How Christopher Nolan Writes and Directs a Movie | The Director's Chair

Cross-cutting: In filmmaking, cross-cutting is an editing technique that alternates between two or more scenes to create a sense of parallel action or suspense. The example in the transcript uses it to build narrative intensity. Shepard tone/Shepard progression: A Shepard tone is an auditory illusion created by playing a series of ascending notes on a scale, emphasizing different elements of the scale to create the illusion of continuous ascent or descent, like a corkscrew effect. This technique is used in the film to create a continuous rise in narrative intensity. Insert (filmmaking): A brief shot, usually a close-up, that is inserted into a scene to provide detail, emphasize a point, or create a specific mood. The transcript mentions using inserts for technical reasons and narrative connection. In-camera effects: Filmmaking techniques that achieve visual effects without relying on post-production digital manipulation. The director emphasizes the use of in-camera effects to create a sense of realism. Space-time: A concept in physics that combines space and time into a single four-dimensional continuum. The transcript uses it in the context of a science fiction film. Green screen: A filmmaking technique where actors perform in front of a solid-colored background (usually green or blue) which is digitally replaced in post-production with a different setting. The director expresses a preference for avoiding green screen techniques. Visual effects (VFX): The use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and other post-production techniques to create special effects in films. The transcript mentions using VFX to enhance sets built for the film. Zoom lens: A lens with a variable focal length, allowing the filmmaker to change the magnification without physically moving the camera. The director advocates against using zoom lenses, preferring camera movement for changes in perspective. Point of view (POV) shot: A shot that shows the scene from the perspective of a particular character. The director emphasizes controlling the audience's POV to align it with the characters'. Screenplay/Concept: The written script of a film, and the overarching idea or theme that drives the narrative. The transcript highlights the importance of a strong screenplay and concept in filmmaking. a director, you have to be able to not look at the shot as a two-dimensional picture, but look at where everything is in three-dimensional space. -and go easy on the poor chap. he does try so very hard. -that's why I don't use a monitor on set to this day. I just say by the camera because I want to see where is the camera? why is the camera? where it is? and then place the camera according to my idea of what the point of view is. I`d like to try and align the audience quite closely with the point of view of a character. -come on. -the use of inserts, something I've maintained it all my films. there is a form of narrative connection that's made through objects. -don't believe his lies. he is the one. kill him. I finally found him. -we also did it for technical reasons because one of the things you can do with very little time is you can shoot a really beautiful insert. you can soft light it from the side. you can throw out the lens, you can get something that looks really really nice, very very quickly. my fascination with storytelling in films is all about that subjectivity. it's all about, whose point of view my seeing the story from. don't use zoom lenses. if you don't use zoom lenses, then you are having to physically move the camera, closer or further away to what you`re photographing. so there's a scene in the film where you make a telephone call, and I remember when you came in to sit down to do the scene, and you're pretty surprised where the camera was, because it was pretty close to your nose on a 75, but what I found is when we put the camera right there in your space, the performance is then exactly appropriate to somebody being that close and being so in your head. -it This segment details the director's unique approach to structuring narratives, using mathematical and geometrical principles, including diagrams and careful planning, as exemplified in *Memento*. He explains the concept of cross-cutting and intercutting scenes, drawing a parallel to the musical concept of a Shepard tone to create a continuous rise in narrative intensity.