New Fincher Commercial: Downtown

Mara and Fincher are just an amazing creative "couple": Watch this stunning new commercial, starring the girl with the downtown scent, captured by Fincher's custom made RED EPIC monochrome and directed by God himself. I'm blasphemizing again, sorry. But prepare for what's probably the best jam-packed visual minute you will see for a while...

Just Fincher being Fincher.

Thanks, Phil, for providing the link!

Fincher's Nightmare? Fabergé!

It's one thing to say Fincher has come a long way, marveling at his accomplished craftsmanship and cult feature films — and because of his stellar mastery today, I believe it is worth to look more closely at this 'long way' he has come ...uhm, and how painful it must have been at times.

Thanks to Dustin for pointing us to this Fincher gem from the 80s: I can literally see Fincher suffering through every single frame. Do let me say, I like the way it is edited. But would I buy that? Nuh, not so much...

To view the clip, click the "commercials" tab at the bottom; Fincher's ad is the first one on the reel.

http://www.allcrewagency.com/...

Fincher Hits Reset

By now you should all have devoured the news of Fincher's new production company Reset Content. And for sheer matters of über-excitement I'd like to spell out my wet fantasy of what this means — new Fincher commercials! Soon!

If you read through the announcement (below), it states that the very high profile directors, including Guy Ritchie and Jonathan Glazer, will commit themselves to being available in the starting phase — which means right now. Fincher, then, is obviously through the bulk of production on House of Cards, freeing him up for new ventures, which, as we hoped, may include his next feature film. But personally I do not mind a Fincher ad or two to sweeten the wait.

While the company's official site has not gone online, "Fincher, Miller and Ritchie are under way on jobs with 'high profile' agencies and clients." — This has me going all Pavlov! And it certainly is a special delight to see German hot-shot talent Markus Walter on the roster as well.

As there was also a specific mention that the company is looking to do something alike the BMW films series (which I found more than mind-blowing, and which originally turned me on to director Joe Carnahan), I get a sense that there is something really amazing brewing, which might land the sweetest punch in our collective guts as early as this fall.

Can't wait!

Here's the link — with big thanks to awesome contributor Robert Paulson!
http://creativity-online.com/news/david-fincher-and-dave-morrison-launch-reset/236523

Nike — I Jam, Therefore I Am

It's been a while that were we able to post a newly rediscovered David Fincher commercial, and it seems even longer that we were able to post a new Fincher commercial. Let's see if Fincher will ever return to the genre (for some pocket money), busy as he is with his film and television projects. For the time being, however, here's a tremendous find from Fincher commercial glory days!

Of Fincher's Influence

901 Silver Tequila, you may think, doesn't have a whole lot to do with David Fincher. That's at first sight. For their latest ads may owe a lot to Fincher's vision, and here's a couple of reasons why...

For anyone accustomed with Fincher's movies, the visuals will look strangely familiar. Dark shades, sharp camera moves, many designing principles reminiscient of Fincher's work. And once you take a look into the credits, things start looking a little clearer.

The commercials, first released in July, were directed by guess who: Justin Timberlake (that's because 901 Silver Tequila is Timberlake's own brand, interestingly enough). FIGHT CLUB cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth as DoP, Rock Paper Scissors editing. Now if theses names, screens and videos below won't convince you of the Fincher connection... I'm confused!

The campaign is composed of 3 commercials, the sexiest and most notable ones feature two spectacular femme fatale (and that's not an excuse for this post!).

Director Justin Timberlake also rightfully says he's been around cameras for two thirds of his life and he sure has worked with a host of talented directors, including but not limited to Nick Cassavetes, Richard Kelly and Francis Lawrence. Most recently he was on the set in the hands of master David Fincher for the just-around-the-corner "The Social Network"... and yeah, well, it literally looks like that made an impression.

But just watch below:

"Let Them Eat Cake"

"Risk And Peril"

"Improved By Use"

Big thanks to Manny for first pointing us to these.

Here are some links to check out:
901 Silver Tequila web site
Credits

...and as a special treat, for those interested, a --

Making Of

So what do you think?

"Logorama" Oscar Winner Talks Fincher's Involvement

Last March French directors François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain walked away with a golden statuette for Best Animated Short Film. LOGORAMA is a crazy ride, a visceral spectacle and (if something like that even exists) a visual satire. And guess what? The film's voice cast includes Mr. Andrew Kevin Walker (screenwriter of "Se7en") and David Fincher -- voicing a Pringles charater.

Here is a fincherfanatic exclusive look at Fincher's collaboration with the French team.

Levi's - Restaurant

+++ UPDATED 02/28/2010 +++
Yay, praise my growing senility: I already "knew" the answer to the question I posed in the original post here, but forgot. Doug Biro had replied to the question the contributor of this find had asked him promptly and confirmed, that the other Levi's spot, "I Love You", was also directed by David Fincher. The spots "We Are All Americans" and "My First Coke" were however not directed by Fincher; they were done by Albert Watson and Koh Sakata respectively.

So make sure you head over to Doug Biro's Hudson River Films site and check him out and have another look at Fincher's early work as a shoe (and jeans) salesman.

Big thanks again to the contributor!

I seriously, seriously don't know how this could happen: I was sent the link to David Fincher's classic Levi's "Restaurant" commercial... and it did nothing but collect dust in an obscure folder of my inbox for a way too long time. Before I write anything else, let me extend my apologies to the fine contributor. All I can say is: I am honestly sorry. And thank you very, very much for reminding me!

On to the better part of this post, Levi's "Restaurant" commercial was very hard to track down. I haven't seen this anywhere else on the web and it finally surfaced on the website of the ad's creative director and writer Douglas Biro.

Back in the 1980s and early 90s Biro collaborated with David Fincher on several occasions, most widely known on the Coca Cola "Bladeroller" commercial -- as Biro shares, "the first commercial named to permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC".

Both the "Bladeroller" and "Restaurant" commercial can be found at Biro's site at a decent quality, and also, for everyone interested, there's a David Lynch directed ad for Georgia Coffee.

My question now would be, if the Levi's "I Love You" commercial could have also been directed by Fincher, since it is obviously from the same campaign. Anyone know? -- Yeah, I know!

Thanks again to the contributor and to Douglas Biro for making these available.
Here are the links:

Levi's - Restaurant
Douglas Biro's Hudson River Films
Try changing the video's extension from f4v to flv in case it won't play.

Trail Of Destruction

Just when you start wondering what Fincher may be up to, he gives you the most perfect answer himself: By shooting another stunning commercial!

Here it is in all its glory: Nike "Trail Of Destruction (Alter Ego)". And let me tell you, it is one hell of an ad. It is somewhat reminiscent of "Gamebreakers", which is one of my all time favorite Fincher ads. Great photography, impressive sound-design, a cool pay-off at the end...

Credits

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Client: Nike
Creative Director: Jeff Williams
Creative Director: Alberto Ponte
Art Director: James Moslander
Producer: Jeff Selis
Executive Creative Director: Mark Fitzloff
Executive Creative Director: Susan Hoffman
Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Production Company: Anonymous Content

Director: David Fincher

Executive Producer: Jeff Baron
Line Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Director of Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Post Producer: Kim Colen
Post Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver
VFX Company: Hydraulx
VFX Supervisor: Ed Chapman
Music Company: Soundtree
Sound Designer: Ren Klyce
Sound Design Company: Mit Out Sound
Sound Design Producer: Misa Kageyama
Mix Company: Lime
Mixer: Sam Casas

Wow! It's good to see Fincher running his fingers like that.
Thanks to Manny and Eric for sharing. Have fun:

http://www.coloribus.com/... (very high quality)
http://creativity-online.com/work/nike-alter-ego/17267

New Fincher Commercial: iPhone - 3Gs

He said, he wanted to sleep for six months. But unless this ad was shot last summer, back to back with Fincher's other iPhone ad, I guess those were empty words... Uhm, good for us...

The first thing I thought, when I saw this was, oh my, that's what MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 could have looked like, if Fincher had done it. Haha. Just kidding. It's a neat little break in story, a well done run of fingers from the man. Always good to see a Fincher commercial.

Thanks to everyone for swamping me with links, credits and info!
Here are some links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0dRjUeXKzw
http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/tv-commercials/iphone-3gs-break-in-555181/
http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ads/
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/06/09/david-fincher-directed-iphone-3gs-commercial/

... and of course -- The Credits:

Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Chief Creative Officer: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Directors: Duncan Milner, Eric Grunbaum
Creative Directors: Scott Trattner, Alain Briere
ACD/Art Director: Nathan Iverson
Sr. Copywriter: Kevin Tenglin
Agency Producers: Mike Refuerzo, Chrissy Gilmartin

Production Co: Anonymous Content
Director: David Fincher
DP: Jeff Cronenweth

Editorial Co: Rock, Paper, Scissors
Editor/Colorist: Angus Wall

VFX/Online: Asylum
VFX Supervisor: Tim Davies
Music Composer: David Holmes
Sound Design: Ren Klyce

Rock Paper Scissors

It's the go-to-company for editing commercials and feature films. At least for David Fincher that is. RockPaperScissors is the company of Academy Award nominated film editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall; the later being a long time Fincher accomplice, who among other works edited "Zodiac".

Since Angus Wall and Mr. Fincher collaborated quite often, that makes rockpaperscissors.com a regular bookmark for every Fincher fanatic. Kevin now thankfully gave me a heads-up on some of the really cool stuff that has recently been added to the collection:

"[There] is a bunch of stuff on Ben button. If you go to editors, then to Angus Wall and hit the "news" link, then there are links to several articles about working with Fincher on editing, photography, make-up, production design, costuming etc. Also, in "color" there are good quality versions of some of Fincher's recent commercials, "Fate", "Hallway", and "Wind". In Kirk Baxters section in the commercial link there is a small TV spot for Button "some things last"."

The selection is interesting and informative, and answers the most technical details as well as discuss the artistic challenges of the film. Links include articles from EditorsGuild.com, InContention.com, Shoot Magazine, Variety, and Creativity-Online.com.

Thanks for the link, Kevin!

Go there now:
RockPaperScissors.com

Lexus - "Custom Car"

For the last months, leading up to the Oscar showdown and before that, accompanying the cinematic release of Mr. Fincher's latest, "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button", Fincher fans were lucky enough to be swept with news items almost daily. Now, it seems David Fincher realizes in his dream... of sleeping.

Luckily for us some people are still on the lookout for previously unseen or unfound Fincher stuff on the web. And I am very happy to share with you a newly discovered David Fincher commercial for Lexus.

This is it. Plain and simple. And if anyone of you finds anything else, I will appreciate your email!

Big, big thanks to the contributor! Enjoy:
Lexus: Custom Car

Colt 45 - "Imagination"

... and now for something completely different: With the last couple of weeks (luckily) crowded with David Fincher / Benjamin Button news items by the hour, it's about time to deal out something I am sure most of you haven't ever seen ... a classic David Fincher commercial. Or to be more exact: The very first one he ever shot for Propaganda Films!

The later is the info I gathered from a very informative news article I dug up during my research, which has a lot to do with Propaganda Films, its tremendous success in the late 80s and early 90s, how it all came together and who the brains behind it were.

The commercial itself is a powerful montage of imaginative images. You can sense a lot of Fincher's other works in this, Paula Abdul and Madonna videos come to mind. Which makes perfect sense once you know that Propaganda Films was the first company to bring the new aesthetics of music videos to commercials.

I like the way this is (shot and) edited, due to long-time Fincher trustee James Haygood, who also edited THE GAME, FIGHT CLUB and PANIC ROOM.

The spot is a true classic, a must-see for Fincher fanatics, that went on to win three Clio awards in 1988, including Best Direction.

Thanks so much to Henry for finding the commercial (and sorry it started collecting dust in my inbox). -- Everyone, enjoy it here:

Youtube.com: Colt 45 "Imagination"
AdWeek.com: Propaganda Films Article

Nike - "Fate"

The new David Fincher directed Nike Football commercial everyone has been waiting for... here it is: A story of fate. Two rivals. One final clashing moment. -- And with one excellent Morricone remix!

Once again it's a Wieden & Kennedy thought up concept, once more it's Angus Wall doing the editing and Ren Klyce designing the sound. Newly added to Fincher's crew this time is the magnificient cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who photographed films like "Sleepy Hollow" (for Tim Burton), "Ali" (for Michael Mann), "Great Expectations" and "Children Of Men" (for Alfonso Cuarón) and last not least "Burn After Reading". So I guess it was about time Fincher and Lubezki got together! Certainly an excellent choice.

Love the mood and lighting of this!

Thanks to Eric, Jeff and Christophe for the links. I recommend the Coloribus.com link... since it lets you download the commercial in decent quality! -- Get it while it's hot:

Boardsmag: Nike - Fate
Coloribus.com: Nike - Fate (downloadable)

New Nike Commercial Underway!

So that's what Fincher is up to: Users on a message-board for the digital camera system RED started discussing a commercial shooting underway -- with Director of Photography Emmanuel Lubezki and helmed by David Fincher!

You can register at this forum for free and even get to enjoy a few snapshots of the shoot; which makes it look like it will be a NIKE Football spot. So there is not too much info out yet, but one of the guys seems to have been there, working on the shoot; and he lays out a few observations.

Great! Looking forward to another Fincher Nike spot. And the even greater thing is: Commercials tend to not take as long to finish up as feature films do ... So get ready for seeing this rather soon!

Thanks Eric for the link:
RedUser Forum: Fincher, Lubezki, Nike

More Nike - Referee

I truly love the Nike "Referee" series David Fincher directed back in 1994. Dennis Hopper (I believe to have read somewhere) later claimed to regret this role of a crazed football-referee, But honestly: It's the best role I've ever seen him in!

So here are two more from those classic ads, the Troy Aikman bus monologue and Junior Seau's footprint, man!

Nike: Troy Aikman

Nike: Junior Seau

The direct links:
Nike: Troy Aikman
Nike: Junior Seau

Levi's - "The Chase"

A while back there was a little confusion about David Fincher's works for Levi's. Now, with a little help from a friend, things are starting to become a little clearer. -- Presenting: David Fincher's "The Chase".

What lead to the original confusion, was that there was a Levi's commercial falsely titled "The Chase" directed by the talented Frank Budgen. That spot's title, however, is actually "News Story".

I can now finally provide you with a link to David Fincher's work:
"The Chase", and you guessed it ... -- once again it's damn good!

Levi's - The Chase

Enjoy:
Youtube.com: Levi's - The Chase

iPhone - 3G

That was quick! Just a few days back we had the reports coming in about the shooting of a new David Fincher commercial. Now it's already online. Prepare for the shortest 30 seconds you have ever witnessed. It's over so fast. It's so beautiful. And it's narrated by Robert Downey Jr!

Thanks to Emanuel for filling us in so quickly. Here it is on youtube:

... and thanks to Niko for the link to the HQ version:
iPhone Commercial at Apple.com

3G iPhone Commercial Underway?

+++ UPDATED 06/02/2008 +++

Thanks to Emanuel for digging this out: A fellow by the name of David Jr has posted a behind-the-scenes video of the New York shoot. Looks like a really big set!

AppleInsider reports of a series of shoots taking place in Los Angeles and around the Apple Retail Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Sounds exciting to Apple geeks only? Well, reportedly someone spotted "anonymous content" boxes around the scene, ... and it's rumored that David Fincher is directing!

The commercial should be for the new 3G iPhone that is due to be released this summer, if I'm understanding correctly. Which means:
If Fincher is involved in this it shouldn't be too long before we find out and see the spot surface somewhere!

I'm not a particular Apple freak, but I am sure glad to see Fincher so busy while putting his finishing touches to "Benjamin Button".
I remember that after "Panic Room" there was this grand wave of commercials Fincher has directed: the stunning "Adidas - Mechanical Legs", "Nike Gridiron - Gamebreakers", HP, Xelibri, Lexus, Motorola ... just to name a few. Naturally, I can't wait to see this! Can you?

Thanks to everyone reporting (Ash, Christophe, Emanuel).
Here are some links:

AppleInsider: 3G iPhone ad filming
gizmodo: iPhone 2 commercial shooting?
AppleInsider: Apple spotted filming at Fifth Avenue store
TheILife: Fifth Avenue Store closes (with photos)

+++ UPDATED 06/02/2008 +++

Behind The Scene video by David Jr

Stand Up To Cancer Commercial

+++ UPDATED 05/30/2008 +++

(I have added a link to SU2C's official website. David Fincher and Cean Chaffin, his producer and partner, are listed as friends of the campaign. Also, there is a slightly larger video of the commercial, and I have already written the organization, if there is any chance to obtain a really HQ-version of the clip for us all).

Are you ready to jump up and get excited? If so, now's a fairly good time for that: Out of absolutely nowhere praiseworthy fanatic Kevin has sent this link our way -- a brand new David Fincher commercial for SU2C Organization.

Yupp, I know you didn't see that coming. It's just made the title space at anonymouscontent.com and features an incredible ensemble with Morgan Freeman, Keanu Reeves, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci, Tilda Swinton and ... I don't know, I think I spotted Tobey Maguire (and was that Jennifer Love Hewitt at the beginning?)

I like it! It's not fancy, no fx-battle, just some beautiful photography and music ... and a good message at its core.

Thanks so much Kevin! Everyone, this way:
SU2C Organization "Stand Up", anonymouscontent.com
Stand Up To Cancer, Official Site

American Cancer Society - "Smoking Fetus"

More than a year ago I contacted the American Cancer Society, if they would provide this site with a high-definition copy of David Fincher's early cult-commercial, the public service announcement "Smoking Fetus". The ACS didn't answer ... and I completely forgot posting about this legendary work!

If you have never seen this before, brace yourself: Fincher's anti-smoking ad is a one-shot, incredibly well made, very moody, with a gloomy and spine-chilling feel to it. Of course you can tell it's some twenty plus years old. But as a Fincherfanatic to the bone I can't help but sensing Fincher written all over this. Feels like a mix of "Alien3" with the mock PSAs of "Fight Club"! -- Perfectly disturbing!

Sorry for posting this so late. It should have been the first to go on. As a special surprise, I will post a curious news article related to this spot in a little bit. For now, it's this way to the video. -- Enjoy:

American Cancer Society - "Smoking Fetus"