What's the distinct color grading in David Fincher's movies?

Question

In most movies, there is a post shoot processing, which gives the movies a distinct look. Often this color grading is based on certain pre-defined presets or let's say themes. Now, every time I see a David Fincher movie, I can almost tell, they have a distinct look. Something yellowish or may be something else. I mean you can take any movie since Zodiac. Zodiac, Curious case of Benjamin Button, Social Network, The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, all of them have the same look, which is different from other movies. So much that when you see a trailer, you can almost tell that it is David Fincher movie.Actually I want to know about this particular look. How to define it more? Is it some kind of preset or is there a name for color themes like that? Can someone please throw some more light on it?

Answer 1

A lot of times they shoot on a distinctive type of film stock. Or if using a digital cinema camera they will shoot in LOG which resembles the absence of color, and use tones that fit the mood of the scene. But in the case of the biggest directors they will likely use a lot of the same editors and colorists throughout their different projects. A lot it colorists will use color palates in different scenes which create different emotions, there isn’t much of a simple explanation to complex color theory.