Christopher Nolan | Doing It For Real

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With Tenet in cinemas, we thought we'd do a video essay exploring Christopher Nolan's commitment to capturing the feeling of reality on screen with IMAX cameras, including films like Inception, The Dark Knight, Interstellar and Dunkirk.
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[@TheDiscardedImage]

Do you prefer Nolan the action filmmaker, or his more cerebral affairs?

[@WayTooClose]

I know this is a cop-out answer, but both? I wish I liked Interstellar more, but feel it drags a lot. Dunkirk doesn't have enough "cerebral-ness" to be great, while Interstellar has maybe too much. Dark Knight & Inception are still his two best films (IMO) because they blend the two traits so well.

[@connor4084]

Please do a video what twin town xxxx

[@vinniechan]

@@WayTooClose I think it's like spectrum for Nolan One common element u find in his films is that there always sth deep down in the character whether it a reveal or a journey they went through

[@personalsigh]

As he can't direct action and he's not as clever as he thinks he is, is there a third option?

[@starwarsroo2448]

@@personalsigh sadly I agree, his actions scenes in TDKR look like they just set them up and did them in one take, TV Shows like 24 have way better fights and shootouts.

[@vinniechan]

Nolan remarked that he found out it's actually cheaper to crash a plane into a warehouse for Tenet than CG

[@restlessentertainment9760]

Apparently the most expensive part of the plane was the engines which they didn't need so sold and made back much of the money they spent on the plane

[@akhilsanthosh6113]

Remarkable planning by the production team!

[@waterspray5743]

Imagining crashing a plane from the air.

[@tomYT_FR]

@@waterspray5743 don't be so dramatic

[@SunsetChicken]

@@restlessentertainment9760 reminds me of the cornfield from interstellar lol

[@Tuxedo0071]

"You can't actually have actors go into space." Tom Cruise: Hold my beer.

[@shmavster4209]

“Tom Cruise has entered the chat”

[@paperchasindude6578]

Fr

[@ammarkhan6883]

@@paperchasindude6578 gimmick cruise

[@bruhguy1636]

@@ammarkhan6883 wut?

[@abhishekab0]

Jan Mazanec more like Hold my scientology

[@mrinalkantinath1271]

Nolan's Black hole in interstellar is still engulfing countless stars

[@antona.1327]

Hollywood: Practical effects are dying. Nolan: Not on my watch.

[@MisterRubbernose]

If I was a movie maker all I would do is practical effects.

[@hulkfan97]

@@MisterRubbernose Same. If I actually needed CGI I'd use it sparsely. Maybe something so small. Not a full on scene. It'll just look fake

[@libzbond]

@@MisterRubbernose So if you wanted a Nuke scene you would call in a Nuclear airstrike somewhere? 😂

[@SerAbiotico]

Alec Baldwin: I wish those were the ones dying

[@alenabouman4639]

@@libzbond That didn't age well

[@pavan_kumar556]

Just imagine it Christopher nolan(a man who loves reality ) and tom cruise(a who don't like cgi and vfx ) doing a movie together that is a dream come true.

[@mentaltelepathy24]

I'm really surprised that haven't yet. I'm sure that movie be insane though. Nolan be like ok Tom I want you to free fall from the moon and make your way back into earth with only a parachute.

[@pavan_kumar556]

@@mentaltelepathy24 tom cruise be like "ok, fine."

[@an3k]

@@pavan_kumar556 Tom Cruise be like "ok, can we film that again please? I closed my eyes for a second in the first take."

[@qnebra]

Tom Cruise didn't like CGI and VFX? MI 6: Fallout had a tons and tons of CG work, to point of entire scenes being nearly fully CG.

[@MrNo-dc2wp]

@@qnebra The film has CGI for sure... But most of his stunt scenes are done by tom cruise himself without VFX🤗

[@daiyoung6078]

Nolan: “ Our next film will be our most ambitious project ever, we planned to detonate a nuclear bomb in the downtown L.A.” Interviewer: “ That’s really ambitious and dramatic! The cgi cost must be very expensive!” Nolan: “....What cgi?”

[@mentaltelepathy24]

Lol. Nolan prob film on a legit Astroid

[@qnebra]

Actually this would be fully CG scene. Because of course Nolan prefers to use practical effects, but when it was necessary he wasn't afraid of CGI.

[@dariusz.9119]

@Dai Young Great comment :D!

[@vijeshkumar692]

😂😂😂

[@arumteguh2762]

Hello, I'm FROM the future. His next film will be about the Manhattan Projects. Yes, he will nuke a city to get the real sensation for the audience with IMAX camera.

[@krakulandia]

I'd like Christopher Nolan direct a new Matrix movie... Could be really cool movie.

[@juanordonezgalban2278]

I think that using practical efects for the matrix is a bad idea, because cgi helps the worldbuilding and fits the theme. Execpt for that escene. You know

[@ianchandler4649]

He’d find a way to slow down bullets in real time.

[@renderize69]

Mission Impossible would be great!

[@vb8428]

@@juanordonezgalban2278 You're right, especially after seeing how he rushed & interrupted action scenes and framed shots in Tenet he shouldn't be doing action films anymore. Those Matrix directors or Mcquarrie would've done so much better with the Tenet script, some 3 action scenes had potential to be iconic

[@thomasdeen2099]

Or Terminator.

[@TooManyMovies]

In that fight from Batman Begins I thought the whip pans and fast editing were meant to replicate the same sense of confusion his enemies feel when fighting him.

[@subutaynoyan5372]

Doesn't matter, it didn't work because even when I first saw it, it just screamed bad action squence.

[@darkonnis]

@@subutaynoyan5372 If you watch the behind the scenes edit, its because the martial art used is a form of JKD, which doesn't film well, despite being incredibly effective. It is for a similar reason Bruce Lee does about 3 minutes of JKD in all of his films combined. The rest is Wing Chun or stylised Kung Fu. He's trying to portray that the Bat can actually fight 8 people at once (fully armoured) and that his enemies are confused... Whether he achieved that or not, not sure, but it doesn't drag on so I can't say it bothered me

[@rohambahraee]

It's impressive how they shot the huge waves in Interstellar. They waited for the exact moment for the waves to get created and come towards them

[@ahmadalhuwaish7504]

Interviewer: You can't go further than flipping a truck irl right ? Nolan: Plane My Hold

[@amolwaghmode3635]

Want to meet this legend once in life

[@roman-cq1si]

Its absolutly amazing, even though I knew most of it before.

[@vjaaz]

Just imagine Nolan doing a Bond film with Tom Hardy as the Bond...🔥 🔥 🔥

[@ALFirebird]

🤯🤯🤯YES!

[@BEN-hl6yt]

7:05 "You can't actually have actors go into space" Nolan: *Hold my tweed jacket*

[@abhinavchoudhury7000]

Tom Cruise want to know his location 😂

[@Sbeve_Boner4966]

Words can't describe the genius of Christopher nolan

[@ryderalcaraz]

"Of course you can't actually have actors go into space..." Nobody: Tom Cruise: *laughs maniacally*

[@peace7482]

Why not?

[@marianandnorbert]

this aged well

[@doodleboi7034]

Some russian actors: *laughs even more maniacally*

[@MohammadUmairAnsari]

The fact that Nolan brought on board theoretical physicist Kip Thorne as an executive producer and scientific consultant on the movie Interstellar tells you his commitment to being as close to the reality and authentic as possible. He is one the greatest and among top ten directors in world cinema.

[@Venom-yh7vb]

Tenet at the moment just broke even with their budget ($250 USD million). Please go out there when you can to support it when you all can, it makes for an immersive experience and something you can't feel on home video! This film is also cinema's last hope thanks to a stupid pandemic...

[@SunsetChicken]

I got as many people as I could to go see it in theatres, I really hope it makes up it's losses through dvd / digital release, it only broke even in production of the movie but there are more hidden costs that could sometimes be double the movie's budget.. Nolan needs the W on this one plzzzz

[@martinqizeaq]

Nolan take a risk on Tenet not to follow any other filmmaker to release on other tv platform such as Netflix or Amazon. If the pandemic doesn't occur, the movie will be a instant hit.

[@SuperSlapek]

@@SunsetChicken No, AFAIK they are still loosing a ton of money on it :/ They have less than 300M $ boxoffice worldwide. In best case scenario studio got 140 - 150 M $ back. That's 100M $ short on budget and don't forget marketing. :(

[@juancarlosjeanarenas6323]

I already saw it three times!!! And personally took My family the third time!!

[@theEPIC-zl6yt]

@@juancarlosjeanarenas6323 I've seen it 3 times as well, once in IMAX! I am even considering seeing it again! Sadly, I haven't been able to bring anyone else with me

[@adarshjose3891]

This is honestly, the most underrated channel I have ever seen 😍 But please don't stop making good contents about true cinema . PLEASE CONTINUE WHAT YOU ARE DOING.❣️❣️ There are only very few channels like yours that appreciate cinema and dedicate themselves to it . So, PLEASE KEEP MAKING MORE VIDEOS because You have ALL SUPPORT & LOVE 🙏🙏 🔥🔥💕💕💕

[@paperchasindude6578]

Fr bro

[@sneezecat8433]

always a pleasure watching your videos

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

Real locations and stunts led to perhaps the greatest moment ever in a Nolan film. The hospital explosion in The Dark Knight was supposed to be uninterrupted, but on the second set of larger explosions was delayed, so Heath Ledger improvised the Joker frantically mashing the detonator before getting into the waiting bus. This never would have happened organically on a green screen.

[@fuzzyalba5419]

I’m afraid that isn’t true. I thought it was a cool story when I heard it, but it turns out the joke was planned so that Ledger could have time to distance himself from the final explosion. It’s still an amazing moment though

[@viddykhaos2896]

Nolan has incredible writing and filmmaking skills. Exquisite

[@ayushagarwal1342]

07:07 Well you can, now. (Tom Cruise)

[@ViIgax]

Another reason why Nolan is one of the top 2 if not the greatest director of all time.

[@shivareddy840]

Nolan is truly genius and a great creative director

[@brucetenet6140]

Great video! Love it. Thank you for this video.

[@vb8428]

Cool video but you should've included some Tenet stuff. I wish he had let stuff breath there too. Not sure if it was meant to be too fast-paced or they were forced to shorten the film.

[@Jason-yw2ow]

youre so right about the pacing

[@ChezzyKnytt]

Tenet is hard to make videos about because all we have to show legally are the trailers. When Tenet comes out to own, I'm expecting a flood of deep dive videos.

[@juanordonezgalban2278]

The thing is the movie is already 150 mins wich is indeedmuch longer than average. Having had more time to process stuff really could have helped.

[@JayRanglani]

Very nicely put together!

[@MrDoogy101]

brilliant video, thank you!

[@movedmindpoRUSZonyUMYS]

Hey, yet another perfect video coming from The Discarded Image. Sometimes I wish I could pretend it's not normal to only get the chance to lose my mind equally about each one of those pretties.

[@yantimohhan5200]

Very brilliant sounds and special effects

[@rileyjohnson6150]

very well layered video!!!

[@johnastreet]

The Stuntman flipping the lorry was Jim Wilkie. Great guy. I have worked on 5 of Christopher Nolan’s movies doing stunts. Alway great fun.

[@tauheedhussain2954]

Watching interstellar was the best experience of my life

[@Jason-yw2ow]

great video mate

[@0981462]

059: OMG what filter is that?! The beauty of the image is INSANE! Awesome video, btw!

[@jedgould5531]

7:09 More precisely, instead of front projection, Disney started using The Volume (for Mandalorian), which is a 3-story, curved LED wall. Studios are popping up in several places using this tech. DPs love it because they can adjust editing parameters before they even shoot.

[@arunpillai5748]

Superbly explained.. respect to Nolan sir..

[@salvadorslim3234]

Great break down on Nolan

[@shutterismmn]

Christopher Nolan is the best director for a reason,💗

[@yaminipolcum5829]

i was screaming at how high quality this video is

[@RajKumar-tk7jm]

Good work!

[@lennonladroma593]

I really dig this practical approached by nolan this is why his action sometimes is relatable than marvel or dc. They are really rely on CGI

[@brickbybrick251lego8]

Christopher Nolan is a frickin genius

[@aurabindaghosh4559]

You just showed Irrfan and its so sad that he is no more😭😭

[@lofiutomascagni]

grazie! bel video, g

[@swagwolfgang]

The fact that Nolan not only still uses practical but that he still uses miniatures makes me happy😂

[@red6781234]

Very cool video but a bit of a shame that Tenet isn't featured especially that big airport plane crash

[@kirazukigamedesu7973]

Whenever I see a film directed by Christopher Nolan, I'm surely gonna watch it...

[@AniThingFilms]

most superhero films are green screen circuses 😂🤘

[@avaron15]

A true pioneer

[@freetard1759]

Thanks for the nolangasms.. Now i gotta watch tenet again.. And dunkirk.. And interstellar.. And..tdk trilogy.. And the prestige... Thanks alot guys😐

[@ashtonicbsesci7235]

Nolan has Perfected, Practical Action. Imagine if Nolan used Green Screen or CGI, Imagine how sick it would have been, at least 50 Oscars

[@Kurzula5150]

Superb video, as always. One point: I imagine Nolan probably used back projection rather than front projection on Interstellar. Actor's would not be able to actually see front projection. Also the brief clip you include seems to suggest back projection.

[@iainjames03]

Every time I see that scene of the truck flip - which is otherwise awesome - I kind of wish Nolan *had* used a bit of CGI, if only to remove the very obvious vapour from the compressed air cannons used to launch the trailer into the air

[@ArmyWolves]

4:30 There are some things that can't be done in camera as much as Nolan would probably want to. Nolan in 2022: Plans to set off an actual nuclear bomb for Oppenheimer.

[@madrasbossvenkatesh189]

He nailed the CGI visual effects based movied

[@DylanLCutshall]

People misunderstand the action scene at 3:09 all the time. It's meant to be seen from the villain's/goons perspective. It's the introduction to Batman and how he feels for the criminals: Barely visible and understandable while taking out lots of criminals. Cinemawins explained it best here in this video at 5:19: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4vLYXmAndSCsMk&&ab_channel=CinemaWins

[@user-js2sv1pw2e]

Imagine if Nolan and Tom Cruise did a movie together, it would be the most amazing film ever

[@anhminh2318]

Back in 2012, my friend and I went to see The dark knight rises, in the air plane scene, we were like: Damn! The CGI is so advanced. LOL

[@eduardpeeterlemming]

I like Nolan because he filmed Tenet in my country and closed the most used highway for weeks

[@rajithraji]

6:44 to 7:32 the background music: Bugatti Chiron 0-400-0

[@iBloby]

Incredible video. 6:49 Where that soundrack come from in the background ?

[@13Joelu]

0:59 is that CG? How did he do that? One of my favorite scenes in anything, ever.

[@deepaks8515]

Christopher Nolan 👏👏👏👏👌

[@JoseRodriguez-un2kc]

In other words Christopher Nolan's OG

[@Rnankn]

I think Nolan’s approach could be called magical realism. But the diametric opposite of that, animation, can also be extremely compelling. Whereas Nolan is showing extraordinary and supernatural events under the restricted conditions of reality, animation has no limitations, and so can do great things. See for example the last two episodes of Star Wars; The Clone Wars

[@SAT1337]

Except it looks fake as it's so far detached from reality.

[@iiWitcher]

Thanks, great video, as always! Could you be so kind to give a name of the track at 1:14? Thank you!

[@qnebra]

Nolan prefers to use practical effects, but when needed he wasn't afraid of CGI. Take "Inception" for example, there is a lot of CGI work in this movie, even in places where you don't expect it to be. There is great commentary track for "Inception" made by VFX team working with Nolan on his every movie since 2008.

[@lastudios4532]

when its a nolan movie , i become a 12 year old who knows that he is in for a treat .

[@KiNGKuNTa986]

7:07 Well tell that to Tom cruise.

[@kevinsupreme_ph36yearsago59]

Flipping over a truck for real is cheaper than simulating in on a computer & making it look realistic.

[@heavens9123]

Nolan 😎😎😎

[@zaxker]

I really like the music in the intro, what is it called?

[@malemthounaojam5046]

Can anyone tell me the name of movies shown at the end of the video?

[@ashlyalex_10]

His is G.O.A.T.

[@rmshv7901]

Imagine if Nolan makes a movie with tom cruise

[@henryortiz4273]

6:57 Where can I see the behind the scenes of the interstellar ship?

[@pradipmanik2016]

What is the song playing at the end

[@jordaneshwar5317]

Christopher Nolan and Ethan Hunt can do anything. I repeat, anything!!

[@Dr.B_01]

Music at 7 : 30 is Bugatti Chiron's 40s 400 Kmph video music 🎵🎶

[@ravikumars5164]

Hope, one day we get to see Tom Cruise and Nolan Movie.

[@mahammedsabiq5482]

Which movie is the scene coming through the train road?

[@NBC.SATURDAY.NIGHT.LIVE.]

Kip Thorne also helped on tenet

[@Bikash-pb2df]

I don't understand the man of steel references.. It's a good portrayal of superhero fight scenes, speed and destruction.. There is no way you can do it practically.. Nolan himself was attached to the movie and even praised it for it's visual representations. And there are lot of practical effects used in the movie you can the behind the scenes... And the visual effects were not bad at all just look at zods suit's . I know the movie had some flaws but the shit that it get is unfair.. How could you bring a clash of two gods onscreen. I don't know what others say but the movie holds well to this day.. The colour grading, cinematography is also well done.. I'm not into superhero movies but man of steel was the most enjoyable in recent memory.

[@DynestiGTI]

CGI bad >:(

[@DynestiGTI]

In all seriousness I honestly couldn't believe that Zod's suit was CGI, it looked so real. It's crazy how CGI has evolved over the years, I think Man of Steel struck the perfect balance with CGI and real effects, too little CGI and it would've undermined the story, too much and it would have been a cringefest like say Justice League or Green Lantern.

[@Bikash-pb2df]

@@DynestiGTI yeah but these so called experts think general audience are just fool.. I went to theatre and everyday was praising the cgi and for being creative in action sequences.. Why these video analysis guys hate this movie

[@simonisnotkyle]

What is the Outro Song?

[@anthonypc1]

Nolan would be the director to first shoot a movie with actors in real space shuttles or a station off-world. It is doable.

[@chigozie_jesse]

Lets go pal, i am making a withdrawal here

[@rakeshnravi]

Music.. 👍 name of this music.. please reply.

[@soyitiel]

dat imax camera joke, tho

[@starwarsroo2448]

Batman Begins fight scene is probably his best fight scene

[@personalsigh]

Nolan: realism! Also Nolan: what's the 180⁰ rule?

[@aeiouaeiouaeiou]

what is it

[@EggBastion]

5:21 - "...there's a randomness to things like explosions that you can't predict..." _Well now, scholars - if you'd just hold on to your papers for two minutes..._

[@shravan1010]

Let me experiment that

[@JuxtapositionRed]

Imagine a chris nolan directed star wars movie 😲

[@indf3782]

Nah he will not. Actually it has not that much substance to explore. All are gone...

[@aryanrana9731]

Imagine Tom Cruise working in Nolan's movie

[@vickykaushik8764]

Nolan and Tom Cruise should do a project together !

[@MindfulAttraction]

8:16 who's the blonde

[@blaineoconnor]

Kanye West

[@giulianconigliaro19]

Barack obama

[@fanboy5272]

Darude Sandstorm

[@TheEricksen]

Donald trump

[@VirusL4D]

Danny DeVito

[@marcomacias3960]

so the truck and Batmobile scene thats suppose to be in the tunnel is actually miniature. if it is no wonder they dont want the tunnel in Chicago ruin.

[@shravan1010]

"So Nolan why do you flip a truck or blow an entire building?" "Cause its so fucking fun"