4. Risky Business
Casting Heath Ledger as the Joker was just one of the many risks that The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy took that paid off tremendously. While the majority of action and comic book inspired films turned to 3-D, Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfister eschewed this trend in favor of blazing a new trail. Hollywood films had already begun taking advantage of the IMAX format through Digital Media Remastering which is fancy way of saying the image was blown up. The result still did not reach the size and clarity of short films and documentaries that were filmed with IMAX cameras. The general consensus was that shooting a feature film with IMAX cameras was too impractical due to the weight of the cameras and the loud noise they make. Nolan and Pfister had a different view - if IMAX cameras could be taken up a mountain or to outer space, how hard could it be to shoot at least part of a Hollywood movie with them? The resulting footage in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises was a breathtaking, immersive experience that blew 3-D out of the water. Another departure from the norm in The Dark Knight Trilogy involved the score. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are considered two giants in the world of film composing, but Nolan foresaw how incorporating them both into the films would fit the duality that Bruce Wayne and Batman represented. As bad as some of the previous Batman films were, one thing that series nailed was Danny Elfman's iconic Batman theme. The combination of Howard and Zimmer could almost make one forget about Elfman's theme. The duo would ultimately be recognized for their accomplishment by winning the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for The Dark Knight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.