News culture “No risk of him getting distracted” Christopher Nolan imposes very strict working conditions on himself… and does not use the Internet when he writes his scripts
Published on 06/25/2024 at 10:25 p.m.
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Although he has created some of the most cult and spectacular films in cinema, some of which feature unparalleled high-tech universes, Christopher Nolan nevertheless has a technique of his own during his writing sessions: no Internet.
Luddite
Without doubt one of the most popular filmmakers of our time, Christopher Nolan has had a profound impact on the 7th art with titles like Inception, The Prestige and Interstellar. And if he manages, as in the latter, to depict complex technological environments, the director nevertheless limits any high-tech aspect in his everyday life as much as possible. Nolan, for example, does not use a smartphone and does not have an email address either.to the great dismay of its production teams.
I’m easily distracted, so I don’t really want to go online every time I’m bored. My personal choice depends on my involvement. This is the level of distraction. If I’m writing my own scripts, sitting on a smartphone all day wouldn’t do me much good. – Christopher Nolan (People)
Nolan describes himself as a Luddite, the name given to British workers who protested against the mechanization of the textile industry during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. Today, the term “Luddism” is sometimes used to refer to those who oppose or criticize new technologies.
Cut off from all distractions
This technological break therefore greatly disrupts the production logistics of the filmmaker’s feature films, as when the latter prefers to give his scripts to actors in person, rather than transmit them digitally. He notably went to Ireland to hand-deliver Oppenheimer’s script to Cillian Murphy, waiting by his side for him to finish reading it.
Similarly, the filmmaker uses two computers, one entirely dedicated to his research, while the other, entirely dedicated to his scripts, is completely disconnected from any network. He does this to avoid hacking on the one hand, but above all to avoid any distraction! “He doesn’t use the internet on the computer he’s writing scripts on, so there’s no risk of him getting distracted. To me, it’s just the mindset of an extremely rigorous work ethic.” comments his wife, Emma Thomas.
