaimer: we collaborated with LAOWA to bring you this episode. As always, we strive to give you our honest opinion based on our experience and our tests. If you are interested in buying the LAOWA Sword, please consider our affiliate link. It doesn’t cost you a dime more, but we get a little for the tip jar. Thanks a lot!
Let’s get into how Erik Messerschmidt does what he does, by unpacking his thoughts and philosophy on photography and looking at what gear he chooses in this episode of Cinematography Style.
00:00: Introduction 01:04: Background 02:06: Visual Language & References 03:44: Perspective & Camera Movement 05:40: Post Production 07:15: Lenses 09:05: Cameras 10:51: Grips 11:33: Lighting 12:28: MUBI
Music: Ottom – ‘Hold On’ Stephen Keech – ‘Grand Design’ Nuer Self – ‘Dawn’ Liquid Memoirs – ‘Distant Dream’ Joley – ‘Night Stroll’ I Am Alex – ‘Bonfire’ The Soundkeeper – ‘The View From The Attic Window’ Sero – ‘Mid August’ Chill Winston – ‘The Truth’
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With The Killer, David Fincher created a masterpiece of cinematic storytelling.
In the first act – the Paris hit – Fincher and his team combined three sets in post. They also added typical artifacts like horizontal flares and distortions to give The Killer an anamorphic vibe.
To learn and explore, we set out to recreate the climax of the first act of The Killer, BUT to do it for real: One real location and real anamorphic lenses. We even developed a way to do film through a real rifle scope – anamorphic of course.
This was possible as DZO just introduced three new focal lengths to their awesome PAVO lineup of 2x anamorphic lenses, a 135mm, a 180mm, and a 65mm Macro. This new focal length and the general short minimum focus distance of the PAVO made them the ideal companions to shoot our short.
We take you behind the scenes, share our experiences with you, and, of course, show you the result: “The Killers” gives the original a slightly different spin…
Disclaimer: We collaborated with DZOfilm and got the full PAVO set of 9 lenses to shoot our short. As always, we strive to give you our honest opinion based on our experience and tests.
00:00: Intro & Contents 02:48: The Killer / A Cinematic Masterpiece 03:44: Subjective Camera Movement 05:00: Subjective Sound Design 05:41: Subjective Edit 06:25: Paris: A Real Fake Location 10:08: Faking the Anamorphic Look| 12:14: Reimagining The Killer 15:49: Gear: The Lenses 23:18: The Rifle Scope 25:01: Gear: The Cameras 27:45: Feature: The Killers 31:08: A Second Killer & Verdict 33:16: Thank You 34:02: Member Shout Out
In David Fincher’s Netflix darkly comic thriller The Killer, Michael Fassbender is the nameless assassin who goes on an international hunt for revenge while insisting to himself that it isn’t personal.
The film marks the second Fincher-directed feature shot by Erik Messerschmidt ASC, following the Citizen Kane drama Mank, for which he won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
It is also the latest in a long line of Fincher movies since The Social Network to be shot on RED.
“There was not a conversation about using another camera system – there never is with David,” Messerschmidt says. “RED as a partner have been enormously collaborative with us in terms of helping us develop new ideas and solve problems. RED is absolutely creative partners to David’s process and certainly to me.”
Master of creating imagery that illustrates beyond the narrative, Erik Messerschmidt is an Academy-Award-winning cinematographer and long-time David Fincher collaborator equipped with a captivating photographic eye and razor-sharp instinct. Messerschmidt’s expertise lies in the visceral experience, the intricacy of his lens causing hairs on the backs of necks to stand to attention while Fincher’s protagonists face a run-in with death, and chests to pound amid the thrill of a car chase – all thanks to the cinematographer’s ability to deliver a sucker-punch to the senses.
After starting out as gaffer on Fincher’s 2014 thriller Gone Girl, Messerschmidt was the guiding visual eye behind the auteur’s chilling Netflix series Mindhunter, his monochromatic ode to 1940s cinema, Mank (for which Messerschmidt won the Oscar for Best Cinematography), and most recently The Killer, stalking the dark psyche of a trained assassin. Having developed an instinctive shorthand with Fincher, Messerschmidt’s ongoing intention is to ensure the viewer is immersed in a world that is palpable in our own. Messerschmidt switched lanes for his most recent project, as Michael Mann’s cinematographer for his acclaimed high-speed epic, Ferrari, bringing to life the tumultuous rise of Enzo Ferrari’s automotive empire in Northern Italy.
Having been in development since 2007, David Fincher’s adaptation of the French comic series The Killer arrives as a slick, stylish, and darkly funny film about a professional assassin desperately trying to project an image of cold, exacting competence, all the while struggling to keep his head above water in the aftermath of a job gone wrong.
With its solo protagonist who goes for long stretches of the film without saying aloud a single word, The Killer often resembles a silent film as much as anything else. Camera Operator had the opportunity to talk with A camera operator Brian Osmond, SOC, about working with Michael Fassbender in this unique role, the camera as “straight man” for the film’s sly comedy, and the professional relationship he’s developed with director David Fincher over the past seven years.
With no name and no background to go on, we meet “The Killer” in Paris, France, in the midst of his preparations to assassinate a similarly unnamed target. After days of meticulous planning, the moment finally comes with the target in sight, ready to take the shot, and he misses! Our mysterious assassin is left trying to pick up the pieces of this botched assassination all the while the situation continues to spiral out of control. The Killer is directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and stars Michael Fassbender, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton.
Camera Operator: Let’s talk about the first 20 minutes of the movie. That’s the part that really stuck in my head after the movie. That long, slow burn setup to what’s kind of the movie’s main punch line: him missing the shot after all that meticulous buildup and preparation. Can you talk a little bit about what went into shooting that sequence?
Brian Osmond: Yeah, it is a slow burn, isn’t it? It’s a bit painstaking, but ultimately I really like the sequence. His meticulous nature is obviously on display, and when it finally comes to the moment to pay it all off, he misses! And that sets up the rest of the movie. Shooting it was a lot of work, as you can imagine. The entire sequence, structurally, was made from three pieces: there was the Paris work, there was the stage work with Michael, and there was the stage work for everything across the street, and those are seamlessly combined with compositing and editing.
Frame & Reference is a conversation between Cinematographers hosted by Kenny McMillan. Each episode dives into the respective DP’s current and past work, as well as what influences and inspires them. These discussions are an entertaining and informative look into the world of making films through the lens of the people who shoot them.
Our third ever returning guest and a crowd favorite, Erik Messerschmidt, ASC is here! In this episode we talk about his work on Michael Mann‘s “Ferrari” as well as David Fincher‘s “The Killer“. Enjoy!
The Fincher Analyst 