Christopher Nolan’s Inception

Before Class

Readings

Nolan, C. (Producer & Director). (2010). Inception [Motion picture]. USA, UK: Warner Bros. Available for rental at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047WJ12K. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047WJ12K

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a mixed-genre narrative: a science fiction, heist, action, and thriller film that tells the story of a covert group of “extractors,” people who can infiltrate someone’s dreams in order to steal information from their subconscious mind. The film’s plot is labyrinthine and complex, so pay close attention to the story as the characters navigate various levels of dream states. In addition, analyze the director’s use of music, visual effects, sound, and dialogue to both create a narrative and to explore the concepts of reality, dreaming, the subconscious, and free choice.

McClean, Shilo T. (2007). Trick or treat: a framework for the narrative uses of digital visual effects in film. In Digital Storytelling : The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press. Retrieved from https://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=perma-x-23758bce-efb3-11e5-9618-22000b61898b

McClean’s book, Digital Storytelling, analyses the way visual effects help create narrative in film. His investigation relates directly to our Big Question as he explores how advancements in digital effects allow filmmakers to tell different stories, or to tell stories differently. This chapter describes eight categories of effects usage and how each helps convey story and theme. As you read, consider which categories Inception employs and to what effect. (Note: You may skip the last section, “New Traditionalist and HyperRealist,” which starts on page 98 and goes through page 101, as this section deals only with animation and does not bear on our current lesson. Pick up again with the (unlabeled) conclusion on page 102.)

Wingstedt, J., Brӓndstrӧm, S., & Berg, J. (2010). Narrative music, visuals and meaning in film. Visual Communication. 9(2), 193-210. Retrieved from https://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=perma-x-1b382814-efb1-11e5-9618-22000b61898b

This paper discusses narrative media music, which is music “used for narrative purposes in film, television, and computer games” (p. 194). The authors focus specifically on how music and visual images combine to produce meaning; they argue that the combination of music and visuals creates “conceptual resonance,” where “music will affect how we see things, [and] the visuals will also determine how we hear the music” (p. 194). In order to fully understand the argument, before you read, watch the following two short clips that the authors analyze in detail in the paper.