This is where it all started for Nolan. Before Memento and Inception, even before Following, there was Doodlebug. Like most short films, the premise is simple. A man is crawling on his hands and knees, trying to catch a bug of some sort ... and that's all you can say without spoiling it. Reading into it, we explore the depth of insanity, obsession and compulsion, a recurring theme in later Nolan movies like The Prestige and his Dark Knight trilogy. When comparing it to his blockbusters (or any of his work), Doodlebug is inevitably small in scale, lasting all of about three minutes. But that's not to say the thinking behind it is small, and if it does nothing else, it shows the gall of a director to even attempt such a project. Nolan filmed it while he was still at University College London studying English Literature. With no funds whatsoever, he completed Doodlebug in his spare time. Yet it was still a learning curve. Nolan has expressed his distaste with the camerawork in the bonus commentary; stating that his constant tracking shots slowed the film down. His brave (almost cocky) use of special effects may seem dated seventeen years later, but let it show the idealism of the man. Not only that, trace the path his career has travelled, and you will see him strive for bigger and bigger themes, bigger and bigger thrills, leading him into space and possibly further with Interstellar.
