Education

1. Interstellar
By Luke Ross
Overview
Director– ChristopherNolan
Writer– ChristopherNolan
Awards – Oscar (winner) BestAchievementinvisualeffects,BAFTA FilmAward(winner)Best
special Visual Affectsandsix winsfromAcademyof ScienceFiction, FantasyandHorror Films,
USA (2015) including:BestScience FictionFilm, BestProductionDesign,BestSpecial Affects,
BestPerformance bya YoungerActor,Best Writing,BestMusic.AFIAward(winner) Movie of
the Year, ASCAPFilmandTelevisionMusicAwardsforTopBox Office FilmsandBestFilmScore.
AwardsCircuitCommunityAwards(2014) (winner) forBestVisual EffectsandBestOriginal
Score alongwithoverone hundredandforty-fourNominations.
Box Office – 677.5 MillionUSD
Release Date:7 November2014 (UnitedKingdom)
Score – Hans Zimmer
Plot
In Earths future,aglobal crop blightandseconddustbowl are slowlyrenderingthe planet
uninhabitable.Inthisdystopianworldeveryone hasbecome farmerstotryand create as much
foodas possible throughcrops,inschoolstheyhave changedthe educationsystemtojustbe
aboutfarmingand claimanythingaboutspace or us goingto the moonis a lie andNasa never
leftthe Earth’ssurface.CooperfindsNasaanddiscoversthatthey’re planningtosave the world,
Nasa claimthatthere are two plans;one is that theyfigure outthe gravityequationandmove
everyone fromearthtoa habitable planet.PlanBisthattheytake embryosto the habitable
planetstomake sure the humanrace survives.Nasaexplainstocooperthatsomehow a
wormhole hasbeenopenednexttoSaturnandon the otherendis a numberof habitable
worldsorbitingablack hole,12 yearsbefore hadNasasenta numberastronautsthroughto
checkeach worldandif habitable give anall clear,onlythree of these planetsgave anall clear
and theyaskcooper to take a teamthroughthe wormhole to goto one of these worldsand
make sure theyare habitable.Coopersdaughterdoesn’twanthimtoleave andbooksstart
fallingoff the shelf,there isalsoMorse code leftindustpatensthatdecipherto“don’tGo” but
cooperleavesanyway.Theytake the embryoswiththemreadyforplanband setoff to these

2. worldswithcoopers’intensionof comingbackforhisdaughterandson to save themand bring
themto a newworld.To getthroughthe black hole theyslingshotaroundSaturn,once through
theyhave whatDr Brand believestobe contactwitha higherformof life.Whenreachingthese
twoworldsthe firstone that theytry isa waterfilledplanetknownasMillersplanetwiththatis
still givingthe all clearsignal,onthisplanettime movesquickerwithitbeingclosertothe black
hole whentheylanditisrevealedtobe onlyanhour ago that Dr Millerlandedanddieddue to
timesrelativity,they soonfoundoutthatthere isa huge tidal wave thatthe planetismoving
around,theyquicklytryto escape butendingspendingtolongonthe planetmeaningthatmore
time off the planethaspassedandeveryone thathe knowsfromearthincludinghisdaughter
have agedas has Romillywhotheyleftonthe ship.Theyquicklymove tothe nextplanetknown
as Mann, which isan Ice Planetthatisso cold eventhe cloudsare frozeninstasis.Onthisplanet
theyfindDr Mann in cryosleepandhe tellsthemthatthere isasurface to the planetandthis
surface ishabitable butitisrevealedthatDr Mann was lyingandhe justdidn’twantto die he
killsRomillyandtriestokill coopertakingthe shuttle backtothe Endurance,CooperandDr
Brand take a shuttle afterhimandtry to stop himfromdockingontothe endurance.Drman in
attemptingtodockwiththe two shipsnotconnectedproperlydestroyinghisshuttle andpartof
the endurance.Ina beautiful scene withanamazingscore fromHans Zimmerwhere cooper
dockshis shuttle tothe endurance whiletheyare bothspinningrapidly,he doesthisby
matchingthe spinof hisshuttle withthe spinof the endurance.Afterconnectinghe setsthe
endurance oncourse for the final planetatthistime onearth coopers’daughterMurphisin
charge of Nasa andhas workedoutthat the endurance neverhadanyintentionof completing
planA and returninghome theywere onlygoingwithplanBtosave humanitythroughthe
embryos.Asthe endurance makesitswaytothe final planetthere isn’tenoughfueltomake it
so coopersacrificeshimself andthe shuttle togive the endurance one final push,leavingDr
Brand to finishthe missiononEdmundsplanet.Here cooperfallsintothe black hole enteringa
4th
dimensionwhere he isable toslightlyinfluence hispast,itisexplainedthatahigherbeing
create this4th
dimensional tesseractforcooperandas cooperfindsoutthe gravityequation,he
leavesinhistickingwatchforMurph to find.Thisscene also revealsthatthe booksandMorse
code from the beginningof the filmtellinghimnottogo was himself,butdue toparadox he had
to go inorder to leave those messagesinthe firstplace sohe wouldalwayshave gone.When
he’sleftthe gravityequationthe 4th
dimensioncollapsesandhe issentback intothe 3rd
dimensionwhere he findsthatall the humansfromearthare alive asMurph savedthemwith
the equationhe lefther.Atthistime yearshave passedsince he leftthe message andhumans
have become anadvancedspecies,thisiswhere itsrevealedthatitwasthe humansfromthe
future thatopenedthe wormhole andcreatedthe 4th
dimensioninordertosave themselves
whichisanotherparadox intime.as the filmendswithcoopertakinganadvancedshipto
Edmundsplanetwhere DrBrand isto helpherwhichdue to time relativityshe hasjustlanded
on.

3. Director
ChristopherNolanisthe directorandwriterof thismovie withhelpfromKipThrone aphysicist
whohelpedChristopherNolanwiththe science of the movie andwhatwasandwasn’tallowed
basedon hypotheticalscience keepingitasreal and accurate as possible.
Characters
Cooper (Mathew McConaughey) – Cooper starts as a family man who wants his kids to survivebut is
frustrated atwhat the world has become, he makes the choiceto give up his family breakinghis
daughters heart in order to try and savethem and give them a future. He represents the parent who
would do anythingfor his kids and also a hero willingto sacrificehimself for the greater good.
Brand (Anne Hathaway) – Dr Brand is a scientistand daughter of Professor Brand shegoes on the journey
with the intension of makingsure the human racesurvives through plan B and has no intension of
returning. She also is in lovewith Dr Wolf Edmond who entered the wormhole 12 years prior and is willing
to cross to a different galaxy justto find him, but as shemakes savinglifeher top priority,sheshows
resilienceand strength.
Murph (Jessica Chastain) –Daughter of Cooper, Murph starts as a child butafter her farther leaves she
joins Nasa and Learns astrophysicsin order to help Dr Brand solvethe Gravity Equation and savethe
people on Earth. She has to learn to move on with her lifefrom when her dad left and doesn’t forgivehim
until the end of the film,for leavingeven though his choicewas for the greater good.
Professor Brand (Michael Caine) – Professor Brand is the head of What’s left of Nasa he creates plan B and
plan A as a means of savinghumanity from extinction however he lies abouthis work on plan a because
he doesn’t believe he will be ableto figure out the gravity equation in time, so he secretly only intends for
plan b to work.
Young Murph (Mackenzie Foy) – This is Murph when she was a kid,she loves her farther and is
heartbroken when he leaves, she is notlikethe other kids as she symbolizes the human mind in her
school searchingfor the truth and standingup for what shebelieves.
Mann (Matt Damon) – Dr Mann found the planetand after years of searchinghe discovered that the
world is not habitablewhen this happened he cannibalized his droid to boostpower to cryosleep pod
where he laid dormant,he left an all clear signal for theplanet even though it wasn’t justso he could
survive,he symbolizes the human instinct and how we will do anythingto survive.
TARS (Bill Irwin) –This is the robot from the movie, a rectangular droid thatis ableto calculateand
determine routes to the planets and is ableto help with most of the things that they need.
Denotations
The meaning of interstellar travel is travel between star and planets,which is literal in thefilmas what
they do is travel between stars and planets and through different systems.

4. Connotations
Connotations of the film – the filmshows the meaning of how the human racewill do anythingto survive,
this can be seen through each character on this film,on earth you have professor Brand and Murph doing
whatever they can to work out the Gravity Equation in order to survive.On the planet Mann, Dr Mann
shows human instinctto savehimself by possibly sacrificingthe mission to savehumanity all becausehe
doesn’t want to die. Cooper Sacrifices himself into a black holein order to ensure the survival of
humanity. All these connections can be made because the main connotations of the movie are all focused
around survival either for the species or the characters individually.
Science and Physics
Worm holes – The filmhas as a key plot pointa worm hole that they pass through, a lot of people
question if this is realistic or not,because as a species rightnow we areunable to make a worm hole and
we have no visual evidencethat a worm hole exists in our universe today. However, there is mathematic
proof that a worm can existbecauseby equations we can calculatehow to create a worm holebut as a
species we arenot advanced enough to create one, but on installer itis notus that placethe worm hole,
well not us from present time, in the filmthey aredescribed as 4th dimensional beings.To describewhat a
wormhole does in the most used way, it’s liketaking a piece of paper and markinga points on either end
and that is the distanceto travel, but foldingthe paper so that the 2 points meet, putting a hole through
them you now can get from one point to the other instantly withouthavingto go through the longway
this makes a wormhole a shortcut in spaceand time. The filmuses this scienceto correctly visualswhata
wormhole would look like,as itis a sphere not a hole, the reason for this is becausea worm holeis a hole
no matter what sideyou go in, you could come in from the left of it or the rightof it and it would still bea
hole. On the movie they enter the worm hole from the sideto demonstrate how the ship would deal with
the exotic matter pushingoutwards to the outer tube of the worm hole. This filmdeals with the
theoretical scienceof wormholes extremely accurately.
Black holes – On interstellar another key focus is the black holenamed on the movie as Gargantua.To star
with a black holeis a region in spacewhere matter has condensed to such a high density that the surface
gravity is so high you can’t escapeit, even atthe speed of lightyou are trapped. It’s the fabric of the space
time continuum warped back on itself,once you go in you are never comingout. On interstellar there are
different planets orbitingaround the black holebut due to the distorted matter around the from the black
hole the closer these planets are the different affects they have:
Millers planet–This is a water filled planetand is the firstplanetin the system orbiting
Gargantua,on the filmthe planetis titled miller as itis named after Dr Miller who was
the firstto land on the planet12 years before Endurance landed.The firstcatch of
miller’s planet.Due itbeing closeto the black holeits time is distorted and one hour on
miller planetis seven years on earth, this is theoretically possibleas timeis relative,
dependent on mass and gravity it can distorthow time flows and there is nothingas
high in mass and gravity than a black hole.The second catch is the tidal wave; the
immense gravity of the black holecauses the planet to be roiled into a massivetidal
wave that reaches 4000 feet. The theory behind this is that itis a tidal wavewhere as

5. most people see it and think it’s a huge tsunami, a tsunami is not possiblehere as a
tsunami is caused by a displacementof a largevolume of water on this planet itis in fact
a tidal wave, this is possibleas thetidal wave is always there, itis not the wave moving
but the planetmoving around the wave.
Mann (Planet) – This is the second planetthat the endurance visits.Its nameis ‘Mann’
named after Dr Mann played by Matt Damon, who was the firstperson to visitthe
planet, likemiller’s planetDr Mann reached the planet12 years before the endurance.
This planetalso orbits Gargantua butunlikemiller’s planetits time cycleisn’tdistorted.
Its nights are 67 hours long and its days are67 hours longit’s also a planetso cold that
the clouds havefrozen into ice, a planetfilled with ice structures and no sign of a
surface,Dr Mann presumes that there must be a surfaceas the ice clouds would freeze
and evaporate repeatedly. Later it is said thatthe reason for this was actually the
eccentricity (deviation of a Curve from circularity) of Mann’s orbit.
Edmunds Planet – This is the final planetthatthe endurance lands on, it’s called
Edmunds planet after Dr Wolf Edmunds who was the firstastronautto land there, this
planet is further away from the black holethan millers planetand Mann and instead of
orbitingthe black holeitinstead orbits a neutron star called Pantagruel.On this planet
the air is breathable,and the soil isfertileand can be used to farm, the clouds in the sky
also would suggest that there is water on the planet.
The black holes scienceis hypothetically accurate,ithas the features of what one would need and is
accurately visualized by the movie. In interstellar cooper enters the black hole,theoretically there is two
possibilities of what happens when you enter a black holeyour body is either splitinto multiplepieces
and then pasted out the other end which means you’re dead, this is believed to be the outcome when
entering the black holefeet first.However when entering a black holehead firstthere arebelieved to be
two outcomes at the same time, the firstthingthat happens is that your splitinto two versions of yourself
due the warped reality beyond the event horizon,the firstversion of you shares the same fate of being
splitinto pieces and pulped the second version of you which is still you successfully makes itthrough the
singularity,which is whathappens on interstellar or atleastitsuggests is whathappens.
Tesseract– on the other sideof the black holecooper finds himself within a fourth dimension,a complex
tesseractrather than a cube within a larger cube, instead itis a three-dimensional representation of our
four dimensional reality (three physical dimensionsplustime) insidethe five dimensional (four
dimensions plus time) . He can see time within this more specifically histimelinewhere he is ableto leave
messages by moving objects in his past,this links to earlier in thefilmwhen we see the books fall off the
shelf and a code left in dustsaying“don’t go” as he sees this he realizes thatit’s a paradox,he cannot
change time even though he can see it, he left the message as he saw originally and still left,all thatis
revealed is that itwas him that left the message. The reason that time works likethis i s becauseof the 4th

6. dimension theory. Like in our 3rd dimension we are ableto move forward and not back, its theorized that
in a 4th dimension we ableto move forward and back, as time is only relativeto the 3rd dimension its
unknown what it could be to a 4th and this is whatthe tesseract plays off.
Slingshotaround Saturn – in this partof the movie they use a slingshotalso known as a gravity assist,this
is to use the planets gravity in this caseSaturn to move around the planet at speed without ha vingto use
fuel, this saves money, fuel and time and is in some cases used to break free of the suns gravity and out of
our system by Nasa.
Theme
The theme of the movie in short is Love across dimensions.Fromcoopers lovefor Murph or professor
Brands lovefor his daughter Amelia or Amelia’s love for wolf Edmunds. It can be shown in how all the
actions of the main character arefor love and survival.Interstellar takes us on a journey through the
universeshowingthat something that connects all the dimensions with each other is love. It shows that it
makes us do thing without a proper plan,pushes us to do things we wouldn’t normally do or in this case
makes a farther survivefor his children.Other things are shown in each character,cooper shows survival
instinct.Amelia shows us love. Dr Mann provides the depiction of evil,an antagonistthat isn’tspace.
Professor Brand shows bravery, givingup his lifeand livingwith guiltin order for the rest of humanity to
survive.

7. Scenes Analysis
Context– Inthisscene youhave the ProtagonistCooperonthe rightand the antagonistDr
Mann on the left.Dr Mann was an astronautsent to the planet12 yearsbefore cooperbut
spent35 yearson hisplanetandinthistime,he lostthe will tocontinue gotdrivenmadand
cannibalizedhisdroidsohe couldcryosleep.He lefthiscomputersendinganall clearsignal
whichledcooperthere thinkingitwasanhabitable planet,thisiswhereDrMann liesinorderto
have hope of survival,he alsoriggedhisdroidtoexplode whenaccessedorrebootedwhich
endsup killingacharacter. Dr Mann becomesdarker,bitteranddisheartenedonhisplanet.
Resemblance andcolour–Dr Mann beginslike CooperanAstronautwithnosidesjusta mission,
thiscan be seeninCoopersoutfitwhere he wearsaplainwhite outfit.DrMann’soutfitiswhite
but itsgreyerat parts,just like the planetaroundhim, this showshow the planethaschanged
himand influencedhimandhisperspective.Where cooperhasone maincolouritsymbolizes
hisobjective tosave humanitynomatterthe cost,howevercooperhastwocolourssymbolizing
twoobjectives,one make sure he himselfsurvivesandtwomake sure humanitysurvives.
Angle – thisimage frominterstellarispresentedfroma180-degree hiplevel shot,includingthe
twocharacters in a conflictingscene,thisshowsthematthe same level andbalance
demonstratinghowtheyare balancedwithone another,atthistime intheybothwantthe same
thing.The camera makesthe backgroundclearso that youare able to linkthe coloursof the
planetMann andDr Mann himself.
Mise en scene
The directormade the settingsaboutenvironmental conditions,blackholes,wormholesand
time travel.The directoralsoincorporatedLongshotsbyusingCGI. Cooperchangesfrom
everydayclothingtoanastronaut,as well asothercharacters have the same costume design
and changesfromDr Brandto Murph and so on.The coloursusedinthe filmare mainlyfocused

8. aroundBlack and white fromthe colourof the shipto the astronaut suitsandplanets,this
createsthe theme of man vs.nature and remindsthe audience of the dangersof outerspace.
The directoruseslow-keylightingandHigh-keylightingtoillustrate the environmentthe
astronautsare facingbutalso createsa theme forthe film.The Directorwhenmakingfilmslikes
to use methodacting,thisisseenonfilmslike The DarkKnightwithChristianBale andHeath
Ledgerand inInterstellarhe usesMathew McConaugheyandAnne Hathawaywhohe alsoused
to PlaySelinaKyle onThe DarkKnightRises.
FilmPoster
Colour– In thispostertwo coloursare usedBlack andwhite,thisisto symbolizethe Darkand
the light,the settingisearthandit is shroudedindarknesslikeonthe filmbutthere islight
shootingupintothe stars and on the filmthislightwouldbe Cooperandthe crew of the
Endurance goingon Theirmissiontosave themandthisrepresentshow he givesthemhope and
lightina time of darkness.

9. Slogan– The sloganthat theyuse isa brief line thatdescribesthe meaningandobjectiveof the
filmwell,itusestwoshortsentencestodeliverapunch.“Mankindwas bornon Earth.” and then
“It was nevermeanttodie here.”Thisgivesmeaningtothe filmandpresentsitwithatheme.
Title – The title of the filmisbuiltuplike arocketshipaboutto take off and it sitswithinthe
lightof the poster,and as interstellarmeanstravel tostarsandworldsitshowshow the literal
meaningordenotationof the word“interstellar”ishope forhumanity.
Othersymbolism –Inthe posterthe darknessisalso coveredbylittle dotsof lightwhichare
stars, startsusual shine brightinthe nightskybut the connotationsof thislinkintothe film, as
lightmeanshope these starsgive off lightandthe pointof the filmisto findhope byotherstars.
Conclusion
Thismovie maintheme islove andsurvival,howeverakeypart isthe science,theoretical
Science wasextremelyimportanttothe directoronthismovie,makingsure thatas far fetched
as he couldgo it isall plausiblewithinourunderstandingashumans.Toensure thishe hada
Theoretical PhysicistKipThorne tomake sure thateverythinginthe movie wastheoretical and
itsamazingto thinkthat whathappensinthe filmcan theoreticallyhappen,maybe notasit
doesinthe movie,butitcan still happen.The reasonIlove thisfilmisn’tjustthe amazingVisual
Affectsorthe acting and storybut alsohow it sparksimaginationandmakesyouquestionwhat
isand can be,its Humannature toquestionwhatwe don’tunderstand,andthisfilmbringsto
lightall the possibilitiesof space andwhere science cantake us.
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