Hi everyone!
In my last post, I spoke of the struggles of writing. Going through phases involving some or all of those struggles can be common for a writer. I’m sure any writer out there who read my blog could relate to some degree. But, we work through it eventually. And work through my struggle phase I did.
To kick off this blog post, I’m excited to share that I’ve finally finished the first draft of my Nash: The True Nemesis novel! It was a hard slog to get through, especially when I’m used to simpler and quicker screenplay first drafts. There may be a lot of work to go on the novel still, but it’s nice to be able to reach this key milestone.
But I digress. If you clicked into this blog, you’re probably here to hear me talk more about the films of Christopher Nolan and how his works inspired me. Talking about Nash isn’t a totally irrelevant start. This is, after all, the series that draws the most inspiration from Nolan’s films – even if it is just a light touch.
If you’re unfamiliar with who Christopher Nolan is, I advise you to read up on him! He’s what you might consider an auteur director – that’s a director who exerts a high level of control over all aspects of their films like the author of a book. Nolan has a very distinctive style to the point where you can often identify his films without even knowing he’s behind them. And apart from one of his early works and the Batman trilogy, he just tends to do his own thing.
As an inspiration, it’s not so much about the man Nolan himself or any single film or collections of films he’s made. It’s more about aspects of his overarching style and storytelling choices that really resonate with me.
Let’s dive into some of those aspects now…
Blending Fact & Fantasy
In my post on how I personally categorise the sci-fi genre, I had a category called ‘Authentic Feeling Sci-Fi’ and the films of Christopher Nolan served as a prominent example.
Nolan has a particular talent for taking fantastical out-there concepts and grounding them in reality. Sometimes these fantastical ideas are steeped in theoretical concepts such as those explored in Interstellar or Tenet. Sometimes the fantastical idea is Batman.
It doesn’t matter how factual or not the idea is, Nolan always makes them feel very real when you watch his films. It feels like what’s happening could very well actually happen today even when something never actually could. In his Batman trilogy, you feel like the whole thing could be based on a true story.
It’s always about the little touches like quick explanations for how things work. Sometimes these explanations are vague and ridiculous, but it’s enough for your mind to feel like there’s reasoning behind something. The characters also talk through the explanation with such sincerity that it feels serious and legitimate, even when it’s fiction. Nothing feels melodramatic or over-the-top.
While my Nash series definitely sits somewhere in between ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Authentic-Feeling’ on my scale, I always strive to take lessons from Nolan on board when giving my story legitimacy and grounding it in some kind of reality. Even though it’s all made up and takes little from our real world, the sincerity that Nolan uses to tell his stories is something I try to stitch through my own work.
I’m also sure Nolan’s authentic feel can also be attributed to his strong stance on using the barest minimum of CGI possible. He’s big on practical FX and you have to respect the lengths he goes to. Nearly all of what you see on the screen in his films is very physically real to some degree. But I’ll talk more about that later in this blog.
The Atmosphere
In all his films, Nolan builds a very strong and absorbing atmosphere. Watching the film, you always find yourself engrossed in the story and its world. The real world takes a back seat as you lose yourself in the cinematic experience Nolan (and his team) have crafted. At least, that’s the way it is for me.
The atmosphere Nolan creates in his films isn’t for everyone. Nothing ever is. For me though, watching a Nolan film is an experience – especially his sci-fi/action epics. The films always feel next level. That ‘authentic feel’ combined with an epic and engaging story always sees me lose myself for the entire runtime.
If you break it all down, Nolan’s magic comes down to the way he uses a lot of classic components of storytelling and visual storytelling: pacing, structure, dialogue, editing, music (often delivered masterfully by Hans Zimmer). Everything works seamlessly together to bring Nolan’s vision to life. (But even as a big fan, I admit his dialogue audio could be clearer at times.)
As a writer purely doing novels these days, I don’t have access to all the avenues Nolan does. But creating an engrossing atmosphere that drowns out the harshness of the real world is absolutely something a book can achieve. I’ve read many of them myself! So, while I won’t have access to the great film director’s toolbox, I do know I can use my words to build an atmosphere that doubles down and really captures the audience’s attention. And that’s what I try to do.
Plot First, Characters Second
It’s often a debated point whether you should prioritise plot or character when telling a story. Without a doubt, both are important. However, one usually ends up being the primary driver, regardless of how much you try.
Character-driven stories are always focused on the emotions of character and how those drive them through the story. Plot-driven stories are more about the bigger picture and how the actions of characters and specific events ripple over time and lead to new events that characters must take action in.
Nolan is a storyteller who definitely prioritises the plot and concept before the characters. Again, it’s a personal taste thing. Those who value character-driven stories don’t always care for Nolan films. But I’ve always valued plot first. It’s the bigger picture and how all the events in a story fit together like a puzzle that I enjoy. Yes, characters still need to drive the story so those pieces come together. Character is still in crucial part in my stories, especially now that they’re novels. But I will always consider the plot and concept the more important aspect.
What I Love, But Maybe Don’t Use
I mentioned Nolan goes big on the practical FX and making things feel as real as possible. While I think this does a lot for his films, I wouldn’t have the restraint or grounding Nolan does for sticking with practical FX if I was turning my stories into films.
I do agree there’s something to be said about not relying so heavily on CGI. The best films are often that ones that blend practical FX and CGI together seamlessly. That said, Nolan has a tendency to go a bit too hard in the no-CGI direction. A good example of this is the Trinity test in Oppenheimer.
Nolan is also a master at taking a linear story and cutting it up to tell the story in a very non-linear fashion. He tends to do this extremely well and can make even the most mundane events in his stories intriguing and captivating. One of his best examples of messing with time would have to be one of his early pieces – Memento.
Again, as much as I love what Nolan does with time, it’s not something I wish to utilise too much in my own work. I love a strategic flashback here and there to help tie a story together and reveal information in the right moment. But overall, I prefer to keep things linear. I like to start where the story starts and finish where the story ends.
Well, that’s another one of my major inspirations down. One more to go…
Thanks for reading! What do you think of Christopher Nolan? Do you love him or loathe him? And whichever one it is, has he managed to inspire you and your storytelling in any way? Let’s chat in the comments below…
Til next time,
Dean
Space & Lasers 