We’re extremely excited to share with you the latest addition of our Shot Talk interview series. Legendary filmmaker David Fincher and his incredible cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt sit down with cinematographer Lawrence Sher to discuss their 10x Oscar-nominated film Mank.
This episode has the kind of technical deep-dive discussions that you’re not gonna get anywhere else, including the philosophy of black and white vs. color cinematography, detailed FX breakdowns on several important scenes from the film, and why Fincher avoids Steadicam at all costs.
Along with the interview, we’re also releasing a bunch of great shots from the film, so you can start adding them to your decks and getting inspired right away!
But before you dive in and watch the filmmaking mini-masterclass above… make sure to go check out Mank, streaming now on Netflix.
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If you are in the mood for a master class in what it takes to be a successful screenwriter in Hollywood, look no further than this week’s episode of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens, where I go deep into the making of Mank with one of its producers, Eric Roth. This happens to be Roth’s first feature film producing credit, and he still laughs at the thought of it because in his heart he isn’t really a member of that tribe. The man is a writer through and through; while Mank has brought him his sixth Oscar nomination, it’s his first in the Best Picture category.
Roth is one of the most prolific writers in movies, having previously been Oscar nominated for scripts on Munich, The Insider, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Star Is Born and Forrest Gump, for which he actually won the Academy Award. He talks about all of them, what it takes to make a successful movie, the many directors he has worked with, as well as actors, and so much more. Scorsese, Spielberg, Fincher, Mann, Zemeckis — the list is just so very long.
We actually start our interview talking about one big name he worked with that made him very proud, and that was Akira Kurosawa. Not bad. He also has high praise for his Mank director David Fincher, and tells how the director brought him into the project as a producer, but to also carefully parse the screenplay without rewriting it. In other words, he and Fincher went over it line by line and Roth was probably the best kind of sounding board you could ever hope for. Fincher’s late father Jack Fincher died in 2003 but gets sole credit. In that regard we also talk about how a film about a film about a screenwriter could gather a leading 10 nominations yet not get one for its writing (!) It baffles him, but that is what happened. Mank details the creation of the certified 1941 classic Citizen Kane as well as how writer Herman Mankiewicz and Orson Welles managed to jointly create an all-timer, sharing the film’s only Oscar for Best Screenplay.
Roth’s other credits include scripts for The Good Shepherd, Ali, The Postman, The Horse Whisperer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon for Martin Scorsese, whom he praises mightily, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, among others. When I produce a preview card for one of his earliest credits, The Nickel Ride, which I saw at a sneak in 1974, he went right down memory lane and tells the story of his first job on a big film, rewriting The Drowning Pool for Paul Newman who greeted him on the set by saying, “Here comes our savior.” Indeed.
On April 10, the DGA celebrated the craft of directing during the 30th Annual Meet the Nominees: Theatrical Feature Film symposium. In a historic virtual event that was viewed by DGA members worldwide, the 2020 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film Award nominees — Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), David Fincher (Mank), Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) — joined Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan online for an in-depth discussion about their work.
“In this unimaginable year, which has truly been like no other, it’s an extraordinary pleasure and honor to be joined, even if it’s just virtually, by all five of the outstanding nominees,” said DGA President Thomas Schlamme in his welcome to the online audience. “Each of these fine directors join an illustrious line of filmmakers throughout Guild history who have represented the best in directorial achievements. I personally want to congratulate each and every one of you.”
Following a viewing of clips from each of the nominated features, Kagan prompted the nominees to share stories of their individual journeys that brought their powerful films to life.
“For me, it’s always about what do we think we’re doing as much as what we are doing,” said Fennell when asked her methodology for directing actors. “If we think we’re a hero and that goes against what’s happening in the script, play the hero. And it’s giving permission as well for the actor.”
Sorkin revealed his secrets behind the art of directing crosstalk. “Make sure that they put the burden on the other actor. Make them stop you from talking. Don’t stop because of the script told you to stop. And similarly, the actor who is doing the interrupting interrupt them as soon as you hear the word that’s making you say ‘no!’ or whatever is making you argue.”
Chung shared his process when it comes to rehearsals. “I try to make sure I talk throughout it; I don’t let them fully get into the scenes so that part of it they are still working it out mentally. I don’t get quiet and let them do it. …so I can try to preserve when the cameras are rolling that first time.”
“My personal taste is that I want to see what the audience is seeing,” said Fincher about his work preferences. “I work through the camera. I walk-through a number of rehearsals without having monitors up, but from the time we set a master or alternate master, the rest of the day is working through the camera because that’s the only thing that matters.”
“It’s always what’s on the camera,” agreed Zhao. “That’s it. That’s the difference between film and theater. People think because I work with a lot of nonprofessional actors, I’m usually like right there with them. But I love it very much…. because a lot of the time we have the sun right there and we can only do one take.”
Chloé Zhao wins the DGA Theatrical Feature Film Award for Nomadland. Zhao shares gratitude for the recognition and spotlights her fellow nominees for their films.
A conversation with Production Designer Donald Graham Burt, Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, and Sound Designer Ren Klyce on behalf of Mank. Moderated by John Horn.
Oscar®-winning Mank production designer Donald Graham Burt breaks down a few key sets from the film, including the ranch house where Herman Mankiewicz sets up shop in order to grind through the first draft of Citizen Kane, and the immaculate recreation of William Randolph Hearst‘s San Simeon castle.
“He’s extremely efficient, so the team around him has to be very efficient as well,” says Trish Summerville, Mank‘s Oscar-nominated costume designer, as we — along with the film’s best supporting actress nominee Amanda Seyfried, who plays actress Marion Davies, and best makeup and hairstyling nominees Gigi Williams (the makeup department head) and Colleen Labaff (the assistant head hair stylist) — discuss the film’s Oscar-nominated director, David Fincher, during an episode of THR Presents.
Mank, a Netflix film about the alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and the writing of the 1941 classic Citizen Kane, was designed to look and sound as if it was made during the same era as Kane. This required special attention from each of these four women. Seyfried had to adopt a pre-Method style of acting. Williams and Labaff had to recreate the looks of specific famous people from that time. And Summerville had to design or obtain clothing that was not only period-appropriate, but that also looked right in black-and-white.
“You guys are geniuses,” Seyfried says to her three fellow artists, noting that without their contributions she could never have given the career-reinventing performance that she did.
Fincher is famously a perfectionist, sometimes shooting dozens upon dozens of takes, and is also regarded as intimidating by many who don’t know him, as was the case for Seyfried and Labaff prior to Mank. But Summerville had previously collaborated with him on music videos, 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and 2014’s Gone Girl, and says, “Every time I work with him I feel like I become a better filmmaker, I become better at my job.” Adds Williams, who worked with him on Gone Girl and the 2017-2019 TV series Mindhunter, “I just adore him — he has made me a better makeup artist.”
Whatever Fincher does, it clearly brings out the best in those around him, at least on Mank, which landed 10 Oscar nominations, four more than the next-most-nominated film this year, including best picture.
Mank Craft Panel with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, production designer Donald Graham Burt and costume designer Trish Summerville, moderated by Jessica Radloff. Presented by the American Cinematheque on Saturday, April 3, 2021.
“It’s going to be a short entrance and probably exit, not that I didn’t enjoy it,” laughs Eric Roth in his exclusive interview with Gold Derby about his foray into film producing with “Mank” for Netflix. Roth is such an industry veteran that he won the Writers Guild of America’s lifetime achievement award back in 2012. With screenplay credits going back five decades, including his Oscar-winning screenplay for 1994’s “Forrest Gump” and 2018’s “A Star is Born” earning him his fifth Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, “Mank” represents 76-year-old Roth’s debut as a film producer. He now has his first Oscar in the Best Picture category for his first time in contention.
A conversation with Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, Production Designer Donald Graham Burt, Set Decorator Jan Pascale, Costume Designer Trish Summerville, and Makeup Department Head Gigi Williams on behalf of Mank. Moderated by Wendy Mitchell.
Join us on another installment of Behind the Seams: Runway to the CDGA! This week, our host JL Pomeroy is joined by nominees Trish Summerville (Mank) and Michael Wilkinson (Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey).
The Fincher Analyst 