Film Director - Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" (Loneliness)

Film direction and cinematography in Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” (2014).

The film “Interstellar” portrays the loneliness of the world and the feeling of separation from loved ones. While the film is centred on the theme of exploration, it’s portrayal of utter loneliness is inseparable as the two themes heavily connects with each other.

Nolan’s portrayal of loneliness comes from the idea where humans are natural born explorers and must venture outwards to seek and break boundaries, however the consequences of doing so results with the suffering of loneliness in the unknown.

Interstellar Saturn scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITwYEIY2FlE

(1a)

(1b)

(1c)

(1d)

Still scenes from the film where negative space contributes to the essence of loneliness and utter isolation.

Nolan’s perception of loneliness in directing some of the narrative sequences involves negative space and the scaling of subjects as key elements to depict the theme of isolation and the sadness of feeling being away from loved ones and from home. The direction of cinematography is similar to that of photography where negative space can subtly convey the sense of being emotionally isolated from everyone around you.

I had made some experiments where I deconstruct the playfulness on the way Christopher Nolan compose/direct some of the scenes in terms of object placement and camera movement in visual storytelling.

An attempt to alter the cinematography of Nolan’s film by adjusting and cropping some of the still images from sequences in the film where negative space is heavily used in the portrayal of loneliness. I had applied the rule of thirds on each images to help rearrange the space and object placement within the film/camera frame, which are critical to create the immersion of isolation in visual narrative.

Experiments using various subject matters and methods (digital painting) to create the sense of loneliness in combination of composition (photography) to visually communicate the sense of feeling emotionally isolated from civilisation. Continued using the idea of scope and scale from the first set of experiments, I played around with colours as the main focus to communicate emotions, which can visually speak a particular emotion on its own, i.e. blue and green representing sadness, red and yellow representing playfulness, passion or energetic. The subject matters doesn’t necessarily have to be humans and I had chosen some objects that somewhat connects with emotion, such as the kite, which represents the freedom it would give a person and to leave all the problems behind (the loneliness, depression, etc.)  And the tree, which represents the solitary feeling (also referring to the actual solitary trees that grows on its own in the middle of nowhere).

From these experiments, choosing colours can be difficult as it could limit the expression I wanted to convey, as the emotion is mostly isolation which only the colours of blue or green can relate to closely. Warm colours kind of contradicts that representation loneliness and it doesn’t seem to work overall. 

My conclusion piece to the context of Loneliness in the film “Interstellar” directed by Christopher Nolan. The experiment is to reflect the emotional state of loneliness with the universe, where we are nothing but stardust in infinite space, essentially implying that we are all forever alone as one. The sleeping figure is to symbolise the slumber that has an effect on those who have loneliness, floating in the void who wants to shut themselves out from society and wants to avoid contact. The stars in the surrounding darkness in space are to symbolise the hope and dreams that there will be a day to break free from that loneliness that we are seeking, on our journey to find love and happiness that we have longed for after suffering from the feeling of isolation. 

References

(1a) Nolan, 2014

(1b) Nolan, 2014

(1c) Nolan, 2014

(1d) Nolan, 2014

Bibliography

Interstellar Saturn. March 2015 [Online] [Accessed: 27^th Dec 2016] Video available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITwYEIY2FlE

Interstellar, 2014. Film. Directed by Christopher NOLAN. USA: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Legendary Entertainment, Syncopy, Lynda Obst Productions.