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Have you ever heard someone say history repeats itself?
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This comes up quite frequently
when researching Christopher Nolan movies.
"Are you watching closely?"
They're oddly heavy.
You almost have to take a day to let them sink in
before you can move on to the next film.
But why is that?
What makes them so unique?
We will be using StudioBinder`s production software
to illustrate how Christopher Nolan approaches filmmaking.
Everything comes back full circle.
"And here we go."
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What makes Nolan film so unique,
is that he disguises many clues
inside an important cinematic device motifs.
A motif is a repeated pattern
used to support the theme of a film.
Like the totems in "Inception" that represent reality.
"So a totem.
You need a small object
potentially heavy, something you can have on you all the time."
Or the various symbols of duplicity
in the "Prestige."
"- Don't forget your hat.
- Which one is mine?
- They're all your hat, Mr. Angier."
These items may seem symbolic,
but Nolan takes it a step further.
He doesn't merely use motifs to support a theme
what he actually does
is dangled a clue right in front of your face.
"Look closer."
The effect is that it both intrigues
and confuses the viewer.
And he does this by presenting information
with a veiled context.
"I planted an idea.
A simple little idea
that would change everything."
Critical clues that Nolan peppers in at optimal moments.
"- So how does he do it?
- He uses a double.
- No, no, no, it's too simple.
This is a complex illusion."
He spreads them out enough to disguise the revelation.
And the second, third,
and fourth time you watch his films
you pick up some new detail along the way.
"- I love you.
- Some days it's not true.
And today you don't mean it.
Maybe today you're
more in love with magic than me."
Like the scene in "Insomnia."
"- Clear cause of death was herniation of the brainstem
due to intracerebral hemorrhage.
- Beaten to death"
The protagonist, detective Dormer
inspects a murdered girl's body.
When Dorma finishes the inspection, he says,
"He crossed the line and he didn't even blink."
Why is this moment so important?
Dormer takes off his rubber gloves
and describes someone
who crossed the line
and never came back.
"You don't come back from that."
The opening credits show fibers drenched in blood.
It drips until we see an unknown person wearing latex gloves.
It's not until the end of the film that we come full circle
and realize the man who crossed the line
was Dorm himself.
And those hands in the gloves at the beginning of the film
were Dormer`s.
This is just one example,
but Nolan frequently layers clues like,
motifs,
flashbacks
and key inserts throughout his narratives.
"It's not Morse, Murph, it`s binary.
Thick is one. Thin is zero.
Coordinates."
How can you do this with your own script?
It starts with your script break down.
A script breakdown
is where you go through each scene in your script
and identify key elements such as props,
wardrobe,
set dressing,
anything really.
These elements are prime opportunities
to define motifs, symbols,
and as Nolan often does
dangle plot points.
"Edward Gammell.
Scott told me his name is Teddy."
When Nolan went through his script in "Insomnia"
he knew the gloves were not only a requirement for the scene,
but also a clue.
All he needed to do was tagged the prop,
embed an image or video in the scene notes,
so that you can communicate his plan with his team.
If you want to learn more about motif in film,
check out our other video on visual motifs of Americana
in "Silence of the Lambs."
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Christopher Nolan admits
that when he writes a film
he makes sure to write in the same order
that it will play on screen.
"I approached the structure
from very mathematical and geometrical point of view.
A lot of diagrams, lot of careful planning,
but then you sit down and you write the script
the way the audience is going to be receiving that information.
The hope is that in that way
you're actually creating
a cohesive and all organic rhythm and story movement."
"Dream within a dream.
I'm impressed."
"And so the structure I settled on is based
on a musical structure called the Shepard tone,
which is a musical illusion.
Whereby you can keep climbing up the scale,
but you never seem to go out of reach if you like
and I wanted to try and apply that
to screenwriting."
"Now!"
If you were to graph out a diagram
that illustrates the structure of a Nolan film,
it would look something like this.
"Best way to draw it is,
as I hat pan.
That's basically the end of the movie."
"I've seen one before
many many years ago."
And this reveals one of the main devices
he uses in his storytelling.
Bookending.
This is where a beginning and end share something identical.
It can be dialogue.
"Are you watching closely?
Are you watching closely?"
Props. "- Time will run differently for us?
- Yeah
- Nobody believed me.
But I knew you'd come back."
Color schemes.
"It's just an anonymous room.
It's nothing in the drawers.
It's look anyway.
Nothing except it`s getting a Bib-- Bible."
Or an entire scene.
"- Now you want to know who he was?
- I know exactly who he was.
He was the Batman.
- No one's ever going to know who saved an entire city.
- They know.
It was the Batman."
Everything comes back full circle.
Remember,
history repeats itself.
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What else does Christopher Nolan do so well as a filmmaker?
Tell us in the comments.
"This is what happens
when an unstoppable force
meets an immovable object."
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We've come full circle.
Did history repeat itself?
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"Are you watching closely?"