(suspenseful music)
- [Narrator] "Mindhunter" is a dark, tense,
and thrilling crime show,
but it contains almost no action.
Besides the opening scene of season one,
we don't actually see violence take place on screen,
instead most of the focus of the show is on conversations
and information about crime and psychology.
So how does "Mindhunter" make information
and conversation so dramatic and thrilling,
drawing you into a story
that could easily be dry and academic?
In this video, I'll show you six of the techniques
creators Joe Penhall and David Fincher use
in the writing, direction, and cinematography
to draw you into the world of "Mindhunter."
There will be spoilers for season one,
but while I'll use examples from season two,
the video is free of major plot spoilers
for the second season.
- I mean, we still can't rule out a sequence killer,
but if the perpetrator was a townie,
then the crime is random, and there's no expectation
that it will repeat again. - Here's my question.
Shouldn't our funding cover separate rooms?
- You don't like my company?
- [Narrator] Generally, what grabs a viewer's attention
is conflict and drama, not exposition or information.
- You're really gonna go gothic
while I glean profound insights from the Coed Killer?
- It's my day off.
- [Holden] You're gonna be sorry.
- [Narrator] Most crime shows rely on the drama created
in the pursuit of a criminal.
While there are investigations in "Mindhunter,"
much of the story lies outside of those investigations,
focusing instead on the development
of psychological profiling as a method of investigation.
Understanding that story requires a lot of exposition
and information to be communicated to the audience.
- Ooh, paperwork? - Yes, it's hardly sexy,
but I'm trying to put together a list of questions
for the killers that you interview.
Things like a family history, mood, thought patterns,
before, during, and after the crime.
- [Narrator] "Mindhunter" makes that information
and exposition more interesting
by giving the information dramatic weight
in the character's lives.
- You wanna know what I do?
You wanna see what I work on every night?
C'mon.
- [Narrator] "Mindhunter" spends a lot of time exploring
how the work the agents are doing impacts them personally.
Holden has to find the balance
between pursuing the knowledge he wants to obtain
and the psychological toll of trying to understand
how serial killers think will have on him.
- There's nothing wrong-- - If what we're doing
doesn't get under your skin,
you're either more screwed up than I thought
or you're kidding yourself.
- [Narrator] Tench has to balance the good
he can do through his work
with the impact it has on him and his family.
- You have to bring that home?
What do you do with it?
- Examine it for clues.
- You don't tell me a thing about what you do.
- Now you know why.
- You don't need to protect me, Bill.
- I'm trying to protect everybody.
- No, you need to protect your son.
- [Narrator] And Dr. Carr has to balance the work
against hiding who she is.
- Do they know you're lesbian?
- Of course not. - Exactly.
You can't be yourself.
- [Narrator] For each member of the team,
their journey into learning the psychology
of these criminals creates conflict in their lives
that they must work to overcome.
- Binary thinking could hamstring you
when it comes to critical assessment of our subjects.
We need to understand the gray areas.
- World is complex, I get that.
- [Narrator] "Mindhunter" uses its cinematography
to illustrate this drama in the character's lives.
Holden is the main protagonist of season one
and so much of the season focuses
on the drama the work creates in his life,
and his fight to accomplish that work
within the bureaucracy of the FBI.
In the traditional visual style,
David Fincher, almost all the shots are very steady,
precise, dolly shots,
giving the camera a very objective perspective.
We see things clearly and from a distance
which is how Holden is trying
to approach the subject matter.
Throughout the season, the camera remains steady
even as Holden's emotional state begins to deteriorate
until finally, he breaks and panics.
In this moment at the end of season one,
we get the only two-handheld shots
in the entire first season of the show,
(energetic rock music)
putting us directly inside Holden's panic.
(energetic rock music)
Many shows frequently use handheld cinematography,
but it often doesn't have as much impact on the viewer
as these shots do here.
By withholding a specific technique
throughout an entire season
and then strategically deploying it,
it helps give the climax of the first season
some serious dramatic weight. (pulsing beat music)
In season two, Holden gets what he wants
from within the FBI.
- These ideas aren't just progressive.
They're practical and effective.
You've proven that. - I've tried,
but it's been a battle.
- [Narrator] But the audience now questions
whether or not that's a good thing for his mental health.
Camera shake can now be used throughout season two
to occasionally signify panic and remind us
that he could snap again.
As Holden leaves his relationship behind
at the end of season one,
Bill Tench and Wendy Carr's personal lives
become more of the focus in season two,
and the cinematography is used to support this.
Season two often uses slightly more subjective perspectives
of these characters than we see in season one,
placing the audience closer
to Bill and Wendy's emotional states.
"Mindhunter" uses cinematography carefully
to draw us into the character's lives,
showing us the toll that the work has on their relationships
and the conflict it causes in them.
Seeing this makes us more invested
both in their individual stories
and the work they're pursuing.
As we've just seen, the information and the work
creates drama in the character's lives on a macro scale
across episodes and seasons,
but "Mindhunter" often increases the drama
of expositional conversations
by inserting smaller conflicts and disagreements
between characters into individual scenes.
In a scene like this of Holden and Tench
interviewing Richard Speck,
the writers could've relied on the simple drama
of what Richard Speck is talking about,
but they insert an additional layer of conflict.
In this scene, it's Holden and Tench's disagreement
over the interviewing style.
- [Richard] Oh.
- [Holden] Did you give it a name?
- [Narrator] Which is established simply
through a small look.
Inserting conflict in these ways captures our attention,
pulling our focus towards the conflict
while the characters talk about information
that moves the plot forward.
This technique is used for almost every interview
with a serial killer.
- Showing mercy. - What?
C'mon, kid.
You don't expect us to buy your mercy
of horseshit. - I think
what Agent Tench means-- - But we can see examples
of this in many scenes throughout the entire show.
This scene from season one inserts conflict into a scene
because Debby is trying to focus.
- What are you reading? - And Holden wants to talk.
This conflict creates a dramatic backdrop
for some exposition about psychology
that relates to a case Holden is working on.
- I wonder if that's why everyone
is so confused about Roger.
He's taking an activity normally reserved
for family members at home
and applying it to the wrong environment.
- [Narrator] This scene from season two
does something similar,
establishing interpersonal conflict in the scene.
- [Wendy] You know, whose test is this?
Yours or mine?
- Just trying to get to know you.
- Feels a little like you're trying to get to correct me.
- Well, would you rather tell me about whatever it is
that you're burying your face in?
- [Narrator] That leads to exposition
about Dr. Carr's last interview.
- It's just a fine line of giving them enough attention
so that they'll engage with you,
but also being able to steer the conversation.
And when it's over in just a few minutes, it--
- Wasn't worth the effort?
- He was surprisingly forthcoming in the beginning.
He answered every question,
even volunteered information.
- [Narrator] In nearly every scene,
there's some element of interpersonal conflict
or disagreement between two or more characters
that makes the conversations more interesting and engaging.
- The Geter boy's been missing almost a week.
We have to move, Holden.
- You can't force a square peg into a round hole
just because you prefer it
to fit. - Bill!
- [Narrator] Sometimes, you don't even need conflict,
just the possibility of conflict to create tension.
Tension is created in this scene
through the visual and contextual setup.
The subject doesn't want to be seen.
- Nerve damage from the shooting.
Remember to face forward.
- [Narrator] And so, Bill Tench can't look at him.
The gun in the truck raises the stakes.
Nothing has to happen in the scene,
but there's a feeling
that things could escalate very easily.
Without any action, conversation after conversation
could become monotonous.
"Mindhunter" keeps things interesting
by setting conversations in interesting places.
Placing an argument between Holden and his girlfriend
in a grocery store, or having the agents walk and talk,
instead of sitting in a meeting room
gives these conversations more variety,
and makes them more interesting the audience.
And sometimes, it just comes down to using a location
in an interesting way.
In this scene from season two,
this conversation could've all happened sitting at a desk,
but instead, the location of the conversation
moves four times over the course of the entire scene,
allowing for a greater variety
of composition and character blocking.
In this scene, the loud environment of the bar
forces the characters to shout.
(loud rock music) - Maybe one of the things
wrong with our society is all the criminality.
- I'm talking from a sociological perspective.
- [Narrator] In this one, the environment
forces the characters to whisper.
- We could do a short escrow.
Be out in six weeks.
- Nance, did something happen?
- I am thinking of Brian.
- [Narrator] Both provide variety
and make the audience pay closer attention
to what's being said.
Another way "Mindhunter" keeps its conversations fresh
is through strong and interesting visual composition,
often using character blocking and composition
inspired by the noir crime films of the '40s and '50s.
These kinds of shots give the audience
more visual information to examine and learn from.
Many shows or films can fall into the trap
of having conversation after conversation
take place with the characters simply sitting
across from each other,
composing the scenes with basic, medium,
and over-the-shoulder shots,
but "Mindhunter" uses the placement of characters
within wider shots to communicate subtext.
For example, we can see the conflict
between Holden and Tench in this shot,
simply through the distance between them in the frame.
This shot from season two
references the shot from season one
and communicates very effectively how Dr. Carr is feeling
about her position in the team.
Finally, "Mindhunter" rewards those who are paying attention
to all the criminal psychology that's being discussed
by giving its characters and the audience opportunities
to apply that knowledge
to understanding characters in scenes.
- I watch all the cop shows on TV.
- Do you know
Joseph Wambaugh?
(Ed chuckles) "Police Story,"
you ever watch that?
- Huge fan! - Oh.
- Just came walking up off the street.
"Hey, what happened, did anybody see?"
He'd been drinking.
One of these guys who likes talking to cops, you know?
- [Narrator] There are several small cases
throughout season one and an essential case in season two.
And the details of these cases often hinge
on what's being discussed in the interviews
and discussions about criminal psychology,
but "Mindhunter" often leaves those connections
between the interviews and the cases up to the audience
to discover, sometimes episodes apart.
Allowing the audience to draw these connections on their own
increases their engagement.
The short scenes at the beginning of most episodes
that show a mysterious man preparing for a killing
serve a similar purpose to the cases.
They're not just setting up future seasons,
but gives the audience an opportunity to look for clues
and to try to psychologically profile the character
on their own.
There are plenty of small details
and connections you can catch
like the knots the killer is practicing being similar
to the ones in this photo from a crime scene
shown an episode later.
"Mindhunter" is effectively rewarding the audience member
who is paying attention and examining the criminals
in the same way the lead characters are.
Every story needs drama and conflict
to draw in its audience,
but "Mindhunter's" subject matter
and non-traditional approach to a crime show requires it
to be inventive with how it creates that drama and conflict.
As we've seen here, careful crafting of scenes
and intentional use of cinematography
are critical not only in establishing,
but selling that conflict,
pulling the audience deeper into the minds of the characters
as they explore the minds
of some of the worst criminals on Earth.