Dunkirk: A war movie? Or is it a suspense thriller in film history?

Christopher Nolan once talked about his relationship with Hans Zimmer, an "imperial" music composer-

We love each other very much. Although we often fight as hard as cats and dogs, fortunately, the result is very creative. We love each other and kill each other like brothers.

In Dunkirk, this pair of "brothers" once again achieved the most wonderful cooperation in film history.

When I first painted Dunkirk, I had this feeling:

I feel that I am involuntarily pushed into a powerful whirlpool. On the one hand, I was fidgeting and trying to escape from my seat.

On the other hand, he was firmly pressed in his seat, and his mood became more and more tense and excited, and he couldn't stop.

In the real, gloomy, indifferent, horrible and mechanical war scene, with the increasing audio-visual oppression, I experienced the feeling of mutually assured destruction with the characters in the film.

So, why do I say that Dunkirk is destined to be a suspense thriller movie with a shadow history?

Today, I will talk to you in detail from the visual principle and auditory effect of the film! The content of the article is relatively long. I hope everyone will forward it, collect it and read it carefully.

Let me talk about vision first.

The color is dark and cold, and the composition is full of various inclinations and acute angles, conveying the meaning of danger.

Soldiers on the beach in Dunkirk seldom speak, and they silently wait for the fate of being slaughtered.

Rescue forces at sea and pilots in the air face death in their tiny Fiona Fang.

Nolan's goal is clear.

Put the audience in a subjective position and make them feel that they are running for their lives along the beach in Dunkirk, fighting against enemy planes in a Spitfire fighter or fighting against enemy planes in a boat in the English Channel.

To be exact, we were not "thrown" into the battlefield by Nolan, but "pressed" into it.

Every second of Dunkirk is full of unknowns and dangers, extremely painful and full of joy.

Pressure, oppression, overwhelming, this is the movie-watching experience brought by Dunkirk.

Then there is a problem here:

How to create reality?

Dunkirk's movie-watching experience is based on a simple philosophy of "simplifying the complex, eliminating the false and preserving the true".

First, Nolan tried to get rid of those "common elements of war movies"—

No battle meetings, no mobilization speeches, no Hitler and Churchill, no pre-war gossip, no pictures of cannon fodder shows, no heroes, no enemy troops and even no blood.

All the dramatic melodrama has been screened out, leaving only the war itself and letting the picture speak for itself.

Then, under the principle of IMAX lens and insisting on not using CG, even if there is no 3D effect rejected by Nolan, everything is still within reach.

No CG special effects means that the beach must be real, the trestle must be real, the ship must be real, the plane must be real, and the explosion must be real.

Nolan said—

I don't want anything pure CG. I can proudly say that this is the first time I have finished making a movie, but I can't remember where the special effects were used.

Nolan has used IMAX film and 35 mm film many times before, and for Dunkirk, he went one step further-

All shot with large size 65mm film!

70% is IMAX film-no one has ever done this!

"We made the highest resolution film ever." Nolan once again proudly declared.

65 mm film, what is it? I have to explain to you here,

The photosensitive area of 65mm IMAX film is three times that of ordinary 65mm film and 10 times that of 35mm film.

This means that the image definition is multiplied.

Nolan once said in an interview-

I like IMAX because it has the ultimate resolution and color reproduction, as well as incredible details. Its large format is naturally suitable for shooting scenes of thousands of people, but it is equally excellent in presenting small details.

With bigger and clearer, the next step is the third step! ——

You have to look closer!

It is very important for the camera to be as close as possible to the subject. It's like looking at the world through an unfiltered window. We must make full use of the clarity of the film.

Therefore, he and Nolan are always eager to "put the camera in the most difficult position" and make the obtained picture "first-hand, heartfelt and real reality".

These things may be easy to say, but they are too difficult to do. Besides, IMAX cameras are much heavier than ordinary cameras.

Van Huo Yite Ma also said in the interview-

In many ways, this is the most challenging film I have ever made. I'm afraid only a paranoid like Nolan is willing to go to great trouble for this!

Of course, without paranoia, he is not Nolan. ...

As a result, they put the camera on the boat, soaked it in the sea, stuffed it into the plane and even put it on the wing. ...

Next, I will explain how those realistic shots were made according to the three story lines of a week on land, a day at sea and an hour in the air in the movie.

A week on land

Dunkirk contains some impressive close-ups and people's close-ups, so close that you can hear the soldiers breathing.

Usually IMAX camera is mainly used to shoot shocking scenes, and few people use it to take close-ups.

However, Van Huo Yite Ma believes that the impact of close-ups is not inferior to that of panoramic views. IMAX can show more details and establish a personal connection between the audience and the characters.

We need to create a sense of existence, just like GoPro wearing a lens.

Nolan has to do it himself even if he "distributes leaflets".

Several highlights were shot in Dunkirk. Van Huo Yite Ma thinks that the endless beach here is grand enough, and he has no intention of destroying its unique atmosphere.

Therefore, the presence of the camera should be as weak as possible, avoiding the use of large derrick equipment, and only pushing and pulling the lens by rail car.

The weather in Dunkirk is changeable. From the beginning, Van Huo Yite Ma decided not to "disturb" this natural light as much as possible, in order to capture "the real texture of every moment".

A day at sea

Although there is no real "naval battle" in Dunkirk, the shooting scale of its naval battle scene is probably the largest in the film history, with dozens of old ships from World War II, including a French destroyer pulled out of the museum.

The "Moon Stone" in the film was transformed from an antique yacht 1939 bought by the crew.

When shooting on water, the biggest problem is how to keep the camera stable.

To this end, they prepared a large catamaran and moved Nolan's unique magic weapon for many years-the special derrick "Edge" to the ship.

This set of equipment is equipped with gyro stabilization system, which can be controlled remotely, and can be used for underwater shooting.

In order to shoot in the water, the IMAX camera was put in a waterproof cover. But the camera once sank to the bottom of the sea with the model airplane, but there was still a hole in the cover.

Nolan thought of a way-develop the film with water in the darkroom, keep it moist, and then send it directly to the laboratory in Los Angeles.

In the end, although the IMAX camera with a value of10 million dollars was scrapped, the film was intact and used in movies. Nolan joked about this: "If this were a digital camera, would you try it?"

The explosion and shipwreck scenes in the film are also completed in giant water tanks.

A retired Dutch coastal frigate was transformed into a minesweeper and transported to Warner's giant water tank to photograph the sunken ship.

One hour in the air

The principle of shooting real air combat—

We must put an end to any dramatic elements that violate the laws of physics.

Dunkirk's World War II planes are genuine antiques.

The battle in the sky is also completed by real pilots, and most of the shots are taken synchronously in the air.

Because each roll of IMAX film is only enough for three and a half minutes, the plane can only take off and land frequently.

Van Huo Yite Ma really boarded the plane with the director and filmed a wonderful air battle at close range-"My childhood dream came true."

Most of the pilot's shots in the cockpit were taken with the help of this rotatable device.

The "engine room" stands on the cliff by the sea, so that the background is pure sea and sky. When the "engine room" rotates, it can simulate the effect of aircraft hovering.

Speaking of vision, let's talk about hearing.

Sheppard sound is the basic principle of Dunkirk's listening.

What's the Sheppard sound?

Sheppard's mode is that when several octaves are played one after another, if the bass part is gradually enhanced, the treble part will gradually disappear, because the high and low tones overlap,

The average person's brain can't feel this falling tone, so it will have the illusion that the tone is rising continuously.

This tone is named after American cognitive scientist Roger Newland Shepard. He is known as the father of the study of spatial relations, and Sheppard's Tune is one of his research achievements.

When Nolan discussed the score of Dunkirk with Hans Zimmer, he used the concept of "Sheppard sound" to explain how he created it.

I hope to find a similar soundtrack tone to match the growing suspense tension in the story.

Nolan found inspiration in one of his pocket watches.

Nolan said—

Its needle movement has a special continuous ticking sound, so I recorded the sound of needle movement and sent it to Hans to start his work as a template.

Nolan and Hans gradually developed the music and sound effect style of the whole film, including the final editing and shaping of the film.

However, due to the complicated process, Nolan smiled and said, "Hans and his people cursed me in the studio."

Hans Zimmer also "complained" that-

Dunkirk belongs to Nolan completely, and this film belongs to him alone. He hasn't played a note, but I feel that he is holding my hand to complete almost every note.

Pure is Nolan's earliest musical requirement for Zimmer.

To achieve this requirement, you can't bring any emotions into music.

Dunkirk's track styles can be basically divided into three categories-

The first category, thriller depression and action oppression and tension, these two simple and repetitive melodies basically "occupy" the whole movie.

Starting with moles, most of them basically belong to this category.

The first half of Suparmarine and Home uses fighter propeller sound effects, which belongs to the second category.

In order to meet Nolan's requirements, Zimmer even added the engine sound of Moonstone to the soundtrack.

Zimmer said that when composing music, it is very important to try to forget all the war movies you have seen-

Dunkirk is more about time, and time waits for no one. As for me, I tried to make myself feel that those soldiers would never leave the beach of death.

In music, Zimmer used cello and double bass extensively. He asked the players to play quietly and steadily, but to maintain a great performance intensity.

The third category is only a short moment in the middle of the film (British people arrive in Dunkirk by rescue boats in droves) and the end of the film.

One of the songs is in this rare relief, which sets off the most beautiful and even sacred paragraphs in the film.

Adapted from the ninth adagio "nimrod" in the classic orchestral variation "Riddle" by the famous British composer edward elgar.

Composed by Benjamin Wallfisch, a young British composer, and produced by Hans Zimmer.

Nolan admits that Lu Ning was adapted and used to create emotion.

Nolan in life will take cello lessons, which is said to be for relaxation.

Besides, at Nolan's father's funeral a few years ago, "Lu Ning" was live music.

Nolan believes that this piece of music has an irresistible charm.

In Hans Zimmer's view, Lu Ning is already a part of British culture and an emotional hymn of the people.

"It is either to show off, to be heroic or to be noble."

By carefully studying the audio-visual experience of Dunkirk during this period,

In my opinion,

No Nolan film relies so much on the combination of photography and music as Dunkirk.

No Nolan film relies so much on the vividness of the picture as Dunkirk.

No Nolan film highlights the role of music like Dunkirk.

Dunkirk retreat is one of the suspense stories in history.

Dunkirk is also a film about suspense, time and humanity.

This time, Nolan got his wish, and finished a classic suspense thriller movie that is famous in history.