5 Ways Christopher Nolan Changed Cinema Forever

4. Models And Matte's And In-Camera Effects, Oh My!

"There are usually two different goals in a visual effects movie. One is to fool the audience into seeing something seamless, and that€™s how I try to use it. The other is to impress the audience with the amount of money spent on the spectacle of the visual effect, and that, I have no interest in." - Christopher Nolan during an interview in the DGA Quartertly. Inception Hallway In the age of giant CGI robots and worlds that leave nothing to the imagination, Christopher Nolan is the best kind of traditionalist. In order to create the sense of realism that is present even in his flashiest films, Nolan tries to replicate his original film elements on set before enhancing them with VFX in post-production, making the sequence feel like an experience. The zero gravity fight scene in Inception was a combination of the usage of wires on a to-scale hallway model that would rotate while on set, and then was enhanced with VFX in post-production by removing the wires. The jaw-dropping, plane hijacking sequence at the open of The Dark Knight Rises was achieved through superb, advanced stunt work with the use of wires while suspended 100-feet in the air, using another to-scale model of the rear of an airplane on location, and adding the VFX to add the finishing touch of making it look like they were thousands of feet in the air. TDKR Airplane The balance of shooting the sequences in real time using models and wires and VFX added in post-production, Nolan is able to create and achieve that visceral feeling of realism that puts you right in the middle of the action and makes the sequence believable, rather than alienating you by taking you out of the scene and calling your attention to the possible implausibility of the action, making it more a viewing experience than an actual experience.
Contributor
Contributor

An aspiring filmmaker, Jovanni graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Film and Screenwriting in 2011. When he's not making films, he is watching and/or discussing them.