This was written during the build-up to Interstellar before its release. On the topic of budget and control, here are some relevant excerpts:
>Like Spielberg and James Cameron before him, Nolan is one of only a handful of film-makers who can walk into a studio with an idea and exit with $200m to make it. Nolan’s movies have grossed more than $3.5bn worldwide, and his last four films [The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises] have come in under budget. When Interstellar was finished, Nolan returned what he called a “substantial” amount of money to Paramount.
>“What he realised very early on was that the moment you give the studios an excuse to come in, you’ve lost it,” said Emma Thomas, Nolan’s wife and co-producer, who first met him when he was a student at University College London – studying English but spending all his spare time in the basement of the Bloomsbury theatre, hunched over the college’s Steenbeck editing suite, piecing together his first low-budget shorts. “We watched it happen,” Thomas said. “The moment you go over budget, you’ve lost the creative control than an obsessive director like Chris needs. He’s always been extremely strategic about it.”
It's not specifically talked about in this article, I can't find the original article in which he does talk about it, but large scale CGI is incredibly expensive in comparison to using props and practical effects. You guys know T.A.R.S. and C.A.S.E., the box robots from Interstellar right? Largely practical effects.
Continued As a side note, it really shows the due diligence and preparation that Nolan and other good directors put into their movies during the pre-production and not try to do during filming or post production.) Which is much cheaper than paying a company to render a full sequence of CGI shots and won't be ready for review for months on end. Anyone see the Overwatch shorts that Blizzard puts out now and again? That quality of CGI costs approximately $1 million per finished minute. So simply by choosing to do a practical effect and supplementing that with careful planning, you can save a lot of money. To quote another article:
>"The anxiety about the economics of a film is crushing," says Nolan, who believes there are ways to alleviate pressure from studios. "I chose to always be on or ahead of schedule and on or ahead of budget."
>One example of his punctual production was the opening airplane sequence of The Dark Knight Rises, which Nolan said was the sequence he was most proud of in any of his films. Nolan explained the shots were the result of months of planning that culminated in two days of shooting, even though they had scheduled it for five.
With practical effects you can do something like this. You can do something that was supposed to take 5 days and cut it down to 2. And that saves money. To get back to my original point I'll use one last quote from Nolan:
Tyler Harris
Continued... >"I do think right now it's difficult for original films to get made," Nolan said, alluding to Hollywood's penchant for producing entities with built-in audiences through sequels, comic book remakes and book adaptations. Where it was once possible to bank on a star consistently pulling in crowds movie after movie, Nolan pointed out that is no longer that case: "It's hard to base a film around casting - there are no commercial guarantees."
There's no guarantee of commercial success or profit when making a movie. Any one of a hundred things could mess it up. But something that Christopher Nolan does that makes the studio trust him with their money, something he does to control them instead of the other way around, is he comes in under budget. With that, he is giving them at least one guarantee: He will save them money even if he doesn't turn them a profit. So that is why he is one of the few directors that is given freedom to do what he wants with a large
Chase Smith
Based Nolan saving blockbusters.
Jayden Sullivan
Judging by some scenes in his movies he is also a first-take kind of guy, which I guess helps speed things up
Brayden Perry
I wonder there are some sloppy elements because of it(like TDKR) but movies like memento , The prestige and Dunkirk have very little if at all no bad scenes. I guess it varies according to the size of the project.
Colton Wilson
I really like how his films utilize so many practical effects. I honestly wonder why films that are so cgi heavy even bother with any live elements sometimes like actors instead of just voice actors.
Andrew Gray
especially so when you working with IMAX cameras. Need to redub dialogue as it's too loud
Nicholas Hall
Indeed he is probably he best director working in the big blockbuster range.
Cooper Barnes
>3 takes maximum >brother writes script for peanuts >no reshoots LOL Nolan is a lazy fucker
Jackson Fisher
OH IT SHOWS
Andrew Harris
If any*.
Justin Powell
He produces probably the best looking blockbusters out there outside of maybe Denis.(and I am restricting it to blockbusters). None of his films ever feel cheap.
Nathan Rivera
>One example of his punctual production was the opening airplane sequence of The Dark Knight Rises, which Nolan said was the sequence he was most proud of in any of his films. Nolan explained the shots were the result of months of planning that culminated in two days of shooting, even though they had scheduled it for five. I can't tell real life from memes any more, I'm lost
Gavin Cox
Of the last 4 flicks only one has been co-written by Jonathan(it's TDKR)
Camden Thompson
Some of the Interstellar miniatures were atrocious, especially in the black hole.
Ridley Scott also comes under buget but his philosophy is that he doesn't pay for the movie so the studio can eviscerate it and then he'll get a home release. Hence Kingdom of Heaven and his early (and continued) support for home release extras.
The Martian came in 2 million under budget and a couple of days earlier. That's what storyboarding, a good visual imagination and a multi-camera setup for everything gets you. On Ridley's set, work stopped at 6 PM, no exceptions, and Damon still got an Oscar nomination. When he did the reshoots and editing for All The Money, he still got his 8 hours sleep every night lol.
Wyatt Carter
I thought this was old news. Nolan has gone on to say it was his best action work.
Maybe he knows about the memes.
Jose Brown
>Chris Nolan can just show up and get $150 million for a 3 hour science fiction film about space colonization >Del Taco has to near-completely self finance his $20 million fantasy film
It's not fair
Lincoln Lewis
well, if we take the dialogue away, it's a pretty memorable stunt
Logan Evans
Ridley has his sloppy moments as well especially in Gladiator and exodus Gods and kings.
I guess as the scope of the film increase so does mistakes but these guys are probably the best at it.
Are referring to the black hole itself because that was apparently highly accurate according to the scientists themselves.
Angel Stewart
>investing in beaners
good luck with that
Joseph Peterson
is jackson allergic to shampoo or something?
Robert Morgan
Yeah it's disappointing but I his blockbusters weren't as successful as they should've been. If Hellboy flicks and Pacific Rim were huge successes , he would be getting projects left and right.
Kayden Hill
If Del Taco movies made billions he wouldnt need to
Elijah Stewart
Fair enough. I’d say all of his modern movies feel “under schedule” though.
Jose Cook
This. I still appreciate the guy, but IT SHOWS
Juan Ortiz
Second unit?
Gavin Stewart
you're a big meme
Benjamin Wood
Pacific Rim, Hellboy, and Hellboy 2 barely turned profits. Inception and TDK trilogy made insane bank.
Cameron Wood
lamo, someone post the webm of Bane punching CIA
Aaron Morales
I was referring to the whole dismembering the plane thing Poor Nolan-3000 hasn't quite figured out how human beings work, cut him some slack
Xavier King
Since it's been confirmed he is not doing bond, what would be his next project?
Cooper Martin
prometheus
Jonathan Thomas
He spent millions
Brody Nelson
I really hope Nolan is going to take the Oscar instead of Del Taco
Carter Johnson
Mate Prometheus looked great. Visuals were the least of its problems.
Asher Campbell
Come on giving taco some slack. He needs this more than Nolan. Chris has also said that he is not interested in the oscars(though he considers them a privilege)
Brody Evans
Based
Aaron Johnson
To entertain billions
Colton Diaz
Fuck off with these reddit spaced posts about a reddit director
Brandon Rodriguez
This board is filled with black panther and other MCU shitposts. This is a breath of fresh air compared to that crap.
Jaxon Lewis
>Chris has also said that he is not interested in the oscars Well he's not gonna say he cares if he knows he's going to loose. Also, can I get the sauce ?
That was the films problem though. The best thing about the film was the interior of the spaceship. It was stunning in a couple of scenes. It seemed like the only two things the film actually was interested in was the Engineer and his chair (since it was the throw back and entire link to the other movies) and the prometheus' interior. Everything else was just an excuse to film a handful of scenes in those two. If anything visuals really were a problem for that film due to that.
Adrian Carter
>Fuck off with these reddit spaced posts about a reddit director
Nobody cared about my posts until I put on the reddit spaces
U mad 4chanboi?
Logan Williams
Is it noticeable a dubbed scene or could pass without notice if its well done? Im not a native speaker, thats why Im asking
Isaac Martinez
Reddit spacing meme was actually created by reddit to sew distrust on Sup Forums. Dumb cuck
Ryder Gomez
George Miller says hi.
Elijah Jones
Oh, you think shit posts is your ally.
But you merely adopted the shit posts;
I was born in it, moulded by it.
I didn't see the /r/thedonald until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!
Leo Walker
Where is the home release for Prometheus and Covenant? Prometheus Agent 9 Special edition is great
Leo Rodriguez
Guillermo Del Toro used a lot of CGI for Pacific Rim and still finished it under budget.
Carson Smith
>Admits to not giving a shit about the oscars and knows they don't give a shit about his films as well >Admits his goal is to appeal as wide an audience as possible
And they say Nolan is pretentious. He basically admits to being a better Michael Bay.
Dominic Long
Nolans a hack
Blake Evans
Miller has made what? One film in the last 20 years?
Connor Richardson
thanks
Cameron Moore
What I am gathering is that Taco, Scott and Nolan are better businessmen than directors?
Brandon Perez
Pretty sure Both Nolan and Del Toro are budget conscious directors. I mean they both started out on small passion projects where they had to think about how to effectively spend every single dollar in their meager funds.
Adrian Phillips
The batman series after batman begins is shovelware but everything else he has done is kino
Easton Davis
Is that why Zack Snyder movies always have bloated budgets while at the same time have wonky CGI? He straight up started doing studio movies from the very beginning.
Julian Ortiz
Del Taco is a hack. Well...Nolan is a hack too so I guess Del Taco is a super Hack. All his movies are meme shit, the only decent one is Pan's Labyrinth and he is retroactively ruining it with retarded gems like this one:
>The Pale Man represents all institutional evil feeding on the helpless. It's not accidental that he is a) Pale b) a Man. He's thriving now.
Alexander Adams
Scott definitely. But some of his tricks are common sense. He uses multiple camera set-ups for all his big scenes and even in dialogue heavy sequences to capture the shot and the reaction shot in the same take.
That's not just efficient, it also helps get the most out of the actors.
Wyatt Reed
mainstream flick director jizzing exposition everywhere just to make sure underaged and retarded viewers get everything in fear of being viewed as pretentious *pierces paper with pen*
Camden Torres
He's big on not shooting anything that won't make it to post. So if it doesn't fit, it's not even shot.
Dylan Phillips
Every film has it to some degree.
Evan Sanders
Go back, you absolute fucking retard
Jayden Thompson
MoS was an ultrasuperpowered cgifest and it barely has 1 or 2 wonky scenes in like 2 hours of action. One is where Zod spins Clark by his cape, the other is one where they exchange punches. The rest of the movie looks really fine. In fact looks much better than more recent movies like Black Panther, Spider-man or Civil War.
Same with BvS. There are only a few doomsday wonky scenes but the rest of the movie is top tier blockbuster kino
Blake Morgan
too busy cunnyposting on Sup Forums
Jace Davis
yes he is excellent at appealing to brainlet ideals and emotions.
unfortunately he has no desire to make actual quality cinema because he realized the money is in brainlets.
Michael Jenkins
>In fact looks much better than more recent movies like Black Panther, Spider-man or Civil War. Why bring in such a low bar? Compare it so say TDK or Hellboy 2.
And I am talking about BvS. I feel like several batmobile scenes and Doomsday CGI were weak as fuck as well superman pulling the ship scene,the kryptonite gas, etc....
The thing is all of them cost about 220+million. While something like Hellboy 2 cost 85 million, TDK cost 185 million, Fury Road cost about 175 million and BR2049 cost 150 million.
Well I guess the decision not have CGI fuckfest climax can save a lot of money.
Jonathan Miller
I must be the only one who unironically thinks Nolan makes good movies. >Dunkirk One of the best suspense films of last year >interstellar Good until the retarded ending >TDKR Mediocre but good memes >inception Kino >dark knight Best capeshit movie by a wide margin >the prestige Bretty gud >batman begins Second best capeshit movie >memento Good
0 bad movies. They’re not all kinos but they’re all watchable and memorable
Absolute fucking Kek. I don't know about filmmaking but Nolan will always be remembered for the memes.
Hudson Wood
>Inception >Kino lol
Sebastian Parker
>All memorable I like some of his movies but cannot think of a single one I found memorable in the slightest. That's the main problem his films have for me. Absolutely zero rewatch value
Isaac Cooper
>"I phoned Zack [Snyder] and said, "Well how much did you grow?" and he told me they grew 300 acres and that it cost X amount, so we grew about 500 acres of corn and actually sold it and ended up making a profit off it!" That's a big crop
Isaiah Smith
I agree with Superman pulling the ship, but the car chasing was great.
Also, for the budget keep in mind BvS final version is 3 hours long (original cut was 4 hours long) and is cgi heavy unlike TDK. Dollar per dollar, BvS is much more cheaper than TDK considering the scope of the action in BvS and length of the movie.
Jaxon Miller
>The production team had to grow a corn field especially for the scenes on Matthew McConaughey's character's farm, and after filming was complete sold off a "pretty good crop".
>Explaining how he sought advice from Man of Steel director Zack Snyder on cinematic cornfields, Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter: "Luckily, Zack had grown a bunch of corn, so I said, 'How much can you really grow practically?'
Based Snyder
Angel Allen
Del Toro generally rolls his directing and writing fees back into his films too, think Blade 2 was the only one he didn't
