Christopher nolan paper PDF

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Essay on filmmaker Christopher Nolan looks at techniques that he uses among other things to make great films....

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Kruse 1 Professor Colkitt Film Art, FIL3854 July 16, 2020 Getting to Know Christopher Nolan The British-American director Christopher Nolan is one of the most well known and achieved filmmakers of his generation. Nolan has received numerous awards and honors throughout the years, including ten Oscar awards and being appointed as Commander of the Order of the British for his services to film. Christopher typically directs films that include philosophical thoughts pertaining to enlightenment and the fundamental nature of reality. His second film, Memento (2000) a neo-noir revenge film, attracted the attention of Hollywood’s eye because of its unique sequence of narration and twisting of the plot, this movie broke “cinematic rules” that gave it just enough edge to become a success. With such positive feedback and results, Christopher Nolan decided to keep these techniques and make them a part of his signature style. A couple more features that he decided to transform into his unique directing style is his minute use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and the use of point-of-view shots. These techniques can be seen in two of his later films: Inception (2010) which is “a complex tale of corporate spies who can infiltrate dreams to steal valuable secrets” (Go-Gale-Com), and Interstellar (2014) which is about “a group of astronauts who voyage deep into space through a wormhole” (Go-Gale-Com). In Christopher Nolan’s three films, Memento, Inception, and Interstellar viewers are able to see why he is considered to be one of the most talented and successful directors of his era through his distinct style and techniques with the use of nonlinear narration, plot twist, minimal use of CGI, and point-of-view shots. Nolan takes a non-traditional route when directing his movies, and that is used by

Kruse 2 encompassing a timeline that is not linear. He likes to use flashbacks as a key element to this intrinsic timeline. By using this technique, it allows the audience to better grasp how the protagonist is thinking and feeling instead of being disconnected by viewing the film from a linear timeline. He first uses this technique in his second film, Memento, where the storyline is actually running backward and is broken when the protagonist has flashbacks. A unique feature that brings creativity to the flashbacks is that Nolan decided to record them on black and white film. Nolan’s reasoning for choosing to have the movie’s timeline run backward was, “in part to give viewers a sense of disorientation similar to what the protagonist went through in each scene.” (Go-Gale-Com). During Inception, Nolan is able to structure the movie to occur “across multiple “levels” of the story simultaneously, allowing Nolan to cut between those layers and to synchronize his action beats across various narrative threads” (Mooney 90). Flashbacks were also intertwined within the story in Inception when the main character remembers his dead wife. In Interstellar, Nolan was able to mix up the storyline by incorporating the fifth dimension within the film that allows the protagonist to move back through time, which then contains an array of flashbacks that keeps the audience pondering on the concept of time. Ultimately, as seen within these three films, Christopher Nolan directs his movies in a non-linear storyline taking advantage of the use of flashbacks to create this effect. His use of a complex storyline that does not follow traditional standards causes his audience to be more engaged within the film so that they know what is going on. Christopher Nolan is a director that likes to keep his audience on the edge of their seats as well as force them to figure things out for themselves when they watch his films. He is able to achieve this by making a surprise ending. Inception is Nolan’s greatest example of producing a deceptive ending (McGowan 168). The film ends without the top finishing its spinning which

Kruse 3 would allow the protagonist to go back into reality, this leaves the audience wondering does he make it back into the real world and what is truly reality. In Memento, the audience does not know what has happened before because the plot runs backwards, however, in the end, Nolan surprises the audience that the protagonist had killed his wife and he simply forced himself to forget in order to be happy. (Schmit 16) Interstellar had a very confusing end just as Interception, where it left an open ending that allowed the audience to decide what they think occurred to the protagonist. These plot twists leave viewers pleasantly surprised because they can not predict how the movie is going to end. Christopher Nolan takes pride in being a phenomenal film director, and because of this, he strays away from the use of computer-generated imagery. Nolan says, “ However sophisticated your computer-generated imagery is if it has been created with no physical elements and you haven’t shot anything, it is going to feel like animation.” He believes in using film over a digital video, “with a minimum amount of post-production computer-generated enhancement” ( Mooney 40) His efforts can be seen in his film Inception when he has real hallway falling instead of a computerized one like many other directors might have. It can also be seen when he chooses to use real bats within his Batman trilogies instead of computergenerated bats. Point of view shots, what are they? Well, point of view shots is when the director films from the perspective of what the character is seeing. This technique is used throughout Christopher Nolan movies which allows the audience to better connect with the protagonist instead of feeling detached and watching from an outside perspective. This is seen in his film Memento, where they are filming the movie with the camera just over the protagonist’s shoulder (Mooney 18). The audience is able to take on the same journey of finding out the character’s past

Kruse 4 and see through his eyes what is happening. Memento has the black and white flashbacks in a third-person point of view whereas the colored portions are the protagonist’s viewpoint, this shows details only that Lenard, the protagonist, can see (Schmitt 19). Being the best at what you do means that you have to stand out from the crowd and take chances. Christopher Nolan does just that, he decided to break the Hollywood style of directing and transformed his techniques to become his own unique style which the audience has come to love. He uses a nonlinear storyline throughout his films to keeps the audience guessing what is going to happen next. This is first seen in Memento with the use of a reverse storyline and sudden flashbacks, and later in his films of Interstellar with the use of time travel and Inception with hopping back and forth from the fifth dimension. The use of plot twists in his films creates an air of surprise and awe that requires viewers to ponder over the possibilities and sometimes create their ending. Nolan’s lack of CGI in his films gives them an air of authenticity that allows his sci-fi movies to feel real, this sets him apart from other directors who use too much CGI and end up having the film seem animated. Lastly, the use of point of view shots throughout his films allows the audience to better connect with the character and see the events in their perspective.

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Annotated Bibliography "Christopher Nolan." Newsmakers, Gale, 2006. Gale In Context: Biography, https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/apps/doc/K1618004334/BIC? u=tamp44898&sid=BIC&xid=b0c92e3b. Accessed 19 July 2020.

Kruse 5 Newsmakers came out with a biography on Christopher Nolan’s personal life as well as his career. The biography provided a brief commentary on his early life growing up in a BritishAmerican home and how he was fascinated with film at such a young age. It informs readers about how his second movie, Memento, was noir-influenced that brought him his initial fame. It used a backward timeline that gave a feeling of disorientation which was suppose to reflect the protagonist’s own memory. After Memento, Nolan was able to get his foot through the door known as Hollywood. The films following his second movie received mixed reviews however none the less were successes financially. Then he was hired by Warner Bros where he was able to become really famous by producing the new Batman trilogy. In between producing the Batman movies, he directed Inception, a complex sci-fi thriller where Nolan was able to let his film making creativity transpire. It was a great success and showed off his unique directing style. Following the Batman trilogy, Nolan came out with Interstellar, another sci-fi film, which showed his true talent for making beautifully crafted movies. Annotated Word Count: 191

McGowan, Todd. The Fictional Christopher Nolan. University of Texas Press, 2014. The Fictional Christopher Nolan written by Todd McGowan is a short book that analyzes Christopher Nolan’s films and what common traits are seen in them. McGowan starts by pointing out that all of Nolan’s films use lies to play a central role in their stories. The characters in his films tend to be surrounded by individuals that lie and deceive and it creates a web deception. Nolan uses this to his advantage by tricking the audience about events that have happened and what characters true intentions really are. Todd McGowan points out that Nolan likes to use

Kruse 6 fiction to ultimately lead the movie to the truth. This theory is highlighted in the film Inception, where the audience, as well as some of the characters, are fooled first in the movie about what is really true and then there are plot twists where the audience is enlightened with the real truth. McGowan shows how this devotion to deception is a key element to Nolan’s directing style that puts him into a new category of philosophical films. Annotated Word Count: 175

Mooney, Darren. Christopher Nolan: A Critical Study of the Films. McFarland, Oct. 2018, Darren Mooney writes a short book called Christopher Nolan: A Critical Study of the Films. that dissects Nolan’s directing style and techniques as well as his movies in general. He tells readers how talented Nolan is which can be seen in his success with critics and success by being a box office hit with most of his films. Nolan’s ability to wow audiences and keep them surprised is a consistent trait in all his films. Mooney diverges into the structure that Nolan likes to incorporate in his films such as keeping a none traditional storylines, using flashbacks, or reverse narratives instead of a linear narrative. This technique is pointed out in the film Inception, where Nolan uses crosscutting to lets actions to be happening simultaneously through different dimensions. This type of spectacular directing is just the reason why he has become such a profound director that has seen immense success within the era. Annotated Word Count: 153

Schmidt, Torben. Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Department Of England- And

Kruse 7 America-Studies, and Frankfurt Am Main. “Christopher Nolan’s Memento – Analysis of the Narrative Structure of a Noirish Revenge Film.” “Christopher Nolan’s Memento – Analysis of (2003): 1-28. Print. Torben Schmidt wrote ‘Christopher Nolan’s Memento – Analysis of the Narrative Structure of a Noirish Revenge Film.” “Christopher Nolan’s Memento – Analysis of (2003)’, in which he takes apart and analyzes in great detail Nolan’s second film, Memento. Memento was Nolan’s first hit in the box office and was where he was able to see which of his techniques and traits to use while directing. Schmidt gives readers a breakdown of what happened during the movie to give them some general understanding and then analyzes characteristics of the characters, film noir, the plot summary, and narrative structure. The narrative structure of Memento was one of the unique features of the film that was not typically seen in movies that got the audience’s attention. Schmidt talks about how Nolan used a reverse timeline for the movie and used black and white flashbacks. Schmidt also informs readers about Nolan’s use of point of view shots within the film which allows the audience to take in the protagonist’s perspective and empathize and connect with him. These are just a few reasons that Schmidt points out that makes Memento a successful film directed by Nolan. Annotated Word Count: 191

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Reference Page Nolan, Christopher, director. Inception. Warner Home Video, 2010. Nolan, Christopher, director. Interstellar. Legendary Pictures, 2014. Nolan, Christopher, director. Memento. Summit Entertainment, 2000....