“Inception” Nolan’s masterpiece that deepens the “fictional reality” without relying on CG

Pursuit of “realism” never seen before

For example, in a dream, Arthur creates the ``Penrose Staircase'' and explains it to Ariadne. Penrose's staircase is a staircase that is connected in a rectangular manner like a corridor and appears to be able to ascend (or descend) forever, but it is a trompe l'oeil that can only be expressed in two dimensions, and is an impossible task that cannot be created in a three-dimensional world. It's a shape. For this scene, we created a set of stairs with one corner cut off, and by precisely controlling the camera angle, we gave the audience the illusion that they were connected.

"Inception" Penrose Staircase

Or, in the first layer's dream, during a car chase in Los Angeles, a freight train suddenly appears on the road and knocks the car away. In this photo shoot, a train engine was attached to the undercarriage of a trailer, and the outside was covered with fiberglass molded from a real train, allowing the train to actually run on the road.

As shown in the examples above, in order to visualize things that would never happen in reality or that do not exist, Nolan and the production team used various ingenuity in the sets, props, props, and camera work. Photographed. Of course, this does not mean that CG is not used at all, but it is limited to visual effects that support the live-action footage. Thanks to Nolan's commitment to this, he was able to create a unique and innovative spectacle that had never been seen in previous films, yet at the same time, he was able to achieve a reality that felt like it was ``actually happening'' before our eyes.

Text: Ikuya Takamori

Freelance writer, English-Japanese translator. Mainly contributes movie reviews and columns to web media, and translates news articles. The translated book is ``Science of Star Wars--Thorough verification! From the true nature of the Force to intergalactic travel” (written by Mark Blake and John Chase, published by Kagaku Doujin) and others.

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"Inception"

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