It's incredibly refreshing to see a film reviewer on TH-cam that has a grasp for the technical side of filmmaking and cares enough about a movie to analyze its presentation rather than just describe the plot of the film and whether they liked it or not. Thank you for making these. Hope your Patreon campaign goes well.
I follow you both and find it endlessly eye opening and almost essential for how I see movies. It's like I've been waiting for someone to say this stuff all my life. Thank you.
Everything is important in a film. You can have great technical shots, well designed scenes, but none of those work if the plot sucks. You'll be thinking about why is this scene relevant before you decide that it's gorgeous. For instance, Michael bay can produce wicked cgi and create epic looking scenes, but I'm thinking what the fu k is going on with this movie (transformers: age of extinction). I say plot and story are the core in film making, and everything else should serve to compliment the story. David fincher can certainly have a style of film making, but he also tends to choose dark stories, which compliments his undertone and gloomy style. But more important, every decision that he makes informs the plot (interview with Flynn and Pike). When he makes movies, everything right, all shots are relevant, all scenes designed in a way to inform the overall narrative.
***** Not entirely true... As my good friend Akira Kurosawa stated: "With a good script, a good director can produce a masterpiece. With the same script, a mediocre director can produce a passable film. But with a bad script even a good director can't possibly make a good film. For truly cinematic expression, the camera and the microphone must be able to cross both fire and water. The script must be something that has the power to do this." I understand what you're saying; that the technical power of cinema can be very persuasive, but your type of thinking is precisely what is destroying Hollywood right now.
Like the cat who caught the canary, something he got away with but can't contain his pride. So coquettish, and somewhat adorable. Just pat the Fincher on his face. Jeez, Tony kind of cut that perfectly. Love seeing someone that's good at what they do criticizing and analyzing their chosen artform, using that same format to express analysis and criticism.
Just keep getting knowledge of the art, watching this channel may help, also plenty of books exist. One of the few thing is to *always* remind you that everything happens in a film for a reason, nothing is left to random, remind you that the camera is present, always. You'll get all the angles and cut easily. It may ruin some of movie experience for you (it did for me after I entered cinema classes) but it opens a *whole* new world. I remember when I was a kid I wouldn't even notice cuts, like it's sound stupid but it seemed logical for me, born in a generation where everything comes at you in such massive flow of video flux, when I actually learnd grammary of cinema it changed my view like hard, I still remember how I wa not getting it and had bad grades my firt year along with 3/4 of my classes, I was like "but why ? I worked on this..." but I didn't did it the right way, after it "clicked" (that's the key word) I jusut couldn't miss any cuts lol, then t just develops from there, slight different focals, the étalo (doesn't know what's the english word ? The colour of the pciture if you'd like" and importantly : how all of these grammary tools serve the subject. That's the main thing, the most important one. Hope you continue get into this, and long live cinema.
Thrilla Whale You don't have to be "cinematically" smart, just observant and focused on the details. Even moviegoers who watch films as a hobby can explain why X shot focused so much on X character or X item. Every time the camera pans towards something or someone, there's a reason behind it.
+maskei Right? I just subscribed few minutes ago. The soundtrack of this video was amazing, a good editing/soundtrack choice inside a review of a great director.
actually he was the pornstar, and then decided he'll like to be behind the camera instead. When he realised he was quite good at it he heavily edited his work..... for a more, um... less stimulated folk??
@@mb2001 about 4 years ago he posted a video saying goodbye and that he was ending Every Frame A Painting for the foreseeable future. I can't find it anymore. Edit: Here is the article nofilmschool.com/2017/12/rip-every-frame-painting-farewell-advice-tony-zhou-and-taylor-ramos
+MrHonwe I think he meant that we, as audiences, like to invade the privacy of the characters on screen. Which is why he lets uncomfortable and private things like rape scenes go on for a long time, and how he holds a shot to seriously ramp up the tension.
This shows how perfect Fincher and Sorkin are for each other. I really wish they'd do more together. They compliment each other perfectly. Fincher knows how to direct the deep expository scenes Sorkin loves to write.
Onmysheet The two have nothing to do with each other. One is for artistic effect, the other for fear. I absolute love irreversible, but I loath the shaky cam as slung into popularity by The Blair Witch Project and used throughout action shot.
frank underwood I love found-footage shit, because I used to be obsessed with filming my life and watching it over again when I was a kid. That's not the only reason, though - it definitely lends some power and drama to scenes when used right.
Jason Gormally I feel like this is what doing 50 takes gets you. That one take with a perfect flying shoe. I also LOL every time at Brad Pitt pulling off Norton's shoe and beating him with it.
Can anybody shed some light? I've seen Fight Club about a hundred times and again after reading this comment and have no idea what scene you guys are talking about
Fincher's style is very much like the way scenes are composed in graphical novels. It's true you can watch his movies with the sound turned down and still get a very good idea about what is going on.
It's amazing how you can come back to a channel like this, almost 8 years later on and see how his analysis still holds up. With Mindhunter basically being about sitting around and having complex and deep talks with deeply disturbed men, and Gone Girl being about how a marriage gone sour were for most of the movie the characters are practically alone in the shots and how surgical the whole movie feels (like how the wife surgically creates the perfect escape framing her husband). Not to mention how little close ups at all in Gone Girl, and how expertly the close ups are used in the interrogation scenes in Mindhunter! Wish this channel would come back!
I'm learning so much from you... and I don't even fully understand most of what you're talking about. Thank you for making my viewing experiences that much richer.
***** I concur about Watchmen, and all the more fascinating in that every panel of the 12-volume epic is exactly the same size and shape, regardless if it's a close-up of an eye or a panoramic landscape. The strict rigidity of the layout keeps our focus on the content within each frame rather than using relative size & shape to emphasize one panel over another.
Dude, you videos are rock solid. The audio is at a constant and comfortable level, no jump cuts, and the voice over is impeccable. Simple, yet extremely effective. Keep it up, brother.
Without a doubt these are some of the best videos I've seen anywhere about film, you know how Tarantino makes movies that make you want to make movies, your video essays have that same power. You're really good at this.
Aidan Brooks I'm just pointing out that if you were writing and drawing some kinda comic, this would help you construct many of the dialogue-driven scenes. Laying out the panels and whatnot.
+The Lukanator Very true, but be wary. There are many things that work on screen but not on the page. Vice versa, don't be critical of something that works on the page because it wouldn't onscreen.
I love comparing comic frames and movie frames. I find comic books movies most interesting. It's shame there's not many of those. All of Frank Miller's work, Dick Tracy, Unbreakable.. that's about it. Please suggest more if you know any.
Well done video! Its mice to see someone genuinely love the industry, and intelligently discuss it in such an entertaining way. Without histrionics. Thank you!
The final quote in this video is 100% correct. You realize it the more you grow older that the people around you are as fucked up and have their own little details which make it fun to see.
I love the twinkle in his eye with that shit eating grin. He is so devilishly appealing, but if I was an actor I wouldn't last more than 10 takes working with him.
Jeffery Lebowski you´re not mr lebowski.. you are the dude.. ok ? so thats what you call yourself... that.. or his dudeness or duder or el duderino, if you´re not into the whole brevity thing
+opmike343 Well, he said that he wouldn't do videos on directors that tons and tons of people have already talked about. So, the chances of him doing a Kubrick video are very slim.
LegoStarMovies But there aren't a lot of videos on TH-cam about his film making style tho. Most of them are interpretation videos which make theories of his movies and the others are Illuminati/Moon landing conspiracy bullshit
Handheld is usually overused or exaggerated to make it look "handheld" "Impressive" camera moves is also overused (The Hobbit, I'm looking at you). Save the impressive camerawork for the impressive or important moments or the whole movie will become bland.
+GonkThePowerDroid Its remarkable going back to the Lord of the Rings films and looking at how well balanced it was visually compared to the hobbit, without even getting into arguments over CGI. Jackson in LOTR was at his peak form giving us both a big story with impressive visuals to underscore the enormity of the world and the task before them but also giving us a very intimate collection of character stories inside of this grand stage. The Hobbit failed at this in both respects, perhaps because to augment a lack of as comprehensive a character story the Hobbit actually is he expanded action that was tone deaf to the style and mood of the world we all know from the books and LOTR films and because the action itself was so disconnected from the story that was there because Tolkien was never about action like what Jackson used to stuff the Hobbit into a trilogy.
Impressive camera moves can't be overused IMO. If they are stylish and flaring to the point where it's distracting it's a problem. Look at Edgar Wright and Martin Scorsese, who are both excellent with putting energy in to the camera but always to serve the characters, story, comedy, dialogue etc. Handheld can be done well, like Paul Greengrass in Bourne Ultimatum, but it takes a lot of work to make the camera move feel organic and purposeful when doing handheld. I do think impressive camera work should definitely be reserved for important moments or payoffs or indications or anything worthy of emphasis, but it should also come from a lot more than just camerawork to emphasize something (actors, delivery, editing). Michael Bay overdoes camerawork because it's distracting and all style and 0 substance, and most of the time is to no purpose, and his camera movements, composition and framing is most of the time not going to be serving the characters or story in anyway. I think it's more about what to convey and how to convey it to emphasize something, whether it's impressive camerawork or not.
Personally I LOVE it when a movie has an intro clip with some music, like in Se7en. When it's well done it's not cheesy at all, but actually sets the theme right away. It also makes the movie very memorable. I don't know if you did a video on this yet, I just found your channel!
I love how you pointed out that Fincher used the camera in a what that doesn't make you think a person is holding it. It's almost like the camera is an out of body experience, or a ghostly chase. Really the only film that has the shakiness in it that truly makes the scenes work for me is Saving Private Ryan. It'd be neat if you could do a short video just on the D-day scene, but I figure many folks already have.
The scenes of war, (particularly the D-Day scene) in Saving Private Ryan was shot handheld and was a decision by Spielberg to emulate the spontaneous hand-held visuals of authentic WW2 archival footage. Outside of the scenes of conflict, the camera is stoic, deliberate, or controlled.
My favorite close up ever was that zodiac scene i just love that and putting that bird noise in there while showing the bullets.Fincher is probably my favorite director
The Social Network. Not just in production aspects, but also in the quality of the acting and the writing (Sorkin/Fincher is a combination that should definately happen more often). To me, easily the best Hollywood film of the 2010's so far.
Tough one...they are all so good. For me, it's between Social Network and Fight Club (although it's a bit dated now) his shots in that movie are fantastic and the feeling of constant tension.
Yeah, Social Network was a really odd movie to watch for me. I liked it, but didn't loved it, and didn't think too much of it, but then i wanted to see it again because it felt like there were details that i'd missed, and then i watched a third time and really liked it, then i watched it with my girlfriend and then with friends, finally i just bought the blu-ray. For me it's the perfect mix of technique and story development, you can choose any clip from it, or any scene and i guarantee that it will be shot perfectly. The production as a whole is one the best there are, the score, the acting, the writing, but also the editing, the atmosphere, the colors, the locations, the rythm... this is a movie you learn from.
Fincher's body of work is nearly flawless, and he just keeps getting better. He manages to convey the most intense uneasiness with amazingly choreographed camera shots that don't rely on the support of excessive dramatic music, sound effects or cheap gore. It's pretty amazing how he draws from his actors every ounce of emotion needed to make the viewer understand what's going on in their minds with as little as a well-placed frame. I haven't checked if he has favorite editors of DPs, but I would guess he does, because the structure of his movies is usually as recognizable as his directing style. His refusal to overuse handheld is also something I would like to thank him personally for. I want to watch a story develop without the need to also develop a headache, you know?
i remember seeing the game in the 90's when i was a young teenager and thinking that the atmosphere and feel of that movie was unlike anything i'd felt before. He creates worlds that make you feel them viscerally.
OK THAT INTERVIEW CLIP WAS PERFECT DUDE. I could see in his eye that he knew what he said was awkward and he welcomed the judgement with laughter... That is the kind of person i wanna know
***** Well ya know what? The only reason I could figure it out is because I'm that kinda person. I describe my current presence in highschool as "My name spreads like herpes."
This is one of the best edited pieces of TH-cam gold I've ever witnessed.. That transition at the end from Fincher to the credits and Donovan gave me goosebumps.
I'm taken aback! A brilliant representation of an extensive perplexed art. I always found cinematography to be captivating. However, I never had a full a grasp of why. These type of videos make me wanna delve deeper into.
Every young filmmaker needs to watch this video. I've seen so many indie and big budget movies over the past couple of years where there is an overuse of close-ups. The Purge movies had way too much shaky cam and waaay too many close-ups.
Has anyone been reporting their findings from Gone Girl to you yet? Just in case, I noticed: yet again, loads of exposition and people talking at a table one handheld shot of Affleck running to his car from the press a lot of switching POV'S (husband, wife, diary, cops, cameras) increased use of fades in editing (maybe this started in Benjamin Button? or Zodiac?) camera doesn't go through anything
There's at least one moment where one of the characters talks to another one offscreen (use of emptiness in the frame), but I don't remember what it was. Maybe it was Affleck's character talking to his sister and then going to another room to pick the box full of letters, but I'm not %100 sure.
luisguillermojg Yeah, that sounds right. Maybe a similar moment in the trailer park when Amy's two new "friends" start tossing her bedroom and it's filmed from another room over?
There's a moment of emptiness when Amy looks at Nick and touches the bed next to her, implying there's a space for him. I also saw two fridges. TWO, Fincher? COME ON.
TONY, MAAAN. Ι'm sure that you have some serious things going on with your career but please do not abandon the channel. Every frame a painting is my most needed subscribtion on TH-cam. A fan, thanks!
I'm kinda mixed. He's either really amazing or just meh. For every Fight Club, there's The Game. For every Se7en, there's an Alien 3. For every Gone Girl, there's a Panic Room.
Man, you are my favorite critical film analysis channel on youtube, and the only one I've seen that is actually truly good. The rest are watchable at best. I really hope you keep making these for a long time to come because they are so entertaining, educational, and profoundly insightful. Side-note: Would you consider doing a video on Kubrick sometime? Scorsese and him are my director crushes at the moment, and I would love to hear your thoughts on Kubrick. :)
Great as always! Fincher's smirk at the end: priceless. Fincher definitely has a very distinct look: very often dark, desaturated with a hint of blue-green and very crisp. The carefully crafted, mostly locked down camera work, slow dolly/tracking shots and lighting is that of a master of manipulation. His recent work looks like meticulously color graded and composed in post down to the last detail. Need to check his DP's. Thanks for another great and insightful breakdown! Please keep them coming!
I love Fincher's avoidance of hand held camera, mainly because handheld and shaky cam has been done to death, and further because it has become an excuse for not really thinking your shots through. I am a hobbyist photographer, and a nicely thought out shot composition is valuable to me, and that's all the more reason for me to like Fincher, since there's purpose in his shots, I mean also other than to just carry the events from one scene to another.
For having just a single handheld shot in the entire film, it's employed effectively and meaningfully in The Social Network. Of course itd be on Sean Parker as discovers the cops are at the sorority party as hes coked out -- great way to sparingly use the handheld to represent the anxiety of this moment, and to hammer home Parkers debauchery.
I know I'm biased cause David Fincher is my favorite director, but this is my favorite video you've made so far. Just such great work dude. You need to be a college professor, seriously. Cause this shit? THIS 7 minute video essay has taught me more than some entire classes. Please keep up the sensational work.
I’m a little obsessed with Fincher films and even his commercials, studying how he shoots things...I’ve gone all the way back to the 90s with his commercials and music videos. He’s always had a distinctive style. Looking back at Express Yourself with Madonna and others...you can totally see Fincher’s style. You can’t help but watch. Express Yourself...that’s a video that truly embodies the phrase, “Every Frame a Painting”.
I have now watched several of the Every Frame a Painting videos and I have to say that there's a massive love/hate going on. The way he explains, the way he thinks, the things he appreciates and even his self-critiquing are all things that I can either agree with or respect or most of the time both. But he has an appreciation, an eye for things that I will never be able to fully comprehend or understand. I have an inkling only compared to him of an understanding of direction and WHY I enjoyed this thing more than that one, why I like this director instead of that one. These are things that he knows, studies, things he can dissect and analyze. But there too may be a curse. Can he sit back and enjoy a film without thinking about why it is that he's enjoying it? In that am I blessed in my ignorance?
+Walt Rimmer I think that Tony truly loves the medium, and to keep that love you need to enjoy. It is a skill by itsself to analyze AND experience. And he does exactly that. I would imagine, that he would not make those videos, if he didn't experience movies. The reason I think I can make a judgement is, beacuse I feel very similar to tony, but in gaming. I also analyze games very heavily, and know what I like, what I don't like, and why. But it does not in any way prevent me from beeing blown away by a game (and movie), that just hits me, so that I don't think about it. The curse, of course is, that you always want to improve things others made, or to see a great movie or game ruined by something, that you are aware of, and could have fixed. But its too late. It's already out there. This is something that really eats into you. On the other hand, you can apreciate brilliance, in places where something new hits you, something you could not have done. And I think that the tradeof is worth it. However, I'm not Tony. He could be the complete opposite :D And last but not least: Ignorance is great!! At least for your self. It makes life black and white, and I imagine that quite convenient.
+Walt Rimmer To me that's like asking can you appreciate art if you know how the artist actually employed his style. Its like wondering if you can love music if you know the theory behind it. Appreciation on this level is just another skill and it doesn't override your ability to be a viewer, it only augments it. Really I don't think ignorance is a blessing because that would mean that you're actually missing a large part of the meaning behind something. If you could understand most of what a poet meant by his words rather than just be impressed by the sound of it you'd think that's better right? There's also the fact that as a visual medium it takes less effort to experience these things. So unlike with say poetry or prose we're far more naturally adept at decoding visuals and relating meaning to them. That's just biology and as social creatures its built into us. So we can understand the meaning more even if we don't consciously acknowledge it. Close ups have impact even if you don't have the theoretical reasoning behind it in mind. In many ways that's the greatest advantage of visual art. It can impart greater meaning without a formalized education into it, and moving visual art is more akin to our natural experience, though augmented, than any other kind.
Disney approached him for a Star Wars film but they didn't agree to the same vision apparently. I would love to see a Fincher Star Wars film personally.
+Monkey Magic it would turn fincher mainstream, and i feel that often times ruins a directors career. (unless they had already been fairly mainstream like Abrams, because hes pretty good at what he does already).
I just watched all your videos, and it seems to me that Fincher is basically the anti-Michael Bay. Bay seems to do the things Fincher doesn't and vice versa. Where Bay uses more layers, Fincher uses minimalistic sets or even emptiness. Where Bay uses zooms, close-ups and rotating hero-shots all the time, Fincher uses a static camera and changes it only in cuts when it actually means something. Where Bay uses shaky cam and overwhelming visual impact like explosions and quick cuts to give the viewer the feeling they're just a tiny powerless being watching the scene unfold, Fincher uses steady and static shots giving the viewer the position of an omniscient god. In short, Bay seems to try to make every shot 'epic', to make the film as a whole seem epic, while Fincher uses more subtle techniques to tell his stories, using absence of things as effectively as the existing objects. Like you said, it's all about what Fincher doesn't do.
The hands down best analysis of David Fincher's work that I've ever seen. Watching this a few times helped me make better choices with my 3D animations.
+thesilentcontempt Zodiac followed by Social Network. Fight Club has amazing dialogue and ideas but I find the second half sags a bit. I love all his films though.
Subscribed! I'm half way through watching ever David Fincher film. As a photographer and commercial director his work and process is inspiring. If you see every film by a great director in sequence it's much more entertaining than picking random films. And a better learning experience!
You know I watch this video from time to time, solely for the way it is brought together and how much justice it gives to Finchers work. Honestly, videos like this make much more impact than something you tend to watch once for it being flashy or popular at a specific time. This...this is timeless.
After years I keep coming back to this channel.. such a gold mine
So true
Good channel, good narration, good analysis, good useful information, good way of editing.
*last video 6 years from now*
We all do buddy, we all do.
What happened to this channel???
@@Shivakumar-q5k4h It's closed. The video will remain online and available but there wont be no more new stuff uploaded on this channel.
It's incredibly refreshing to see a film reviewer on TH-cam that has a grasp for the technical side of filmmaking and cares enough about a movie to analyze its presentation rather than just describe the plot of the film and whether they liked it or not. Thank you for making these. Hope your Patreon campaign goes well.
I follow you both and find it endlessly eye opening and almost essential for how I see movies. It's like I've been waiting for someone to say this stuff all my life. Thank you.
Everything is important in a film. You can have great technical shots, well designed scenes, but none of those work if the plot sucks. You'll be thinking about why is this scene relevant before you decide that it's gorgeous. For instance, Michael bay can produce wicked cgi and create epic looking scenes, but I'm thinking what the fu k is going on with this movie (transformers: age of extinction). I say plot and story are the core in film making, and everything else should serve to compliment the story. David fincher can certainly have a style of film making, but he also tends to choose dark stories, which compliments his undertone and gloomy style. But more important, every decision that he makes informs the plot (interview with Flynn and Pike). When he makes movies, everything right, all shots are relevant, all scenes designed in a way to inform the overall narrative.
***** Not entirely true... As my good friend Akira Kurosawa stated:
"With a good script, a good director can produce a masterpiece. With the same script, a mediocre director can produce a passable film. But with a bad script even a good director can't possibly make a good film. For truly cinematic expression, the camera and the microphone must be able to cross both fire and water. The script must be something that has the power to do this."
I understand what you're saying; that the technical power of cinema can be very persuasive, but your type of thinking is precisely what is destroying Hollywood right now.
Wow, it's fantastic to see my two favourite film dudes on TH-cam bump into each other. Both of you do stellar work - keep these videos coming.
***** Ridley Scott's motto.
That smile in the end
Like the cat who caught the canary, something he got away with but can't contain his pride. So coquettish, and somewhat adorable. Just pat the Fincher on his face.
Jeez, Tony kind of cut that perfectly. Love seeing someone that's good at what they do criticizing and analyzing their chosen artform, using that same format to express analysis and criticism.
Always be around a hunky man when you're with Fincher.
Make sure you pay the hunkbeef.
Take care.
yeah thats been playing in my mind over and over haha
Thanks to the perfect cut and the music volume ramping up gives you a sense that there's more to it.
just keep that Emily ratajkowski scene from gone girl in mind...
I wish I were cinematically literate enough to even catch any one of these nuances in films I watch.
Thrilla Whale Not too late to learn, I hope
Just keep getting knowledge of the art, watching this channel may help, also plenty of books exist. One of the few thing is to *always* remind you that everything happens in a film for a reason, nothing is left to random, remind you that the camera is present, always. You'll get all the angles and cut easily.
It may ruin some of movie experience for you (it did for me after I entered cinema classes) but it opens a *whole* new world. I remember when I was a kid I wouldn't even notice cuts, like it's sound stupid but it seemed logical for me, born in a generation where everything comes at you in such massive flow of video flux, when I actually learnd grammary of cinema it changed my view like hard, I still remember how I wa not getting it and had bad grades my firt year along with 3/4 of my classes, I was like "but why ? I worked on this..." but I didn't did it the right way, after it "clicked" (that's the key word) I jusut couldn't miss any cuts lol, then t just develops from there, slight different focals, the étalo (doesn't know what's the english word ? The colour of the pciture if you'd like" and importantly : how all of these grammary tools serve the subject. That's the main thing, the most important one.
Hope you continue get into this, and long live cinema.
You may not have noticed it... But your brain did.
Thrilla Whale
You don't have to be "cinematically" smart, just observant and focused on the details. Even moviegoers who watch films as a hobby can explain why X shot focused so much on X character or X item. Every time the camera pans towards something or someone, there's a reason behind it.
Relatable
That last cut is so awesome though!!! That smile and than the perfect blend with the music!! Love it!!
Shit, this channel is great.
+Juan Sebastian Amador Bjarner lol i thought i commented on this video a long time ago and forgot about it
+Juan Sebastian Amador Bjarner so where is that picture from?
+maskei Right? I just subscribed few minutes ago. The soundtrack of this video was amazing, a good editing/soundtrack choice inside a review of a great director.
Hi. How are you
The ending just killed me. Love the guy.
Great video, thanks.
+Aleksandre Mzhavia agreed altho I cant say I know too much of his body of works of the top of my head.
After he calls viewers perverts and stares into the camera, I feel like he's undressing me with his eyes. lol.
+HalcyonSerenade He was looking right through the lens directly at you! lol
+HalcyonSerenade Ikr, I felt the same
+asiel smith Fincher and chill.
actually he was the pornstar, and then decided he'll like to be behind the camera instead. When he realised he was quite good at it he heavily edited his work..... for a more, um... less stimulated folk??
+asiel smith the movies he makes are for stimulated people, they get off on different content though ;)
Tony leaving TH-cam has left a massive hole. Miss you buddy. Hope you're doing well.
?
@@mb2001 about 4 years ago he posted a video saying goodbye and that he was ending Every Frame A Painting for the foreseeable future. I can't find it anymore.
Edit: Here is the article
nofilmschool.com/2017/12/rip-every-frame-painting-farewell-advice-tony-zhou-and-taylor-ramos
@@Chris-tc7gk Oh… I see.
totally agree, one of the best channels in the whole platform in my opinion.
Where'd he go?
...does he create on another platform?
I love David Fincher, one of my favorite directors.
And he's right, I am a pervert.
+Jombo What did he mean by that though??
+MrHonwe I think he meant that we, as audiences, like to invade the privacy of the characters on screen. Which is why he lets uncomfortable and private things like rape scenes go on for a long time, and how he holds a shot to seriously ramp up the tension.
Theodore Tan oooooooooohhhhhhhh
So is Kevin
Jombo Do you have instagram? We can talk about movies.
An awesome video essay Tony. Love the way you present this. Insightful and extremely enjoyable
This shows how perfect Fincher and Sorkin are for each other. I really wish they'd do more together. They compliment each other perfectly. Fincher knows how to direct the deep expository scenes Sorkin loves to write.
Lately everything has a shaky cam, it drives me nuts-
Irreversible would be one hell of a ride for you. lol
or cloverfield !!!
Onmysheet The two have nothing to do with each other. One is for artistic effect, the other for fear.
I absolute love irreversible, but I loath the shaky cam as slung into popularity by The Blair Witch Project and used throughout action shot.
frank underwood
I love found-footage shit, because I used to be obsessed with filming my life and watching it over again when I was a kid. That's not the only reason, though - it definitely lends some power and drama to scenes when used right.
DigitalBerserk shaky cam is not to be confused with handheld
Hey...David Fincher is a pretty man
Pervert.
hes mine thank you very much
He's like a Swiss Guy Fieri.
You are all damn perverts. I am glad to be part of the club. lol
@@sicongli6594 metal...Gear??
"Double rainbow!? What does it meeean?" Lol
I totally scrolled down to see if someone commented on that. X-) Fincher's hip to YT reference. Nice.
can you explain ? I actually didn't get it :(
Child th-cam.com/video/OQSNhk5ICTI/w-d-xo.html
I swear, David Fincher is my favorite director working today.
carloswachuwa13 he's my 2nd or joint first with Nolan... but my favourite to study
I don't care how many hundreds of times I watch Fight Club; that flying shoe cracks me up like the very first time, EVERY time.
Jason Gormally I feel like this is what doing 50 takes gets you. That one take with a perfect flying shoe. I also LOL every time at Brad Pitt pulling off Norton's shoe and beating him with it.
Fight Club is full of shots that are just too perfect.
Can anybody shed some light? I've seen Fight Club about a hundred times and again after reading this comment and have no idea what scene you guys are talking about
It's one of those montage scenes where fight club members have to pick fights with random people. 6:28
Fincher's style is very much like the way scenes are composed in graphical novels. It's true you can watch his movies with the sound turned down and still get a very good idea about what is going on.
It's amazing how you can come back to a channel like this, almost 8 years later on and see how his analysis still holds up. With Mindhunter basically being about sitting around and having complex and deep talks with deeply disturbed men, and Gone Girl being about how a marriage gone sour were for most of the movie the characters are practically alone in the shots and how surgical the whole movie feels (like how the wife surgically creates the perfect escape framing her husband). Not to mention how little close ups at all in Gone Girl, and how expertly the close ups are used in the interrogation scenes in Mindhunter! Wish this channel would come back!
David Fincher calling me a pervert and then smiling was the cherry on top of the reasons why I love this man.
I'm learning so much from you... and I don't even fully understand most of what you're talking about.
Thank you for making my viewing experiences that much richer.
Came here as soon as I saw the trailer for VOIR.
Congratulations Tony
Yep same here. Back again to what Tony in action.
You know what? I'm okay with David Fincher calling me a pervert.
I can't argue with the truth, so I'm okay with it as well.
I think we're all okay with it..
We're all perverts, they just don't know it yet.
It's the truth.
And it's the people who deny it that you have to look out for...
@@JoeKing69 Truth only from your point of view
Funny how i use you videos about camera directing to get better at framing comic panels.
Thank you and keep up the good work
It also works well in learning how to better frame in photography.
***** I concur about Watchmen, and all the more fascinating in that every panel of the 12-volume epic is exactly the same size and shape, regardless if it's a close-up of an eye or a panoramic landscape. The strict rigidity of the layout keeps our focus on the content within each frame rather than using relative size & shape to emphasize one panel over another.
Ditto. I try to borrow from everywhere.
David Fincher is the main reason why I am an aspiring filmmaker.
Cigarettes are the main reason why I'm an asthmatic filmmaker.
Debilitating bouts of malaria are the reason I'm an attritive filmmaker.
Alcohol is the reason why i am an abusive filmmaker
3D is the main reason why I'm an antipathic filmmaker.
Drugs are the main reason why I'm an abstract filmmaker
I find your observations interesting and insightful. Would love to see your take on more directors -- on the Coen Brothers in particular.
Andy "Hi my name is Tony and this is Every Frame a Painting. These two guys are geniuses." --> cue DJ Shadow music, done.
Every Frame a Painting But why are they geniuses, Tony? This can only be explained in sufficient depth in a video essay. :)
ExtremehamJkd I think you mean *several* video essays (or several dozen), which might be the problem. :P
Great job! This is becoming my favorite channel on TH-cam.
+TheGamerFromMars You here?
It's weird to see a big channel with less then 10 likes on a comment.
Trent Reznor and David Fincher complement each other's styles so well.
Dude, you videos are rock solid. The audio is at a constant and comfortable level, no jump cuts, and the voice over is impeccable. Simple, yet extremely effective. Keep it up, brother.
One of my favorite directors along with Richard Linklater and Edgar Wright.
hell yeah! all of them rule!
Without a doubt these are some of the best videos I've seen anywhere about film, you know how Tarantino makes movies that make you want to make movies, your video essays have that same power. You're really good at this.
Tell em
This is actually really useful info if you're into graphic novels as well, considering how the still shots are organized.
Sorry but what do you mean? :)
Aidan Brooks I'm just pointing out that if you were writing and drawing some kinda comic, this would help you construct many of the dialogue-driven scenes. Laying out the panels and whatnot.
+The Lukanator Very true, but be wary. There are many things that work on screen but not on the page. Vice versa, don't be critical of something that works on the page because it wouldn't onscreen.
I love comparing comic frames and movie frames. I find comic books movies most interesting. It's shame there's not many of those. All of Frank Miller's work, Dick Tracy, Unbreakable.. that's about it. Please suggest more if you know any.
my favorite youtuber making a video on my favorite director. I don't think I can handle this...
Well done video! Its mice to see someone genuinely love the industry, and intelligently discuss it in such an entertaining way. Without histrionics. Thank you!
The final quote in this video is 100% correct. You realize it the more you grow older that the people around you are as fucked up and have their own little details which make it fun to see.
I love the twinkle in his eye with that shit eating grin. He is so devilishly appealing, but if I was an actor I wouldn't last more than 10 takes working with him.
Do an episode on Paul Thomas Anderson
Jeffery Lebowski
you´re not mr lebowski.. you are the dude.. ok ? so thats what you call yourself...
that.. or his dudeness or duder or el duderino, if you´re not into the whole brevity thing
moviemaen those dickholes at google+ urinated on my rug
Jeffery Lebowski was it a valuable rug, dude ?
He will propably do that when inherent vice gets released, i think!
SamActionMovies hopefully
Stanley Kubrick episode?
+Harry Smith Yes yes yes yes. He's my favourite director and I study/worship him.
+Harry Smith We're not ready.
+opmike343 Well, he said that he wouldn't do videos on directors that tons and tons of people have already talked about. So, the chances of him doing a Kubrick video are very slim.
LegoStarMovies But there aren't a lot of videos on TH-cam about his film making style tho. Most of them are interpretation videos which make theories of his movies and the others are Illuminati/Moon landing conspiracy bullshit
Handheld is usually overused or exaggerated to make it look "handheld"
"Impressive" camera moves is also overused (The Hobbit, I'm looking at you). Save the impressive camerawork for the impressive or important moments or the whole movie will become bland.
+GonkThePowerDroid Its remarkable going back to the Lord of the Rings films and looking at how well balanced it was visually compared to the hobbit, without even getting into arguments over CGI.
Jackson in LOTR was at his peak form giving us both a big story with impressive visuals to underscore the enormity of the world and the task before them but also giving us a very intimate collection of character stories inside of this grand stage. The Hobbit failed at this in both respects, perhaps because to augment a lack of as comprehensive a character story the Hobbit actually is he expanded action that was tone deaf to the style and mood of the world we all know from the books and LOTR films and because the action itself was so disconnected from the story that was there because Tolkien was never about action like what Jackson used to stuff the Hobbit into a trilogy.
Impressive camera moves can't be overused IMO. If they are stylish and flaring to the point where it's distracting it's a problem. Look at Edgar Wright and Martin Scorsese, who are both excellent with putting energy in to the camera but always to serve the characters, story, comedy, dialogue etc. Handheld can be done well, like Paul Greengrass in Bourne Ultimatum, but it takes a lot of work to make the camera move feel organic and purposeful when doing handheld. I do think impressive camera work should definitely be reserved for important moments or payoffs or indications or anything worthy of emphasis, but it should also come from a lot more than just camerawork to emphasize something (actors, delivery, editing). Michael Bay overdoes camerawork because it's distracting and all style and 0 substance, and most of the time is to no purpose, and his camera movements, composition and framing is most of the time not going to be serving the characters or story in anyway. I think it's more about what to convey and how to convey it to emphasize something, whether it's impressive camerawork or not.
Personally I LOVE it when a movie has an intro clip with some music, like in Se7en. When it's well done it's not cheesy at all, but actually sets the theme right away. It also makes the movie very memorable. I don't know if you did a video on this yet, I just found your channel!
I wish this channel would of kept on. 5 years since the last video and I'm still recommending this channel as a gateway to understanding film
David Fincher put out a 6 episode documentary series on Netflix called VOIR that Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos did episodes for.
I love how you pointed out that Fincher used the camera in a what that doesn't make you think a person is holding it. It's almost like the camera is an out of body experience, or a ghostly chase. Really the only film that has the shakiness in it that truly makes the scenes work for me is Saving Private Ryan. It'd be neat if you could do a short video just on the D-day scene, but I figure many folks already have.
creekandseminole I liked how the brazillian film "Elite Squad" used it. It really added to the feel of the movie IMO
The scenes of war, (particularly the D-Day scene) in Saving Private Ryan was shot handheld and was a decision by Spielberg to emulate the spontaneous hand-held visuals of authentic WW2 archival footage. Outside of the scenes of conflict, the camera is stoic, deliberate, or controlled.
Have an additional new found respect for Fincher after watching this video.
+JstyleFilms Me too.
My favorite close up ever was that zodiac scene i just love that and putting that bird noise in there while showing the bullets.Fincher is probably my favorite director
Can't believe its 9 years old... This content is Such a pure gold!
Subbed. What a great video
Arent you Stuckmann’s boi?
I don't usually love the concepts but he's a genius - "like what's happening is doomed to happen". Love it.
You seriously make some of the best videos about films.
What is your favorite/best Fincher movie if it comes down to the filming/editing and the rest of the production? Mine is Zodiac (2007).
The Social Network. Not just in production aspects, but also in the quality of the acting and the writing (Sorkin/Fincher is a combination that should definately happen more often). To me, easily the best Hollywood film of the 2010's so far.
MrConstantine02 Yeah, Social Network is an great movie, also one of my favorite movies/favorite Fincher movies. But Zodiac remains my number 1.
Tough one...they are all so good. For me, it's between Social Network and Fight Club (although it's a bit dated now) his shots in that movie are fantastic and the feeling of constant tension.
Zodiac is Tony's favorite too. He mentioned it in Twitter.
Yeah, Social Network was a really odd movie to watch for me. I liked it, but didn't loved it, and didn't think too much of it, but then i wanted to see it again because it felt like there were details that i'd missed, and then i watched a third time and really liked it, then i watched it with my girlfriend and then with friends, finally i just bought the blu-ray. For me it's the perfect mix of technique and story development, you can choose any clip from it, or any scene and i guarantee that it will be shot perfectly. The production as a whole is one the best there are, the score, the acting, the writing, but also the editing, the atmosphere, the colors, the locations, the rythm... this is a movie you learn from.
i LOVE david fincher's work. he is such a crafty storyteller.
I had to re-watch after hearing about the announcement of VOIR. Congrats to both Tony and Taylor, can't wait to see what you have been up to!
Fincher's body of work is nearly flawless, and he just keeps getting better. He manages to convey the most intense uneasiness with amazingly choreographed camera shots that don't rely on the support of excessive dramatic music, sound effects or cheap gore. It's pretty amazing how he draws from his actors every ounce of emotion needed to make the viewer understand what's going on in their minds with as little as a well-placed frame. I haven't checked if he has favorite editors of DPs, but I would guess he does, because the structure of his movies is usually as recognizable as his directing style.
His refusal to overuse handheld is also something I would like to thank him personally for. I want to watch a story develop without the need to also develop a headache, you know?
And now Tony from this channel has a Netflix doc with Fincher! Amazing
Really? What is the name of the doc?
@@josuebenvindo VOIR :)
@@ahmedhallajian8886, thank you. I gonna watch it.
I still get back to watching this every now and then.
Ending on a smile in a close up...
You're a class act, Tony!
At the end there, he is the Zodiac
The truck driver in Nice, France is the zodiac killer
The truck itself was the Zodiac Killer.
France is the Zodiac killer, stabbing people with the Eiffel Tower
Fuck I didn't watch the Zodiac.I hate spoilers ! Next time warn while giving a spoiler
Awesome Awesome Awesome!
i remember seeing the game in the 90's when i was a young teenager and thinking that the atmosphere and feel of that movie was unlike anything i'd felt before. He creates worlds that make you feel them viscerally.
Devin Michael Roberts Ditto
I think this channel is still the best of its kind.
My favorite director.
This is cinephile porn. New favourite channel.
That smile is kind of...HOT
Ikr?
Philogal H Smile of who ?
Thank God I'm not alone.
Pervs...
Avacado's Constant
Ikr
OK THAT INTERVIEW CLIP WAS PERFECT DUDE. I could see in his eye that he knew what he said was awkward and he welcomed the judgement with laughter... That is the kind of person i wanna know
***** Well ya know what? The only reason I could figure it out is because I'm that kinda person. I describe my current presence in highschool as "My name spreads like herpes."
Dude, I love this.
This is one of the best edited pieces of TH-cam gold I've ever witnessed.. That transition at the end from Fincher to the credits and Donovan gave me goosebumps.
I'm taken aback! A brilliant representation of an extensive perplexed art. I always found cinematography to be captivating. However, I never had a full a grasp of why. These type of videos make me wanna delve deeper into.
Every young filmmaker needs to watch this video. I've seen so many indie and big budget movies over the past couple of years where there is an overuse of close-ups. The Purge movies had way too much shaky cam and waaay too many close-ups.
Has anyone been reporting their findings from Gone Girl to you yet? Just in case, I noticed:
yet again, loads of exposition and people talking at a table
one handheld shot of Affleck running to his car from the press
a lot of switching POV'S (husband, wife, diary, cops, cameras)
increased use of fades in editing (maybe this started in Benjamin Button? or Zodiac?)
camera doesn't go through anything
There's at least one moment where one of the characters talks to another one offscreen (use of emptiness in the frame), but I don't remember what it was. Maybe it was Affleck's character talking to his sister and then going to another room to pick the box full of letters, but I'm not %100 sure.
luisguillermojg Yeah, that sounds right. Maybe a similar moment in the trailer park when Amy's two new "friends" start tossing her bedroom and it's filmed from another room over?
There's a moment of emptiness when Amy looks at Nick and touches the bed next to her, implying there's a space for him. I also saw two fridges. TWO, Fincher? COME ON.
Every Frame a Painting Perhaps they had two fridges in the novel. Must investigate further...
Every Frame a Painting The guy loves fridges, man.
How did I JUST discover you channel????
What a fantastic channel! I just learned more about film here in 7:28 minutes than I have in 20 years of my teenage and adult years. Thank you!
TONY, MAAAN.
Ι'm sure that you have some serious things going on with your career
but please do not abandon the channel.
Every frame a painting is my most needed subscribtion on TH-cam.
A fan,
thanks!
Great observation and analysis about the filmcrafting skills by David Fincher. Perv-to-details, i mean attention-to-details really.
"Even if you don't like Fincher "...I mean , come on...Who doesn't like the guy if not love..
Sada sivan I don't particularly like him. I don't hate him.
+Sada sivan Still my favorite director.
It's impossible to hate anyone we don't know personally.
I have mixed feelings on him and his style.
I'm kinda mixed. He's either really amazing or just meh. For every Fight Club, there's The Game. For every Se7en, there's an Alien 3. For every Gone Girl, there's a Panic Room.
Man, you are my favorite critical film analysis channel on youtube, and the only one I've seen that is actually truly good. The rest are watchable at best. I really hope you keep making these for a long time to come because they are so entertaining, educational, and profoundly insightful.
Side-note: Would you consider doing a video on Kubrick sometime? Scorsese and him are my director crushes at the moment, and I would love to hear your thoughts on Kubrick. :)
This is by far, the greatest Video essay channel of all time in the history of TH-cam. Period.
Great as always! Fincher's smirk at the end: priceless. Fincher definitely has a very distinct look: very often dark, desaturated with a hint of blue-green and very crisp. The carefully crafted, mostly locked down camera work, slow dolly/tracking shots and lighting is that of a master of manipulation. His recent work looks like meticulously color graded and composed in post down to the last detail. Need to check his DP's.
Thanks for another great and insightful breakdown! Please keep them coming!
I love Fincher's avoidance of hand held camera, mainly because handheld and shaky cam has been done to death, and further because it has become an excuse for not really thinking your shots through. I am a hobbyist photographer, and a nicely thought out shot composition is valuable to me, and that's all the more reason for me to like Fincher, since there's purpose in his shots, I mean also other than to just carry the events from one scene to another.
Fincher is one funny and down to earth guy
For having just a single handheld shot in the entire film, it's employed effectively and meaningfully in The Social Network. Of course itd be on Sean Parker as discovers the cops are at the sorority party as hes coked out -- great way to sparingly use the handheld to represent the anxiety of this moment, and to hammer home Parkers debauchery.
I know I'm biased cause David Fincher is my favorite director, but this is my favorite video you've made so far.
Just such great work dude. You need to be a college professor, seriously. Cause this shit? THIS 7 minute video essay has taught me more than some entire classes.
Please keep up the sensational work.
I miss you Tony! Your video essays are still the absolute best on youtube :)
I miss this channel so much...
Zodiac is a masterpiece of using camera angles and composition to tell a story. It's a slow-burn, but it has some truly remarkable scenes.
Perfect way to whet the appetite for Gone Girl -- thank you Tony!
I've seen this video 10-15 times now, love your video essays!
I’m a little obsessed with Fincher films and even his commercials, studying how he shoots things...I’ve gone all the way back to the 90s with his commercials and music videos. He’s always had a distinctive style. Looking back at Express Yourself with Madonna and others...you can totally see Fincher’s style. You can’t help but watch. Express Yourself...that’s a video that truly embodies the phrase, “Every Frame a Painting”.
I miss you, Tony. Everyday.
I have now watched several of the Every Frame a Painting videos and I have to say that there's a massive love/hate going on. The way he explains, the way he thinks, the things he appreciates and even his self-critiquing are all things that I can either agree with or respect or most of the time both. But he has an appreciation, an eye for things that I will never be able to fully comprehend or understand. I have an inkling only compared to him of an understanding of direction and WHY I enjoyed this thing more than that one, why I like this director instead of that one. These are things that he knows, studies, things he can dissect and analyze. But there too may be a curse. Can he sit back and enjoy a film without thinking about why it is that he's enjoying it? In that am I blessed in my ignorance?
+Walt Rimmer I think that Tony truly loves the medium, and to keep that love you need to enjoy. It is a skill by itsself to analyze AND experience. And he does exactly that. I would imagine, that he would not make those videos, if he didn't experience movies.
The reason I think I can make a judgement is, beacuse I feel very similar to tony, but in gaming. I also analyze games very heavily, and know what I like, what I don't like, and why. But it does not in any way prevent me from beeing blown away by a game (and movie), that just hits me, so that I don't think about it.
The curse, of course is, that you always want to improve things others made, or to see a great movie or game ruined by something, that you are aware of, and could have fixed. But its too late. It's already out there. This is something that really eats into you. On the other hand, you can apreciate brilliance, in places where something new hits you, something you could not have done. And I think that the tradeof is worth it.
However, I'm not Tony. He could be the complete opposite :D
And last but not least: Ignorance is great!! At least for your self. It makes life black and white, and I imagine that quite convenient.
+Walt Rimmer To me that's like asking can you appreciate art if you know how the artist actually employed his style. Its like wondering if you can love music if you know the theory behind it.
Appreciation on this level is just another skill and it doesn't override your ability to be a viewer, it only augments it. Really I don't think ignorance is a blessing because that would mean that you're actually missing a large part of the meaning behind something. If you could understand most of what a poet meant by his words rather than just be impressed by the sound of it you'd think that's better right?
There's also the fact that as a visual medium it takes less effort to experience these things. So unlike with say poetry or prose we're far more naturally adept at decoding visuals and relating meaning to them. That's just biology and as social creatures its built into us. So we can understand the meaning more even if we don't consciously acknowledge it. Close ups have impact even if you don't have the theoretical reasoning behind it in mind.
In many ways that's the greatest advantage of visual art. It can impart greater meaning without a formalized education into it, and moving visual art is more akin to our natural experience, though augmented, than any other kind.
Brilliant director - not always picking the best stories to tell, IMO, but perhaps he likes the challenge.
Disney approached him for a Star Wars film but they didn't agree to the same vision apparently. I would love to see a Fincher Star Wars film personally.
Agreed - and if Disney is clever about it, Star Wars can be an interesting canvass for a lot of storytellers.
+Monkey Magic it would turn fincher mainstream, and i feel that often times ruins a directors career. (unless they had already been fairly mainstream like Abrams, because hes pretty good at what he does already).
+Monkey Magic Lets see, Fincher thinks we're all perverts and Disney owns Star Wars... how could that possibly not work out.... :P
+Magnus Nygaard That's true. He is like one hit, one miss, one hit, one miss. But he surely tells them interestingly none the less.
god, what an awesome channel, we miss you here Tony :)
This entire channel is a one-stop film school. We miss you. Thank you.
I just watched all your videos, and it seems to me that Fincher is basically the anti-Michael Bay. Bay seems to do the things Fincher doesn't and vice versa. Where Bay uses more layers, Fincher uses minimalistic sets or even emptiness.
Where Bay uses zooms, close-ups and rotating hero-shots all the time, Fincher uses a static camera and changes it only in cuts when it actually means something.
Where Bay uses shaky cam and overwhelming visual impact like explosions and quick cuts to give the viewer the feeling they're just a tiny powerless being watching the scene unfold, Fincher uses steady and static shots giving the viewer the position of an omniscient god.
In short, Bay seems to try to make every shot 'epic', to make the film as a whole seem epic, while Fincher uses more subtle techniques to tell his stories, using absence of things as effectively as the existing objects. Like you said, it's all about what Fincher doesn't do.
0:48 Tywin??
+ferleal24 alien 3 , he bangs Ripley
+ferleal24 Actor's name is Charles Dance. Yes, he's Tywin.
+Bark lounger Any interaction between Tywin and Joffrey was great. It was so good to see him put in his place.
Fincher quoting "Double Rainbow" Awesome!
I'd love for this series to return. Great video, thank you.
The hands down best analysis of David Fincher's work that I've ever seen. Watching this a few times helped me make better choices with my 3D animations.
Was that ending cut and music meant to imply ... that Fincher is the Zodiac?
Haha!!
Just coming back here when the zodiac mystery was finally solved
Fincher is just so good.
Tony, what's your favorite Fincher film?
***** Zodiac, hands down.
I'm pretty sure that basement scene has had me more scared than any horror movie ever
+Bob Yoko Completely agree. I was shaking when that scene came, because I thought he was going to end up in pieces in that basement.
+thesilentcontempt Fight Club is my fav, followed by the very underappreciated Panic Room.
+thesilentcontempt Zodiac followed by Social Network. Fight Club has amazing dialogue and ideas but I find the second half sags a bit. I love all his films though.
Subscribed! I'm half way through watching ever David Fincher film. As a photographer and commercial director his work and process is inspiring. If you see every film by a great director in sequence it's much more entertaining than picking random films. And a better learning experience!
You know I watch this video from time to time, solely for the way it is brought together and how much justice it gives to Finchers work. Honestly, videos like this make much more impact than something you tend to watch once for it being flashy or popular at a specific time. This...this is timeless.