Thursday, August 28, 2014

Christopher Nolan on Low-Budget Filmmaking



This video interview of Christopher Nolan has been floating around the 'net for the past week or so, and I thought it'd be about time to repost it here myself:


I have been a fan of Nolan's since I saw Batman Begins (like everybody has, I suppose), but in this interview, he talks about what it was like to make a "no-budget" film in the UK, where he's from. He talks about how there was an Indie filmmaking movement going on at the same time in the United States, but that not much was going in the UK. He worked a job doing corporate video and sound work, and made a 16mm film "Following" on the weekends with his friends. Shot in black and white on a shoe-string budget, Nolan discusses some of the money-saving techniques used in this film that have influenced him to this day, such as placing the actors near windows so as to use the natural light, and to save on lighting costs. He discusses many more workarounds in the interview, so if you've just skipped over the video (yes, I know it's 26 minutes long, and you're busy, but if so, what are you doing on my blog?), I'd suggest you stop reading and take a looksie.

Looks like even the pros still use simple tricks to achieve their epic visions.