20 Things You Didn't Know About Christopher Nolan

The sheer scope of blockbuster productions mean that directors often spend much of their time sequestered in the "video village" where they can view multiple cameras at once and pick apart the technical minutiae of a scene.

But according to numerous reports from cast members, Nolan's approach couldn't be much more different.

Despite the massive scale of his movies, where possible he will shoot scenes with minimal personnel while remaining as close to the camera himself as possible. Frequent collaborator Cillian Murphy said:

"He creates this environment where it's just you and the actor or actors, there's Wally [Pfister], the camera man, and he stands beside the camera with like his little monitor but he's watching it in real time. And for him the performance is paramount. It's the connection between the actors. He allows room for spontaneity."

Furthermore, despite his reputation for shooting quickly and efficiently, Nolan keenly takes the time to give actors as many takes as they like - presumably within reason. He said of this approach:

"I've come to realize that the lighting and camera setups, the technical things, take all the time, but running another take generally only adds a couple of minutes ... If an actor tells me they can do something more with a scene, I give them the chance, because it's not going to cost that much time. It can't all be about the technical issues."