Anti-Productivity: How'd They Film That Inception Hallway Scene, Anyway?

Topic started by Rorie on April 4, 2011. Last post by MetalGearSunny 1 year, 1 month ago.
Post by Rorie (3,214 posts) See mini bio
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There's a moment in Inception, and in its trailers, where Joseph Gordon-Levitt jumps from the wall of the rotating corridor to its floor, and you can see his feet scrambling for purchase and waiting for the corridor to move enough for him to actually be able to be able to walk. It's a tiny moment in what wound up being a very grand film, but the featurette above should provide a bit of background as to what precisely went into making that moment possible. I'm not sure of the source - I have a feeling it comes from the Blu-Ray, but I confess that I haven't dug that far into my copy of it to find out - but it's still pretty goddamn amazing how far a filmmaker will go, and how much money they'll spend, to get a little moment like that right. It would've been a lot cheaper with CGI, sure, but it wouldn't have been quite as cool.
Post by Oginam (20 posts) See mini bio
@Rorie It does indeed come from the extra commentary on the Blu-ray.
 
Essentially the Inception mode (or something like that) pulls away from the main movie at certain points for these 8-12 min. mini-docs about some of the cool stuff that happens.
Post by Xpgamer7 (324 posts) See mini bio
I'd like to think they did the same thing with giant buildings for the bending city scene. I know it used miniatures, but I'd like to imagine special effects guys finding more and more crazy ways to make movies. Maybe to the point where Michael Bay movies happen in tightly controlled safe areas, but happen in full scale.
Post by Anwar (58 posts) See mini bio
watching special features instead of this on yt :P
Post by DrPockets000 (381 posts) See mini bio
Thanks for posting this Rorie!
Post by Mr_skeleton (941 posts) See mini bio

This is pretty amazing.

Post by ScanCase (893 posts) See mini bio
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With the budgets of fully animated films does CGI really cost that much less than building practical effects? CGI has become a crutch instead of a viable way of creating an effect. Nolan seems to be one of the few directors out there that seems to realize this. If you want to have an emotional connection with the audience you have to do it for real. 
Post by TheFreeMan (894 posts) See mini bio
That is amazing.
 
And big props to JGL for actually doing that himself (cept for that one shot, wherever is may be). After all the different takes, he must have been sore as hell from all the falling and diving and stuff (even with padding, that must have been exhausting).
Post by skidd (2,082 posts) See mini bio
Woah, that's impressive stuff right there. I should really go through and watch all the extra stuff from my Blu Ray
Post by Funky_Pasta_Tommy (106 posts) See mini bio
Such a boss scene.
 
Big fan of Nolan, if only for his desire to film with something real over special effects as much as possible.
Post by Joe (1,514 posts) See mini bio
@ScanCase said:
" With the budgets of fully animated films does CGI really cost that much more than building practical effects? "
I don't think it's the cost aspect that was the main concern, but more that if you're doing something in real life then, obviously, it's going to look more real than doing it with CGI. Also, I'm sure it's much preferable for the actors to actually be taking part in the action rather than just playing it out in front of a green screen.
Post by ScanCase (893 posts) See mini bio
Moderator
@Joe: whoops worded that wrong. 
Post by Daveyo520 (87 posts) See mini bio
YAY! A video I showed Matt made it into one of these. I am wicked happy :D
Post by Rorie (3,214 posts) See mini bio
Staff
@Daveyo520: Whoops, meant to say who it was from! Thanks again for the link!
Post by AlwaysBeClothing (289 posts) See mini bio
Intriguing ten minutes, the reality behind the engineering is equally as mind blowing.
Post by Deathmachine117 (53 posts) See mini bio
Christopher Nolan truly is a gentleman.
Post by Daveyo520 (87 posts) See mini bio
@Rorie: Oh you don't have to I don't mind. It is just neat that you put it on the site :)
Post by cooljammer00 (326 posts) See mini bio
I think clips of this was what was shown during the Oscar nom montage for best effects that Inception won.  It was the only non CGI one shown (all the other noms showed people drawing effects over scenes)
Post by MisterMouse (477 posts) See mini bio
Awesome I have been waiting to see how they did that! I read some information about how they did it, but I have wanted to see it with my own eyes!!! Awesome portion of the movie!
Post by MooseyMcMan (113 posts) See mini bio
That's pretty incredible. My respect for Nolan and crew (which was already pretty high) has increased. 
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578 votes, 4.7 avg.

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General Information Edit
Name Inception
US Release July 16, 2010
UK Release July 16, 2010
AUS Release July 22, 2010
Runtime 148
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Rating PG-13
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The Screening Room Films a list of 27 items by mracoon
Movies I've Seen Since Screened.com Launched a list of 130 items by Rorie
Screened Community Best of 2010 a list of 25 items by Badfilms
  • In today's dollars
    Domestic $292,576,195
    Foreign +532,956,569
  • = total worldwide gross $825,532,764
  • - a reported budget of $160,000,000
  • = a 416.0% net profit of $665,532,764
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