Tag Archives: Inception

Batman goes mental in amazing fan video, The Batman Complex

Posted on April 28, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 2 comments

When you come across fan-made videos, whether they are trailers to a film they’d love to see or short film musings on an aspect of a beloved character, they’re at best entertaining. The fan-trailer for The Batman Complex however, goes beyond casual amusement and straight into, “Why haven’t they already made this?!” Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Filmmaking, News

Tagged Batman, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Dreams, Inception, Psychology

Christopher Nolan filmography montage in “Nolanography”

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Aaron Faulkner | 1 comment

Mash-up videos, montages, compilations, etc. are easy to come by on YouTube but every once in a while there comes along such a video that has been done so well it deserves a little more spotlight than the others. DJC Productions put together a video compilation highlighting the career of Christopher Nolan.

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Posted in News

Tagged Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan, Inception, Insomnia, Memento, The Dark Knight, The Prestige

Awards Show Rewind: The Oscars

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Aaron Faulkner | Leave a comment

After a long night of laughs, cries, spectacle, and surprises, the Oscars have come and gone once again. Who walked away with the gold and who left empty handed? The Oscars went to…

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Christopher Nolan Wins Big and More ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ News

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Aaron Faulkner | Leave a comment

We brought you an update on The Dark Knight Rises last week; now we have a bit more speculation, some new information, and a congratulations.

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The Filmsmith’s Best of 2010

Posted on January 30, 2011 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

One first reaction to a “Best of” list toward the end of January 2011 might be confusion: “Why didn’t you write this up at the end of the year like everyone else?” The major reason is that quite a few notable films of the year didn’t become available until recently. I had to take a trip to Chicago to see several of these titles, some of which my colleagues still have yet to see.

Now that The Filmsmith is a publication with voices beyond my own, we decided to each draw up our Top Tens of 2010 and wherever there was crossover, lump those together. Therefore, this is The Filmsmith’s Best of 2010 (individual staff lists will be released tomorrow). Continue reading →

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Posted in Lists, News, Reviews

Tagged Best of 2010, Black Swan, Exit Through the Gift Shop, I'm Still Here, Inception, The American, The Fighter, The Social network

Inception making-of featurette details hallway special effects

Posted on December 14, 2010 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

The hallway scene from Inception was originally explained by The Filmsmith back in February 2010. With the release of Inception on DVD last week, the following making-of feature has made it to youtube, further detailing our original explanation. For special effects geeks (myself included), it’s quite interesting to see the full mechanics required to rotate the hallway and the struggle to choreograph the fights inside the turning tunnel:

It’s nothing short of amazing the lengths to which they went to avoid using CGI – and it looks all the better for it.

Too Much Info? Trailers, Film Critics, and Twists

Posted on November 30, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

During the lead up to Inception‘s release this summer, the question of what counts as spoilers became a hot topic. So how much should filmmakers share with prospective audiences without ruining the filmgoing experience? Continue reading →

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Posted in Articles

Tagged Film Critics, Film Experience, Fright Night, Inception, Spoiler Alert, Trailers, Twist

How they shot Inception’s hallway scene without CGI

Posted on July 19, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

Back in February I had a chance to talk with one of the crew members from Inception. Turns out that hallway fight scene was not CGI, they did that for real:

However, more interesting were his comments on Christopher Nolan (a bit chaotic in his shooting style), since he worked with him on Inception and The Dark Knight. He showed me a video of the rig they used for a hallway scene in the film, which was larger than a semi-truck’s trailer, that completely rotated. He went on to explain that they rubberized everything inside and painted it so the actors inside could roll around and fight. They also locked down a camera inside the hallway and used a camera crane that could go inside the moving rig. Evidently I’m one of the only guys outside of the film industry to see his little cell phone video of this rig.

Click here for the original post.

1 Comment

Posted in News

Tagged CGI, Christopher Nolan, Fight Scene, Hallway, Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Practical effects

Answer to the ending of “Inception”

Posted on July 19, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 15 comments

SPOILER ALERT!

A good chunk of us who have just seen Inception have started debating over whether Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Cobb is still stuck in the dream world. The film’s final shot is his totem spinning on the table and before we see if it topples (a sign of being in the real world), it cuts to black.

Throughout the film we regularly see flashes of Cobb’s children as he remembers them right before he goes on the run. His young daughter appears in a light red dress and his son in some plaid shirt. Now, if we are to apply the A Beautiful Mind theorem, we might be able to deduce whether Cobb is awake or dreaming.

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15 Comments

Posted in Articles

Tagged A Beautiful Mind, Christopher Nolan, Ending, Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine

“Inception” is one of the most cerebral, kick-ass, poignant blockbusters you will ever see. Period.

Posted on July 19, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 8 comments

The main maxim of big budget Hollywood filmmaking is “Make it Safe.” Don’t stray from basic storytelling tropes and structures, and don’t be too smart in case you go over the audience’s head. In the end, you want to ensure that you will get a return on your investment. Thus, the prospect of losing hundreds of millions of dollars makes a lot of mainstream films ride along in the mediocrity lane of the film freeway. Continue reading →