It's a well-documented fact that director, Christopher Nolan isn't a fan of computer-generated imagery. The man hates CGI so much that he's gone to unbelievable lengths to avoid using the technology in his films. A huge shoutout to Trung Phan on Twitter for these clips.
Nolan planted a 500-acre cornfield for 'Interstellar.'
Christoper Nolan hates CGI and prefers to use practical effects for insane shots.
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) December 14, 2022
Here are 5 gems.
1/ INTERSTELLAR: Nolan spent $100k to plant 500 real acres of corn in Alberta. After filming, he sold the crop for profit. pic.twitter.com/ZKDR7r1EKf
He built a massive spinning hallway for the Joseph Gordon-Levitt fight scene in 'Inception.'
2/ INCEPTION
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) December 14, 2022
You know that spinning hallway where Joseph-Gordon Levitt is fighting some bad guys.
Yeah, Nolan built a giant rotating centrifuge and put a hallway in it along with ridiculously expensive cameras. pic.twitter.com/RhGxUz74To
Flipping the Joker's truck in 'The Dark Knight' was done by using TNT and a piston.
3/ THE DARK KNIGHT
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) December 14, 2022
Batman flips Joker’s 18-wheeler truck.
To get the FX, a piston was put under the trailer with TNT. When the TNT blows, the piston hit the ground so hard, it flips the truck.
The only CGI used was to *remove* the piston from the shot. pic.twitter.com/RdFEPK22eL
Nolan is frugal. In 'Tenet' it was cheaper to crash a real 747 than use CGI.
4/ TENET
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) December 14, 2022
Watched the film twice. Have no idea what the plot is, but mad respect for Nolan crashing a real 747 into an airport hangar.
Turns out it was cheaper to buy a 747 and crash it vs. doing CGI. pic.twitter.com/omilm16gz6
For 'The Dark Knight Rises' Nolan recieved government permission to drop a plane fuselage into the mountains.
5/ THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) December 14, 2022
Nolan filmed this scene in the Scottish Highlands, and got government sign-off to drop an airplane fuselage into the mountain range.
The stunt crew was legit on the outside of the plane (jumped from a helicopter and wore parachutes). pic.twitter.com/DIYco9kK9E
In 'Dunkirk', Nolan used cardboard cutouts instead of CGI to replicate thousands of soldiers.
8/ BONUS: DUNKIRK
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) December 14, 2022
There were ~400k people evacuated from Dunkirk in WWII.
With only a few 1000 extras,
the crew created “fences” made of cardboard cutouts of actors posing as soldiers.
Instead of CGI, 10s of thousands of cutouts were made and put up for far-off beach shots. pic.twitter.com/N4GJOSnII9
It's hard to deny that Christopher Nolan is one of the most exciting and original directors of our time. Especially with this kind of passion and tenacity for authenticity.
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