10 Director Trademarks That You Can't Unsee

In 2008, The Dark Knight was released to record-shattering box office results, critical acclaim, and a swarm of hype. In the ensuing madness, Batman was once again an absolute staple of pop culture and Christopher Nolan became a household name. The director had been quietly building up his repertoire for years by that point but Dark Knight was the breakout hit that made him a marquee name that even general moviegoers would recognize.

One of Nolan's most consistent visual flourishes is the top-down shot, to display a city landscape. He utilized this several times to show off the city of Gotham throughout The Dark Knight and also to best showcase the folding landscapes in Inception. It became such an established trademark, that other directors and creatives of the time actually began aping this exact shot in everything from television shows to other films.

Whereas Nolan continuously uses this kind of shot to insinuate an omniscient eye watching over the city, other directors simply used it because they found it to be an innovative establishing shot. In the years since Dark Knight, Nolan has backed off of his signature shot a bit, simply because of how overexposed it had become. But if you look closely enough in Dunkirk, there are absolutely variations of this exact style.