It’s a carefully choreographed composition of wide shots, with lots of angles that let the characters create the action and the editing create the speed and chaos. Pfister’s camera is rarely stationary for action, yet it isn’t running around handheld and out of control either. These films helped Pfister define his own action sensibilities and develop a methodology for creating action-scene chaos while capturing and controlling it in-camera. The wide-angle lenses help give scope and grandeur to his characters and allow Pfister much more range of motion as he follows everything from back-and-forth conversations to hard-hitting fight sequences.īefore establishing himself as Nolan’s go-to collaborator, Pfister partnered up with director Gregory Dark, who’s best known for a long string of b-movie action-thrillers which Pfister shot at a rapid pace in the early 1990s. You can certainly see this in all of his Nolan collaborations with the intricate sets for the city of Gotham, as well as in the duo’s fondness for aerial establishing shots and even aerial action sequences. This helps him establish vast, often exotic settings, as well as build complex, highly designed worlds that immediately draw audiences in. Pfister’s advice - “focus on the center” - is the key element to his big cinematography mindset, as both the IMAX action sequences and the anamorphic drama hinge on directing the viewer’s focus in a way that enables them to follow the story.Īnother of Pfister’s compositional calling cards - going wide angle early and often. How do you create and, maybe more importantly, hide the transitions between standard anamorphic and giant 4:3 IMAX? How do you first perceive and then maintain your audience’s attention as you switch between formats? Not only does he shoot big set pieces that fill the frame with action and scope, he’s often shooting for the biggest of screens, bouncing between anamorphic and IMAX scene by scene.Īs heard in the interview above, this presents a few challenges. Looking across his accomplishments, one trend quickly stands out - Pfister’s projects are big. Let’s take a look at what makes a Wally Pfister film a Wally Pfister film, and see what lessons his work has to offer anyone who aspires to use cinematography as a means to capture chaos and create worlds.įocus on the Center with Anamorphic and IMAXīeyond his collaborations with Nolan, Pfister’s body of work includes well-known films like The Italian Job, Moneyball, and his lone film direction credit, Transcendence(2014). His high-brow high concepts and visceral action sequences are rooted in the hustle of documentary filmmaking and the grind of working hands-on as a humble camera man. Nonetheless, Pfister’s cinematography, while certainly at home in mega-budget blockbusters, is also quite personal and audience-focused. These collaborations read more like a “best of” than a resume: Memento, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Insomnia, Inception, and The Prestige.įor many, Pfister is synonymous with giant anamorphic and IMAX spectacles and vast wides that build worlds in a single breathtaking frame. The two have combined forces on seven movies (so far), and it’s frankly awe-inspiring to see the films listed together. To talk about acclaimed cinematographer Wally Pfister is to talk about his long-running creative partnership with director Christopher Nolan. Let’s break down the high-concept, blockbuster cinematography of Academy Award winner Wally Pfister.

Wally pfister