Feature: Inception

Brainy blockbuster Inception – director Chris Nolan’s follow-up to the hugely successful The Dark Knight – has had people talking around the world.

Talking about the “mind-boggling” plot, the characters, the locations and of course the phenomenal visual effects.

Visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin, of London-based company Double Negative, says the effects were never meant to take over the feature, which took $7.3 million in its opening weekend at the Aussie box office. “All of the shots do what they're supposed to which is to support and enhance the narrative without ever upstaging the drama,” Franklin tells INSIDEFILM from London.

In total there were 560 VFX shots – of which 500 ended up in the finished movie; in total that amounted to about 30 minutes of screen time (roughly one fifth of the movie).

He says 500 shots for a movie isn’t huge compared to the recent crop of big VFX blockbusters.

“That typifies Chris Nolan's approach to the use of VFX in his films – he uses VFX where it counts,” Franklin says of the London-born, LA-based director.

Read More at: Inside Film