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Christopher NolanThriller Director Study

Ryan Gooderham

+Biography• Born: Christopher Johnathan James Nolan on July

30th, 1970 in London

• He began making short films from the age of 7.

• During his college years, he made two short films: ‘Tarantella’ and ‘Larceny’

• Currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife (Emma Thomas) and their four children. He and his wife also have their own production company (Syncopy).

• Nolan doesn’t like to use mobile phones or an email address – he says that he’s never been interested in them. He actually prohibits the use of phones on set of his movies.

+Thriller FilmsNolan has directed numerous thriller films, such as:• The Dark Knight (2008)

• Inception (2010)

• Memento (2000)

• Interstellar (2014)

• The Prestige (2006)

• Dark Knight Rises (2012)

• Batman Begins (2005)

• Insomnia (2002)

• Following (1998)

• Doodlebug (1997)

• Transcendence (2014)

+Career• Christopher Nolan has been nominated for 3

Oscars, along with being nominated for 163 other awards and winning 122 awards, including Movie Of The Year (Interstellar) and the Golden Eddie Filmmaker Of The Year Award.

• Nolan is most famous for the Batman movies (Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises).

• When it was released, The Dark Knight set a record as having the highest weekend gross in a weekend, at $158 million.

• Nolan’s work focuses on male protagonists who try to come to grips with their past while working through complex challeneges

+The Dark Knight • Directed, produced & co-written by Nolan

• Released in 2008

• Nominated for 8 academy awards, winning 2 awards: Best Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger) and Best Sound Editing. (It was nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Best Film Editing.

• The main theme in The Dark Knight is the triumph of evil over good. Harvey Dent is seen as the “white knight” at the beginning, yet by the end is evil. The Joker represents havoc and chaos in the film.

+The Dark Knight - Narrative• Dark Knight is set within in a year after the events of Batman

Begins.

• Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon and Harvey Dent successfully start to round up the criminals in Gotham City.

• A mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos.

• Batman’s struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to confront everything he believes.

+The Dark Knight – Critics Opinions • Guardian – 4/5 stars - “There are some really exhilarating

set-pieces, especially the one that kickstarts the proceedings”

• Roger Ebert – 4/4 stars - “the special effects are extraordinary”

• Empire – 5/5 stars - “But The Dark Knight is spectacular, visionary blockbuster entertainment: pretty much everything you could hope for and then some. It isn’t perfect but then, like its hero, like his late co-star, and as Nolan’s fitting tribute so ably observes, nobody is.”

+The Dark Knight – The Thriller Genre• The Dark Knight fits with the Thriller genre as it has a fairly

complex storyline and complex characters. For example, within the opening sequence we are given a plot twist, which helps to wind the plot and make things all the more mysterious for the audience.

• Also, The Dark Knight uses conventions such as diegetic and non-diegetic sound. For example, diegetic sound is used in the opening (i.e. the gunshots in the bank robbery), but throughout the film, non-diegetic dramatic music is used, adding to the atmosphere.

+The Dark Knight – Use of camera, sound, editing & mise-en-scene• As said before, The Dark Knight uses many of the sound

conventions from Thriller films. Lots of intense music and exaggerated sounds are used to add to the mood and create a really tense feeling.

• The use of mise-en-scene is especially important, particularly with the character of the Joker. His costume is almost clown like, as it’s colourful and he has his face painted. This goes against the conventions of thriller films, (as usually the antagonist wears dark clothing) but also makes him very distinguishable and different.

+Interstellar• Directed & co-written by Nolan

• Released in 2014

• Made $47,510,360 (USA) in the opening weekend

• Awards: BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects, Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, BFCA Critics Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie, Empire Award for Best Director, Empire Award for Best Film, Critics Choice MVP Award

+Interstellar - Narrative• Set in the near future in America

• An ex-science engineer and pilot (Cooper) is tied to his farming land with his son and daughter.

• Devastating sandstorms ravage earths crops, and people on Earth realise that their life (on earth) is coming to an end.

• Cooper finds a NASA base near his home, and is asked to go on a mission with a few other scientists- to find a new home while Earth decays.

+Interstellar – Critics Opinions• Guardian – 4/5 stars - “Nolan’s biggest spectacle”, “If

it’s spectacle you want, this delivers.”

• Empire – 5/5 stars – “this is the director’s broadest canvas by far, but also his most intimate”

• Roger Ebert – 3.5/4 stars – “there’s something pure and wonderful about this movie”

+Interstellar – Thriller Genre• The film uses lots of loud, booming music and exaggerated

sound to help add to the mood and create excitement.

• There are also plenty of complex characters in the film, to add to the twisty and turny plotline.

• Interstellar has some science-fiction elements in it (as part of it is set in space, so we see vast planet-like effects). These effects add to the realism of the film and make it quite believable for the audience.

+Interstellar – camera, sound, editing, mise-en-scene

• Camera – there is frequent use of tracking in the film (for example when the main character leaves his home) which creates a feeling of action and movement.

• Mise-en-scene – the space shuttles indicate to the audience that they are the main idea of the film and the costumes are correct for the time period

• Editing – flashbacks are used with a voice over to give the audience background information, and the title of the film is edited into the end of the film, following the space shuttle.

• Sound – voice over is used to create atmosphere and give information, and dramatic music is used to help to build the suspense