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While we use movies as an escape from reality, 3D films take this escapism into a whole new dimension, quite literally. Thanks to 3D technology, filmmakers have the freedom to give their audience an immersive experience and bring them into their fictional world. While directors like Martin Scorsese praise this advancement, Christopher Nolan challenges the view and admits that 3D filmmaking is simply not up his alley.
Christopher Nolan | Credits: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsKnown for making films that are larger than life, Christopher Nolan has made it clear that he is not interested in making films for the 3D world, at least not anytime soon. Maybe when things change for the better in the future regarding 3D filmmaking, Christopher Nolan might give it a go.
Christopher Nolan says no to 3D filmmaking
Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) | Credits: Warner Bros. PicturesAs someone who thrives on grandeur, Christopher Nolan makes it clear that 3D filmmaking is not for him. Whether it’s the epic scale of Interstellar or the mind-bending landscapes of Inception, Nolan doesn’t do anything small or intimate, which is basically what 3D films are.
In an old interview, courtesy of Collider, Nolan was asked about the probability of him being interested in 3D filmmaking. Right off the bat, his answer was a negative. For starters, he is definitely not a fan of the goofy glasses you have to wear.
He stated,
Well, I’ve never been particularly interested in 3D filmmaking, mainly because you have to wear those goofy glasses.
He then went on to list the disadvantages of 3D, at least as far as his filmmaking style is concerned.
There are a lot of disadvantages with 3D because of the polarization of the lenses and the glasses, there’s very little light that actually comes to the eyes. It’s a very dim image, compared with 2D presentations. The grand scale of the cinema screen, the IMAX screen particularly, when viewed in 3D, becomes much more intimate.
Of course, Nolan’s much more interested in creating larger-than-life projects. For him, that is cinema.
I think that my interest in cinema, to this point at least, has been in creating something that is larger than life and that speaks of a certain grandeur. 3D is a very intimate thing, and so it’s not so much an audience experience as an individual experience.
However, he didn’t put off the idea completely. Nolan admitted that as technology progresses with time and more advancements are made in the field, it might catch his attention.
Martin Scorsese would beg to differ
Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011) | Credits: Paramount PicturesWhile Nolan runs far away from 3D, filmmaker Martin Scorsese sees the potential in it. Talking to The Guardian, he once stated that he has always liked the concept of 3D and doesn’t see why films shouldn’t take advantage of this medium.
In his own words, “I’ve always liked 3D. I mean, we’re sitting here in 3D. We are in 3D. We see in 3D. So why not?“
For him, 3D filmmaking is the reinvention of cinema, and compares it to a Rubik’s Cube when it comes to creating immersive shots. He even calls it liberating.
Every shot is rethinking cinema… rethinking narrative – how to tell a story with a picture. Now, I’m not saying we have to keep throwing javelins at the camera, I’m not saying we use it as a gimmick, but it’s liberating. It’s literally a Rubik’s Cube every time you go out to design a shot, and work out a camera move, or a crane move. But it has a beauty to it also. People look like… like moving statues. They move like sculpture, as if sculpture is moving in a way. Like dancers…
What a beautiful way to describe it! Scorsese has also made a film specifically for 3D, his 2011 adventure drama, Hugo. The film made $180 million at the box office (via The Numbers) and was heavily praised by critics.
Hugo is available to watch on Showtime (via Paramount+).
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