Interstellar- Cinematography

In the film ’Interstellar,’ the director, Christopher Nolan, uses visual effects to show some of the incredible landscapes that are in the film. Scoring them a Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. I will be discussing how Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, captured some places to convey an entirely new world and some interesting features whilst the characters are on Earth which makes the audience feel like they are in another world.

Interstellar opening scene

 

In the opening scene of the film, it is silent and all we see is a lot of dust falling and resting of different objects on a bookshelf. This is an interesting opening scene, because it already makes the viewer’s think about what is happening in this shot. If you watch it, there isn’t really much happening. Just the falling of dust, but Hoytema shot this so well that it has a sort of beauty to it that captures people’s attention.

Mann's Planet

In terms of the planets, Nolan said that he wanted a “harsh environment” to represent the other planets (YouTube: Variety 2014). Nolan used visual effects, “Special effects created in postproduction tough digital imaging” (Corrigan and White: 2012 p481). A few being Mann’s Planet and the Water Planet. Since Nolan wanted to use as little green screen as possible, they shot these scenes in Iceland and used visual effects to help enhance the feeling of realism to the viewers. It is a beautiful place that definitely had the harsh environment Nolan wanted. According to Hoytema, Iceland had good natural lighting for what they needed, so it was a perfect place to shoot (YouTube; Variety 2014). They shot the Water Planet in a lagoon that was the product of the melted ice from the glaciers. This was another beautiful setting that had a rough feel to it. Or though both these settings look visually beautiful, Hoytema shoots them in such a way that makes the audience feel like a cold, un-sustainable place to live in.  

We can see why Interstellar won the award, for the visual effects shown in this film are both incredibly beautiful and harsh. It makes us feel like these places are real, which increases the feeling of thrill and adventure.

Reference:

Variety. “Variety Artisans: Space Shots - Creating the Worlds of 'Interstellar'.” YouTube, published November 12, 2014. Accessed on April 21^st 2014, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqpupJ6w8M4

Corrigan T, and Patricia White. The Film Experience; An Introduction: Third Edition. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.