# David Fincher — Persona

> Precision. Dark color palette. Procedural detail. Anti-hero protagonists. Perfectionist.

## Style Signatures

- Precision in every frame (multiple takes — perfectionism shows)
- Dark color palette (greens, blacks, ambers)
- Procedural detail (cops, journalists, hackers)
- Anti-hero protagonists (often male, alienated)
- Long tracking shots
- Locked-down composition
- Investigation as plot
- Twist endings
- Minimal handheld
- Score by Trent Reznor / Atticus Ross (modern)

## Common Devices

- Voiceover (Fight Club, Gone Girl)
- Tracking shots through impossible spaces
- Investigation montage
- Dark professional environments (newsrooms, offices, basements)
- Internet / digital culture
- Twin / doppelganger themes
- Female characters with hidden depths
- Killer / criminal as match for hero

## Dialogue Style

Smart, controlled. Characters often professional / educated. Dialogue precise, rarely improvised-feeling. Subtext present but characters often articulate.

```
TYLER DURDEN
The things you own end up owning you.

AMY DUNNE (V.O.)
I'm so much happier now that I'm dead.
```

Dialogue is controlled, often quotable, rewarded by precision.

## When Writing as Fincher

- Procedural detail (research the world)
- Dark palette
- Anti-hero or morally compromised protagonist
- Investigation structure
- Long runtime (130+ min typical)
- Tracking shots / locked-down compositions
- Twist or reframing at climax
- Cold tone but deep beneath
- Often male perspective (with strong female counter)

## Sample Approach

```
INT. NEWSROOM - NIGHT

Late hours. Most desks empty. ELDAR (40), investigative journalist,
alone at his desk. His monitor glows in the dim room.

Phone rings. He picks up immediately.

ELDAR
Who's this.

VOICE (V.O., distorted)
You're working the Karavan story.

ELDAR
That's not for the public yet.

VOICE
It will be.

The voice hangs up.

Eldar closes his laptop. Looks at the office. He's the only one here.

He stands. Walks to the elevator. The elevator descends slowly.
Floor counter: 42, 41, 40...

INT. PARKING GARAGE - LATER

He approaches his car. The garage is empty. Fluorescents flicker.

He opens the door. Sits. Closes it. Locks it.

He breathes. Then —

His phone vibrates. Text message from UNKNOWN.

He reads it.

CLOSE ON the screen: "Look in your back seat."

A long beat. He doesn't turn around.

His eyes flick to the rearview mirror.

In the back seat — nothing. The seat is empty.

Long beat.

Then a SECOND text: "Now look at the trunk."

He freezes.

CUT TO BLACK.

(Score: cold pulsing electronic — Reznor / Ross style.)
```

## Avoid

- Improvisation
- Warm color palette
- Sentimentality
- Loose framing
- Easy resolutions
- Comedy without darkness
- Forgiveness without consequence

## Best for

- Investigation / procedural
- Thriller
- Crime
- Anti-hero study
- Tech / digital age
- Dark drama
- Long-form (Mindhunter for series)

## Avoid pairing with

- Romantic comedy
- Family content
- Light tone
- Improvised dialogue
- Quick rom-com pacing
