Christopher Nolan and Casino Royal: Research and Analysis

Media Studies Summer Assignment

Christopher Nolan

He was born in London on the 30th of July 1970. Nolan began making films at age seven, borrowing his father's Super 8 camera and shooting short films with his action figures. From the age of 11, he aspired to be a professional filmmaker.
Nolan was educated at Hailey bury and Imperial Service College, an independent school in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire and later read English literature at University College London. He chose UCL specifically for its filmmaking facilities.
Now he is an English-American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He created several of the most successful films of the early 21st century. His eight films have grossed over $3.5 billion worldwide. He is known for bridging the gap between art house and blockbuster films by presenting audiences with intelligent, challenging narratives.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film, starring Christian Bale, the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Christopher Nolan co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan. When Christopher Nolan completed “Batman Begins” in 2005, he had no plans for a sequel, let alone a trilogy. But seven years later, with The Dark Knight Rises, he has not only completed a cycle of the films that has built in intensity but also redefined what superhero movies can be while also grossing nearly $2.5 billion worldwide. And so this final film is Nolan’s conclusion of his trilogy on “Batman”

Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the series of The Dark Knight Returns, and the storyline of "No Man's Land". Filming took place in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh. One of the things that make Nolan’s Batman movies so compelling is their tone of plausibility. He will often prefer a raw, grittier design over one that is very sleek and product design great.

Nolan was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award, Writers Guild of America Award and Producers Guild of America Award. This film also received eight Academy Award nominations.

Inception

Inception is a 2010 science fiction heist film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. Nolan combined elements from several different film genres into the film, notably science fiction, heist film, and film noir. In Inception, Nolan wanted to explore the idea of people sharing a dream space that gives you the ability to access somebody's unconscious mind. The majority of the film's plot takes place in these interconnected dream worlds. This structure creates a framework where actions in the real or dream worlds are connected to each other. The dream is always in a state of production, and shifts across the levels as the characters navigate it. Inception is similar to the film “Matrix” where it is based on a dream world.

The visual effects used for dream sequences in Inception is done by a computer-generated imagery. Nolan wanted practical effects whenever possible so using computer graphics can enhance the movie by making it look realistic and also eye catching. The most challenging visual effect work was the limbo city level at the end of the film because it continually developed during production.

The Prestige

The Prestige is a 2006 drama film, from a screenplay adapted by Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan from Christopher Priest's 1995 World Fantasy Award-winning novel of the same name “The Prestige”. The story follows with two men, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19th century. They are obsessed with creating the best stage illusion, they engage in a very competitive state with tragic results. The rivalry between Borden and Angier dominates the whole film. The obsession, secrecy, and the sacrifice made it more exciting when they compete ad show off their stage illusions, as both magicians contribute their fair share to a deadly duel of one-upmanship, with disastrous results.

The Prestige received generally favourable reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 76% of critics gave the film positive reviews. At Metacritic, the film received an average score of 66, based on 36 reviews. On IMDB the movie got an 8.5/10.

Casino Royal

Narrative

The opening of the movie started off with the main character, who is a spy, hunting down two men and eliminating them. The opening dialogue tells us that there may be corruption in the government and it gives the audience a vague insight into the story of the film, that is about to unravel.

Title sequence

The title sequence of the film relates to the movie tile “Casino.” This is shown by having card suites dominantly themed in the title sequence. The title sequence is mainly animated which makes it interesting to viewers as it is stands known that the title sequence in Bond movies are relatively long. It has up-beat music to make it go along with the movements of the title sequence and the actions to fit the movie’s action/thriller genre. The colour of credits of the sequence is white to make it stand out of the background and animation. The names are all capitalised and are in bold fonts so it out more from their titles.

Characterisation

Casino Royale is Daniel Craig’s first ever Bond movie. His role is James Bond, before he rejected the offer but he changed his mind when he read the script and became interested in making the movie.

James Bond and the other character at the beginning of the open sequence wore suits and this makes it a serious and tense scene because the lighting is dark and their facial expressions looks serious. Also it has slow and short dialogue which shows the intensity of the scene.

The scene also has flashback where James Bond is fighting in the toilet. The scene consisted with fast cut shot changes to make it an intense scene and relate to its genre. Both scenes consisted with weaponry, a male based prop, which makes this film appeal to male audiences.

Cinematography

In terms of cinematography there is a large range of shots. There is an establishing shot of the building where the action is about to take place to indicate to the audience where the characters are to make the narrative easier to understand and follow. There are lots of close-ups on all the characters faces but mostly James and the man wearing the suit. The close-ups are to show their emotions as they are clearly in a confrontation and the close-ups can give the audience an insight into what the characters are thinking or feeling at that time.

There are low angle and high angle shots used. The angle shots are used to show who has a higher status or has more authority to the other character. Similarly, over the shoulder shot was used to show power and also it shows the audience what the character is seeing.

Sound and Lighting

In the first scene of Casino Royale, the director used contrast colour which is black and white with dull lighting. This may represent the past or show it’s a flashback which builds up the narrative for the audience. There is also a contrast on the lighting on the fight scene where it is brightly lightened. This shows the difference of scene, the first one was mysterious with dialogue and the fight scene was more about action without any dialogue.

The music used in the first scene is slow and quiet which creates that suspense and mysterious mood. The fight scene on the other hand has a fast pace and louder music to make it more dramatic and action based theme.

Themes

Crime fighter and villain relates to the genre because the opening scene shows the main character in the scene to track down two men that he has to kill to do his job.

Victim and perpetrator villain relates to the genre because there are acts violence like fight scene and shooting the wearing the suit. These themes are mostly known by the audience as it is an action film.

Values and principle, and criminal opportunism relates to the genre because from the opening the audience see that James has the values and principle to find where is opponents weapon was hidden so he could defeat him without himself getting harmed. An example for criminal opportunism is when the audience see the fight scene, the criminal fought for his opportunity to not be killed.
St Peters RC Comprehensive by Ryan Navarro and Darwin Serrano