Christopher Nolan is one of the most revered directors of the 21st century, known for his cerebral blockbusters like Inception and The Dark Knight. Much is made of his striking visual style and expert direction, but his work as a screenwriter is equally important to his career success. While Nolan’s cinematic subjects are far ranging—from sci-fi epic to revenge thriller to war drama—there are many common themes and tools that he uses time and time again. Let’s look at the Christopher Nolan writing process and what every writer should take away from it.
Continue reading Christopher Nolan’s Writing Process Explained & Script PDFs
Before the 1950s, nearly every single movie was in the same 4:3 aspect ratio. But then CinemaScope from 20th Century Fox changed the landscape with widescreen imagery to get people into theaters nationwide. Pretty soon, other studios were making their own widescreen movies, including Paramount Pictures with VistaVision. What is VistaVision, you ask? Well, it takes a bit of explaining, so if you can, please join us as we look into the origins of VistaVision, what it was like, and why it still matters today.
Continue reading What is VistaVision — A History of Widescreen in Hollywood
When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them no, I went to films. – Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is not just a world-class filmmaker but also a renowned film lover. He is a lifelong cinephile with an encyclopedic knowledge of the medium. Tarantino always packs his films with homages to the movies he loves. He even uses his renown as a means to provide exposure to films that he believes deserve more success. These are often foreign language films or older films that never found their audience. The following list is not in order of preference.… Keep reading
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Christopher Nolan’s Tenet screenplay is one of the most dense screenplays ever written, but fear not: we’re going to explain the Tenet screenplay by analyzing its key story beats and subversive narrative techniques. By the end, we’ll have a newfound knowledge of The Protagonist, reverse entropy, and the word tenet.… Keep reading
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2020 was a very strange year for movies. Most theaters in the United States have been closed since March in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing studios to push most of its offerings into 2021 at the earliest. While it may seem like a bare year for cinephiles, there was still plenty to enjoy. If the pandemic had never happened, then this list of the best 2020 movies would likely look very different.
Streaming services picked up the slack with Oscar contenders flocking to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Studios experimented with releasing more tentpole features on their respective streaming platforms to varying degrees of success.… Keep reading
A shocking twist ending is a great way to end a film with a bang but great twists aren’t confined to just the ends of films. The best plot twists catch us off guard, recontextualizing everything we just watched and rewarding subsequent rewatches. There will, of course, be major spoilers to follow, this is your SPOILER WARNING! Without further ado, join us in counting down the 20 best plot twist movies of all time.
Continue reading Best Plot Twist Movies & Biggest Plot Twists in Movie History
In the world of movie making we have today, any digital device with video functionality can help you tell a story, from your mobile phone to your computer’s webcam. But what about celluloid film? What is celluloid film, even? We still call movies “films,” right? Film stock used to be the only way major movies would be filmed and distributed. But of course, times have changed, and as technology has advanced, so has the way we make movies. But that’s not to say film is down for the count. Which is why we are going to answer “What is celluloid film?”… Keep reading
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Christopher Nolan has become one of the biggest filmmakers on the planet, and his first time with a licensed property helped him get there. Co-written with David S. Goyer, Batman Begins was a blast of fresh air, getting major critical appraisal, bringing in a new era for both the Dark Knight and superhero films.… Keep reading
The best movie directors of all time — the idea of such a list sparks immediate debate. Rather than try to impose any sort of definitive or objective best directors list, consider this more of a celebration of the entire medium. Woefully underrepresented on this list are women. While women have been an integral part of the film industry since the beginning, the opportunity to direct was rarely given to them. That means that any list that covers the entirety of film history will be unfortunately one-sided. Thankfully, women have been making great strides in reversing this over the years and we’ve seen some truly masterful and inspiring work from the best female directors working today.… Keep reading
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Understanding how Christopher Nolan approaches filmmaking is an important step to improving your own skills, but his films are complicated puzzles that are built to confuse and perplex viewers.… Keep reading
Though best known for producing many of the best television shows of all time, HBO is also home to many excellent films. HBO caught on quick that streaming was the way of the future, and got into the only media game early. We’ll be taking a look at what movies are on HBO right now. HBO-Go is home to not just every great HBO original series, but also hundreds of films ranging from all-time classics to new releases. Joining us in counting down the top 50 HBO movies available right now.
Continue reading Best Movies on HBO Right Now — Filmmaker Playlist (Oct 2020)
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There are many ways to enhance the main plot of a film. You can flesh out your protagonist, establish a story structure that keeps the audience engaged, and fine tune the plot points that move the story forward. But did you know that introducing subplots can enhance your film’s main plot? Understanding how a subplot functions and serves the main plot can give your film the depth you desire. So, what is a subplot of a story?… Keep reading
Audiences and filmmakers alike love sequels. And we all love to rank and debate which are the “greatest.” But deciding which films belong on a “best movie sequels of all time” list can feel overwhelming. How does one choose from every film ever made? And how to rank one above the other? While such a list is by definition subjective, it doesn’t have to be arbitrary. One way of more rigorously determining if a movie is the best in a certain category is by ranking it according to aggregated scores across categories.
Continue reading Best Movie Sequels of All Time, Ranked for Filmmakers
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The Dark Knight Rises script laid the groundwork for the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Although it wasn’t as well received as its predecessor, The Dark Knight Rises still had plenty of great moments. We’re going to break down The Dark Knight Rises script by looking at characters, dialogue, and story-arcs.… Keep reading
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You just watched Inception, more specifically, you just watched the ending of Inception, maybe not for the first time. Naturally, you’re gonna have some questions. Wait, what? That top started to fall right? Why were his kids wearing the same outfits? Could that have really been a dream? Don’t worry, we’ll parse through all the Inception theories, and by the end of this, get the Inception ending explained.
Continue reading Inception Ending Explained — Dream vs Reality vs Nolan
