Christopher Nolan was born in London in 1970 and made his first short film at age 7. He studied film in college and directed several short films. Nolan's first feature film was Following in 1998 with a $6,000 budget. It helped him secure funding for Memento (2000). Some of Nolan's most famous films include the Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Interstellar. He is known for nonlinear storytelling, morally gray characters, and twist endings. Examples can be seen in Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight Rises.

1. Christopher Nolan
By Brendan Flynn

2. Background
Christopher Nolan was born in London, England on July
30th of 1970.
At the age of 7 he made his first short film.
His mom was American and his dad was British so he spent
time in both countries and has dual citizenship, much of
his background comes from London and Chicago.
He studied English literature at University College London
where he joined the school's film team.
Here he created the short films of Tarantula, Larceny, and
Doodlebug, before he went on to write and direct in
Hollywood.

3. Background
Christopher Nolan's first feature length film was
Following(2008) which he filmed with a budget
of around $6000, however you could see his
style emerge from this first film that influenced
the rest of his films.
The film was well received in the film festival
community, winning 5 awards and was
nominated for another 4 in 1999.
This film helped him obtain enough money to
shoot his second feature length film Memento
(2000).

4. Major Films
Following (1998) – Director, Writer, Producer
Memento (2000) – Director, Writer
Insomnia (2002) – Director
Batman Begins (2005) – Director, Writer
The Prestige (2006) – Director, Writer, Producer
The Dark Knight (2008) – Director, Writer, Producer
Inception (2010) – Director, Writer, Producer
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Director, Writer, Producer
Man of Steel (2013) – Writer, Producer
Interstellar (2014) – Director, Writer, Producer

5. Signature Style – Non Linear
Storytelling
One of Christopher Nolan's signature styles is the non-linear
storytelling that encompasses almost all of his movies,
with the exception of the Batman Trilogy.
In Memento the story is told scene by scene from the ending
to the beginning.
In Inception the story slows down time within a man's brain
as they pass through each level, it compresses time
across the entire movie.
In The Prestige the story telling aspect uses flashbacks
within flashbacks to tell the entire story.

6. Signature Style – Gray Morality of
Characters

Insomnia presents us with Will Dormer, a detective who
confesses to planting evidence to put a pedophile in jail.
Then in a later portion of the movie he plants evidence to
make it look like the killer is the one who shot his partner,
not himself.

Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy has a collection of
antagonists who you'd think would all be considered
“bad”, and they are, but one character who you get to see
as someone who turns to the bad side is Two-Face or
Harvey Dent. He was once a man who stood for justice in
Gotham city who ends up turning on the city after an
explosion burns half of his face off.

7. Signature Style – Twist Endings

For Memento's ending we find out that Leonard has been
falsely leading himself along to give purpose to his life,
where at the end of the movie he writes down his
handler's license plate which is why he was killed in the
beginning of the movie.

The Prestige has a twist at the end that shows us how
the disappearing man trick works with Borden, he
actually has a twin who take turns playing him every
moment throughout the movie.

In The Dark Knight Rises we find out that Bane wasn't
Ras al Ghul's real offspring like we were led to believe, it
was actually Miranda who becomes the main villain of the
movie.

8. Video Example

Insomnia this is an example of the gray morality in this
movie, it's the beginning of a chain of events where
Dormer covers up the accidental shooting of his partner
to get himself out of trouble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRXkLLBrBtA

This video was from The Prestige where it shows the
trick that was used to make the disappearing man act
work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHKan75x7GI

9. Sources
Biography.com
http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-nolan
IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154506/?ref_=ttawd_a
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan#Film

10. Sources
Biography.com
http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-nolan
IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154506/?ref_=ttawd_a
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan#Film