Nolan 'not a huge fan of 3D'

Christopher Nolan's “Inception” could have been a 3D movie. But the director nixed the idea.

That’s one of the tantalizing tidbits that came out of a discussion between Nolan, whose mind-bending caper “Inception” opens July 16, and Geoff Boucher, whose Hero Complex blog hosted a screening of Nolan’s “Insomnia” and “The Dark Knight” on Saturday.

“I’m not a huge fan of 3D,” Nolan said when asked about his attitude toward Hollywood’s newest obsession.

His response resulted in an explosion of claps, signaling that while boxoffice numbers suggest audiences are embracing the format, a certain segment may be getting tired of it.

“We did tests on ‘Inception’ to look at the post conversion process,” he revealed. “And they worked very well. It’s quite easy to do, in fact. But it takes a little time, and we didn’t have the time to do it to the standard that I would have been happy.”

Warner Bros., the studio behind "Inception," rushed a 3D conversion for its April action pic "Clash of the Titans." Critics and some audiences complained about the quality of the 3D, but the film has grossed $486.8 million worldwide.

Nolan, whose knowledge of cameras and how the eye and mind operate when they process imagery was on full display Saturday, said he found the dimness of 3D-converted imagery extremely alienating.

And don’t get him talking about shooting in 3D. He prefers to use prime lenses and said if he does use 3D in the future -- such as on his next Batman movie, slated for summer 2012 -- it will be in the post conversion process.

“But really it’s going to be up to audiences to decide how they want to watch their films,” he said.

Nolan shared some other thoughts on visual effects. He said he likes to use practical effects, rather than CGI, as much as possible. That scene in the "Inception" trailer, where the room is slowly spinning around? Shot in an actual room.

“The audience can always, on some level, tell the difference,” he said.

When he was making “Batman Begins,” Nolan asked the visual effects guys to use CGI to re-create a scene he had shot practically. The shots looked almost identical, he said, and almost no one could tell the difference. “(But) When they had to do a shot from nothing, the quality level was far, far lower,” he said.

He also believes that actors do much better work when their performances are based in the real world.

Finally, despite the rampant dissection of his films online, Nolan revealed his lack of interest in any of it.

“I don’t really look at the Internet,” Nolan said, with the audience bursting into applause.

He said he realized early on that going on the Net wasn’t helpful to his sanity, especially when it comes to the casting rumors that fly about this Batman movies.

That led to one of his more interesting revelations: “I don’t email or use a cell. It gives me time to think.”

Other tidbits:

-- Nolan has seen “Blade Runner” “hundreds of times” and likes "the notion of it being a film that rewards multiple viewings.”

-- He screened “Pink Floyd: The Wall” to his crew before starting production on “Inception.” He likes its nonlinear nature of storytelling, using imagery to connect story lines and breaking chronological boundaries.

-- While he had no plans to tackle a Superman movie, when David Goyer told him his idea regarding the Man of Steel, “I didn’t want it to not get done.” Nolan is now producing the next movie.

-- Borys Kit

Comments

[m3 real]

That's good I think!I don't know about others but I don't like more 3D movies now.I m happy that this movie is not in 3D.

[Tardigrade]

I'm wondering why post-processing 3D is at all considered. It can't look anything other than crappy. I hope the industry drops this entirely.

There's no doubt CGI movies (as in 100% CGI) will embrace 3D fully, as it's simply about rendering the same pictures from slightly different viewpoints (the 3D models and animations don't change), hence doesn't add any major complexity other than more high-res rendering time. Rendering should be inexpensive by now, so it shouldn't much cost to the movies.

I believe true 3D (as in filmed in 3D) could add a lot to action movies, with or without extensive use of CGI. What about a car chase at the edge of a steep cliff, or air and space battles?

3D makes no sense in drama, and could actually take away attention from the acting.

It seems there's a market window for providers of high quality and/or lightweight 3D cameras.

To make filming in 3D easy the cameras need to "look" at what's currently in focus automatically, hence changing camera-to-camera angle based on where the focus is. I don't know if Cameron's camera did that. Not a major issue in Avatar, as most 3D sequences were CGI and those that were photographed used static cameras and static focal points.

[Asin]

3d is ok compared to those funny japanese animes and manga movies ;)

[Tony R]

Yeah, and just six months ago Michael Bay was saying how his movies would not look good in 3d because of the shaky camera shoots he uses a lot in his films. How he is not a big fan of 3d either. Now all of a sudden he is doing transformers 3 in 3d. When is comes down to it, I think when these directors say they don't want 3d, it is all just talk. Then eventually they have to come out of the closet on what they really think about 3d. "OH, it is really not that bad."

[Mary]

Not everything needs to be in 3D coz some movies are worth making simply in 2D. I don't want also things in my face while I am watching movies. LOL.

[Imaginox]

I never really cared for 3D either...It gives me a headache. I like it when the sense of dept is created through the light...

[Daviticus]

Um, Tony, are you saying that you can't be a popular filmmaker and not like 3D? Because that seems awfully narrow-minded. I prefer to think of it as Bay flip-flopping because he is desperate for continued success after the disaster that was Transformers 2. Nolan, on the other hand, is being true to himself and his art.

[George Zakk]

3D is like watching an completely out of focus movie, so now we need to wear glasses to put it all back in focus. I am completely desensitized by the 3D elements even the cool studio logos that popped out at you are now flat, essentially i just want to take the damn glasses off (rest my eyes and the back of my ears) and watch the movie but wait now its all blurry and out of focus again...

Obviously Cameron did it right as well as a few animation movies but all these other hacks are killing the 3D genre! Essentially I'll just pick and choose by filmmaker if it's worth the pain!

George