The Nolan Format
We’re all familiar with the huge scale of director Christopher Nolan’s work (The Dark Knight, Inception and more)… The cinematic style that Mr. Nolan is so well known for is not achieved by just capturing striking imagery – but by capturing it on a larger format than is typically used. Several sequences in The Dark Knight were shot on 70mm IMAX film, and parts of Inception were shot on the slightly smaller 65mm format.
What do these numbers mean? As the format size of an image increases, the depth of field becomes more shallow, and the resolution tends to increase (but not always). A shallow depth of field results in that blurry, cinematic look that we’re so accustomed to seeing in higher-budget movies (see left). (That blurry look has a name, bokeh, which means “hazy” in Japanese).
Over the last few years, this cinematic look has become easier and easier to replicate on lower-end cameras. The popular video DSLRs can achieve this look because of their larger censor size, and because they have the ability to use long, interchangeable lenses. While this look is for the most part considered desirable – this shallow depth of field can often create focusing issues for the camera operator. Higher-end cameras and DSLRs require follow-focuses that camera operators can use as a focusing aid. In many situations camera operators have assistants who do nothing but pull focus.
Larger formats like 70mm IMAX film often result in further focusing issues. Cinematographer Wally Pfister spoke of problems while shooting on IMAX for The Dark Knight. At certain points while shooting the IMAX cameras were limited to just three feet of space in focus at a time. During intense action sequences with characters moving quickly, Pfister and his team often had to rehearse action multiple times and do multiple takes before focus was satisfactory.
Pfister and his team were challenged once again while shooting the highway chase sequence in the Dark Knight. In order to achieve the shots that director Christopher Nolan wanted – IMAX cameras (which can weigh over 100 lbs.) had to be mounted on arms affixed to camera cars. These cars
had to swerve around the action and capture the low-light highway images while staying perfectly framed and in perfect focus. Despite the difficulties Pfister and his team faced (including the destruction of an IMAX camera) the sequence came out spectacularly and is a jewel in the crown of IMAX cinematography.
As noted above, a larger format does not necessarily mean a higher resolution image. While this tends to be the case cameras like the Red One, which has a standard 35mm censor, can shoot 4k resolution – which well surpasses the standard resolution of theatrically released film. In short, though larger censor sizes tend to result in more cinematic imagery, anyone considering shooting on anything larger than a consumer or pro-sumer camera should look into the pros and cons of shooting with a much shallower depth of field. Perhaps one day the 70mm format will be available for the cost of a DSLR today, but until then – let’s leave the huge format stuff to the pros.
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