David Fincher

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HBO Killed The Video Show? Fincher Series Videosyncrazy Reportedly Ceases Production

Were you psyched for the upcoming David Fincher HBO comedy that seemed like it would do for the classic music video age what Entourage did for these awful Hollywood end times? Well, psych!

Reports are hitting the web that the series — which had apparently been titled Videosyncrazy — has been halted after shooting roughly half of the first season order. Whether it's a temporary halt to "adjust the scripts and creative direction" or a pemanent halt, remains to be seen.

Read more at indiewire and Variety... 

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The 55 Best David Fincher Music Videos

And by that I mean: These are the 55 music videos that David Fincher has directed. So far.

Indiewire's Playlist Blog compiled them all, ranking them from worst to best. As with all Best/Worst lists, it makes for great/silly arguments.

Best?

They have Madonna "Vogue" at #1, which is hard to argue with, although I would argue that "Express Yourself" is better. 

Worst?

Loverboy "Love Will Rise Again" which you will likely recognize as some Loverbody song other than "Working For The Weekend"

But most surprising here is how many of these videos weren't hits — we're talking lesser singles by various '80s acts like Eddie Money, The Hooters, Foreigner, Rick Springfield, and more Rick Springfield. It wasn't all super smash all-star artists #1 hits all the time. And he was seemingly very loyal to artists, coming back to work with several of them again again. For example, he not only directed the Gipsy Kings video for "Bamboleo" but he also directed another video for "Bamboleo" two years later.

So, check em all out... Chances are you've never seen them all, unless you are very '80s...

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First Trailer for Director David Fincher's Gone Girl

I am required by music video bylaws to post almost anything directed by David Fincher. This is not a bad thing.

The Gone Girl trailer has hit the interwebs — based upon the 2012 bestseller by Gillian Flynn — with Ben Affleck as a husband suspected of having something to do with the disappearance of his wife.

As with Fincher's last film, The Social Network, the trailer is synced to an effective and unusual piece of music. Social Network rolled with a haunting, orchestral version of Radiohead "Creep"; Gone Girl goes with Psychedelic Fur singer Richard Butler's verison of  the Charles Aznavour classic "She," which was also resurrected by Elvis Costello for the Notting Hill soundtrack.

And just so you see how my brain works, here's some quick thoughts:

  • Is it just me, or does the trailer version of "She" sound like something Pandora served up on the same automated playlist as "Creep," thus proving my theory on how to be a successful music supervision works?
  • Is the use of "She" a sly dig at Spike Jonze's Her?
  • Yes, music video fans, Emily Ratajkowski has a role in Gone Girl. You know Emily as the topless girl from "Blurred Lines". 
  • The teaser site for Gone Girl is findamazingamy.com and it's quite clever and simple.
  • The poster image uses "Don't Know What You've Got Til It's..." as the tagline, which hopefully means that the Cinderella song was likely pitched to Fincher as an end title track, which likely resulted in said person being fired.

Gone Girl opens October 3, 2014.

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David Fincher x Yeah Yeah Yeahs x Rooney Mara = Calvin Klein Downtown Spot

DOWNTOWN Calvin Klein - Featuring Rooney Mara

Director David Fincher x Yeah Yeah Yeahs x actress Rooney Mara would be an epic music video. Instead it's an equally impressive commercial for Calvin Klein fragrance Downtown. 

That said, the line between what's a commercial and a music video will only get blurrier as product placement and commercial repurposing becomes as ubiquitous as music in advertisements. Blurred Lines, indeed.

Community / Watch It

Justin Timberlake "Suit And Tie" (David Fincher, Dir.)

Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie (Official) ft. JAY Z

Happy valentines day, from Justin Timberlake and David Fincher.

When we last saw legendary music video director David Fincher working the short-form for the small screen, it was Nine Inch Nails "Only" in 2005. And the difference between that video and this is a perfect example of how doing what's right for the artist and song is really what makes a great video director.