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Christopher Nolan’s Micro-Budget First Films: Doodlebug & The Following

When Christopher Nolan was seven years old, he started making movies. It all began when his father took him to see the first release of Star Wars (1977) and the theatrical re-release of “2001”. He borrowed his father’s Super 8 camera and started shooting short films with his action figures. Being a Star Wars fan since childhood, he made a stop motion animation tribute called Space Wars.

In our ongoing series of spotlighting famous director’s first micro-budget outings, we present Christopher Nolan’s Doodlebug and The Following. Doodlebug was shot in 1997 and created the film during his university days using 16mm film.

This psychological short-film has gained a cult following, especially given the heights which Christopher Nolan’s now climbed since making it. The film concerns a grungy man, in a filthy apartment. He is anxious and paranoid, trying to kill a small bug-like creature that is scurrying on the floor. It is revealed that the bug resembles a miniature version of himself. He squashes the bug with his shoe. However, every movement the “doodlebug” makes is later matched by the man himself, and he is later squashed by a larger version of himself.

Download Chris Nolan’s Screenplay Collection in PDF

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He followed up Doodlebug with his first feature film The Following in 1998. You can watch the entire feature film below. Also, check out the amazing mini-documentary put out on the making of The Following from VICE.

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Always interested in crime and justice, Christopher Nolan’s first film (a whole seven years before he made Batman Begins) is a curious black and white head-scratcher about a writer who, obsessed with following people, subsequently gets caught up in a life of crime. In this interview, Nolan explains his key to success and ends up revealing many of the DIY filmmaking techniques he used to make Following. – Vice

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THE NON-LINEAR NEO-NOIRS is the first chapter of THE DIRECTORS SERIES’ examination into the films and careers of director Christopher Nolan, covering his pair of breakout independent neo-noirs: DOODLEBUG (1997) FOLLOWING (1998) MEMENTO (2000)

To watch the rest of the Christopher Nolan The Directors Series – CLICK HERE

WATCH Filmtrepreneur’s Micro-Budget First Films Collection