Erik Messerschmidt

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as craft. The films the hosts said they worked on, which the two lists below run through too: Gone Girl (2014). Count them as cinematographer (5 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

A Simple Plan (1998): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation model) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): A Simple Plan ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so). Flynn used A Simple Plan as her model for adapting her own novel, then worried she could not match it.
    “And she said, so I tried to use that as a model and then I freaked myself out because I was like, well, this is too good. I won't do this well.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:36:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Alex Cross: 1 line

  1. people (led to casting) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): Alex Cross ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). Perry's turn in Alex Cross is given as the reason Fincher cast him as Tanner Bolt.
    “Well, that's why Fisher cast him in this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:09:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel) ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). The film adapts Flynn's novel, and the first-person diary trickery was the open question about how it would work on screen.
    “Because it is such like a little fun piece of 1st person narration trickery.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:34:23 · Esther Zuckerman (0.70 sure it was them)

Lolita (1962): 1 line

  1. theme (character type (Desi)) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): Lolita ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so: In the commentary). On the commentary Fincher says he wanted a Claire Quilty type for Desi and found it in Neil Patrick Harris.
    “Fincher said he wanted a Claire quilty type and he's like, what's a modern Claire quilty type?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:18:15 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Reese Witherspoon: 1 line

  1. lineage (originated the project) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): Reese Witherspoon ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). Witherspoon took the book and had the idea of bringing Fincher on board.
    “takes this book, has the smart idea, bring Fincher on board.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:20:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Steven Soderbergh: 1 line

  1. unmapped (nod to a friend) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): Steven Soderbergh ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so). Fincher put Soderbergh's Singani 63 in the film as a nod to his buddy and let him pick the scene.
    “Fincher wanted to put it in the movie, as a nod to his buddy, Sudi, and said, uh, you can pick the scene where you want it applied.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:25:53 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): 1 line

  1. people (casting approach) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). The speaker thinks Fincher's exhaustive casting search on Dragon Tattoo informed how he cast Amy with someone new to the audience.
    “that exhaustive casting search, which I do think informs the way he approaches Amy going into this movie as well”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:55:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016): 1 line

  1. people (led to casting) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they worked on as gaffer (in charge of lighting): Gone Girl ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the host's read). While making Gone Girl, Affleck reportedly joked to his agent that he needed a heroic-chin movie after the evil-chin one.
    “the joke was the chin things in the script, he calls up his agent, while making Gone Girl, and says, like, I'm doing the evil chin movie now, you got to find me a heroic chin movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:06:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Photography (10) everyone in photography

Craft (1) everyone in craft

What was said about them, by kind

people (2)

  1. people (people): David Fincher → Erik Messerschmidt. Messerschmidt, with Baxter and Walker, is credited as essential to what Fincher's movies are.
    “these movies are not what they are without Kirk Baxter and and Eric Mezerschmidt and Andrew Kevin Walker”
    The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:17:39 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. people (shared crew): Erik Messerschmidt → David Fincher. Messerschmidt shot Mindhunter and then Mank, his first Fincher feature.
    “It's the 1st time he's working with Venture film wise.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:12:44 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)

unmapped (3)

  1. unmapped (recommended viewing): Le Samouraï → Erik Messerschmidt. The cinematographer was recommended Le Samouraï to watch (Fincher is named as having mentioned it).
    “was recommended to watch a little film called La Samurai.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Killer with Marie Bardi (Ad-Free) · 0:59:50 · unknown (host) (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (gaffer to DP): Erik Messerschmidt → Ferrari. Gone Girl's gaffer is now the director of photography on Ferrari (and Mindhunter, Mank, The Killer).
    “He also is now the DP on Michael Mans Ferrari.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:43:35 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (hired a lighting mind): Michael Mann → Erik Messerschmidt. Mann told the speaker he likes Messerschmidt because he was a gaffer and cinematography is lighting.
    “And he was like, you know why I like that guy because he was a gaffer. And to me, cinematography is all lighting and no one understands lighting anymore.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:43:43 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Erik Messerschmidt: Michael Mann told the speaker he likes Messerschmidt (Gone Girl's gaffer, now DP on Ferrari) because cinematography is all lighting.
    “to me, cinematography is all lighting and no one understands lighting anymore.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:43:46 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)