With the advent of digital 3D film-making, more movies are jumping on the bandwagon in an attempt to attract movie goers with the visual appeal similar to Avatar. Whilst most films can’t boast the CGI worlds that were brought to life through James Cameron’s technology, it seems that more flicks are vying to use the new stereoscopic format. However there are still some filmmakers who are reluctant to use the 3D medium and are choosing more traditional techniques with a cutting edge approach.
Christopher Nolan is one such filmmaker who after the success of his last two films Inception and The Dark Knight, has decided to retain 2D film-making but is looking at other ways to raise the bar. With Inception, he shot some of the mind bending sequences in the larger 65mm format, but acknowledges that he conducted conversion tests in 3D though ultimately decided not to use the technology which he felt compromised the image. The 3D glasses reduce the brightness of theater screens, adversely dimming heavily saturated colors which make it harder to see what’s going on amidst the darker color tones. Therefore the contrasty world of Batman wouldn’t benefit and would have to include lighter tones to play properly for this medium.
In an interview with Collider Nolan commented on why he doesn’t want to use 3D:
There’s an intimacy at times [ with spatial illusion of the 3-D effect ] and we didn’t want to lose scale…Our ambition for the third movie is to complete a story that has begun. This is not starting over, this not rebooting. We’re finishing something, and keeping a consistency with what’s come before has real value.”
Cinematographer Wally Pfister and Director Christopher Nolan with an IMAX camera
When he made the The Dark Knight he shot the opening heist scene and the Bat-pod chase in IMAX which gave the sequences a greater expanse as opposed to the stereoscopic format. Narrative is first and foremost, but the visual scope is also important to Nolan and the larger 70mm film of IMAX lends itself the spectacle. Nolan was able to make the case that pushing forward cinematically doesn’t need to be defined in 3D, and that the vision of darkness that is Gotham City, would best be captured using IMAX cameras and high-definition approaches.
As a filmmaker he also prefers the staging of practical effects as opposed to CG generated FX and by shooting the larger set pieces in the bigger format, the images truly capture the effort invested. That said there are issues with IMAX such as the noise the cameras emit and their size which make hand held scenes difficult and usually require custom built rigs.
However with the format constantly improving, new cameras are being designed and the word is that Nolan is working with a new technology that will help him achieve this goal. He spoke with Hero Complex of his visual intentions for the third flick:
We’re looking to do something technologically that’s never been done before…We want the look and feel of the film to be faithful to what has come before…There was a large canvas and operatic sweep to ‘The Dark Knight’ and we want to make a film that will carry on with that look and feel.
Check out this fascinating video made for The Dark Knight which shows Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfister working with the IMAX format here:
The Dark Knight Rises is set to start lensing next April with a July 2012 release.
via: Collider
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