What filmmaking techniques does Dunkirk use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Dunkirk (2017): IMAX Large-Format Space, Parallel Chronology, Immersive Combat Sound Design, Ticking Clock Structure and Anti-Epic Combat Staging.

Who directed Dunkirk?

Christopher Nolan directed Dunkirk, released in 2017. CineCode also covers Following (1998), Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008).

What films are similar to Dunkirk?

Films that share techniques with Dunkirk include Saving Private Ryan (1998), 1917 (2019), All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), The Terminator (1984).

War · Drama · History

Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan, 2017

The Dunkirk evacuation of 1940 is told from 3 points of view at the same time: land (1 week), sea (1 day) and air (1 hour). Christopher Nolan's war film strips away most of the story and leaves only what survival looks, sounds and feels like. It wants you to endure the event from inside it, and story comes a distant second.

1 Cinematography 2 Narrative 1 Sound 1 Editing

At a glance

Dunkirk is a 2017 war, drama and history film directed by Christopher Nolan. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (1 cinematography, 2 narrative, 1 sound and 1 editing), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Saving Private Ryan uses several of the same techniques.

Cinematography

IMAX Large-Format Space

Shooting vast environments, including outer space, on 70mm IMAX film. The extra size and sharpness make you feel like you are inside the image.

How this film uses it

The beach sequences and the Spitfire dog-fights were shot on 65mm IMAX film, a very large film format. You only take in the full size of the evacuation and the air combat in that enormous frame.

Where to see it

The aerial combat sequences. The English Channel fills the IMAX frame, and the Spitfire cockpit feels close and vast at once.

Narrative

Parallel Chronology

Cutting back and forth between 2 timelines, often past and present. Each one helps explain the other as the film goes on.

How this film uses it

The 3 timelines (1 week on the beach, 1 day at sea, 1 hour in the air) are cut together as though they happen at the same time. Nevertheless, each covers a very different stretch of time, and they only line up in the final act.

Where to see it

The moment all 3 timelines meet at the burning oil. The Spitfire, the Dawson boat and the soldiers Tommy and Alex are all at the same event, each seeing it from a different angle.

Sound

Immersive Combat Sound Design

Mixing battle sound the way a soldier would hear it, with chaotic, physical noise coming from every direction. Nothing is tidied up for your comfort, so you feel inside the fight.

How this film uses it

Hans Zimmer and sound designer Richard King build the film's sound from a ticking watch, Spitfire engines and Stuka sirens. You can't tell the music apart from the weapons it describes.

Where to see it

The Stuka dive-bombing sequence. The siren and the score are the same sound, so the terror and the music become one thing.

Narrative

Ticking Clock Structure

Building the story around a clear deadline the hero must beat. The time pressure and the obstacles grow with each scene until the climax.

How this film uses it

Each timeline has its own countdown: the beach is a week of waiting under attack, the sea is a day to reach Dunkirk and the air is a single hour of fuel. Nolan adds a musical click that keeps speeding up, so the clock itself becomes the film's main enemy.

Where to see it

The fuel gauge in the Spitfire scenes. Farrier's gauge is smashed, so he and Collins have to work out how much fuel he has left.

Editing

Anti-Epic Combat Staging

Refusing the heroic habits of war films, like grand wide shots, rousing speeches and clear victories. Combat is shown from ground level as chaotic, anonymous and traumatic.

How this film uses it

Nolan never stages a heroic charge or one defining act by one man. The soldiers survive the evacuation through a pile of small decisions. The soldier we follow isn't named until the final moments of the film.

Where to see it

The repeated failed attempts to board ships. You can't tell the soldiers apart, and survival pretty much comes down to chance.

Questions

Dunkirk: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Dunkirk use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Dunkirk (2017): IMAX Large-Format Space, Parallel Chronology, Immersive Combat Sound Design, Ticking Clock Structure and Anti-Epic Combat Staging.
Who directed Dunkirk?: Christopher Nolan directed Dunkirk, released in 2017. CineCode also covers Following (1998), Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008).
What films are similar to Dunkirk?: Films that share techniques with Dunkirk include Saving Private Ryan (1998), 1917 (2019), All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), The Terminator (1984).

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