QUICK BREAK
for days on end. I’ve heard that from almost every crew member I’ve ever worked with. It’s not a complaint you hear on my films. I think it’s why people feel very, very engaged. They’re seeing what is being created for the audience. They’re getting to be the first audience for it.”
Even with Nolan’s acknowledged preference for practical filmmaking and his penchant for spectacle, buying a plane wasn’t always on the cards. “I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piece builds and a combination of visual effects and all the rest,” recalls Nolan. While scouting for locations in Victorville, the team discovered a massive array of old planes. “We started to run the numbers… It became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size, and perform this sequence for real in camera, rather than build miniatures or go the CG route.”
Call it a spur-of-the-moment purchase. “It’s a strange thing to talk about – a kind of impulse buying, I suppose,” laughs Nolan. “But we kind of did, and it worked very well, with Scott Fisher, our special-effects
Nolan goes through a scene with star Washington between takes. ack on the Victorville set, after several efficient takes of the engine explosion, it’s time for the reverse-angle shot. More than 90 extras, not counting stunt performers, and actor Himesh Patel (who strummed to stardom in Danny Boyle’s Yesterday), wearing overalls and safety gear, are marshalled by Nolan, between sips of Earl Grey tea from his pocket flask. Opting to roll straight into the take without rehearsal, a throng of airport workers reacts to the bang, which is now being replicated by a huge lighting rig emitting an orange blast. The ‘explosion’ to react to is indicated by Nolan himself, holding an airhorn aloft.
Again, takes are collected with ease and alacrity. “I’ve always worked that fast,” states Nolan. “I started out in no-budget and in independent films, where you had to work fast. What I learned as I first got into big-scale filmmaking – Batman Begins being the first really large-scale film that I was involved in – a lot of it is down to your collaboration with your director of photography, in that case Wally Pfister. He’s a very, very fast director of photography, as is Hoyte van Hoytema, who I’m working with now. What we found on the bigger films is, sometimes having less time forces interesting creative choices on you. The thing you can never rush and you can never accelerate are the safety issues.”
“There’s one thing that he has never let go of, and that is speed, and being light on his feet, and being nimble, and trying to keep the energy up,” confirms Thomas. “He just has no tolerance for