Director Christopher Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfister, ASC, have moved into the fastlane with Batman Begins, following their previous collaborations, the more modestly budgeted pictures Memento and Insomnia.
The Warner Bros. caped crusader prequel was mainly produced on stages
and at practical locations in London. The exception is a car chase,
nearly 10 minutes in length, on a two-mile stretch of lower Wacker
Drive in downtown Chicago. In the scene, the Batmobile being chased by
a string of police cars at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. Pfister
and crew filmed the scene at night for three weeks, with all elements
shot practically. Two PanArri 2-C cameras with fixed lenses operated by
stunt people give the audience glimpses of scenes from inside the cars.

1. A camera mounted on a gyro-stabilized Lev head is rigged to an
Ultimate Arm mounted on a Mercedes SL55 tracking for the high-speed
Batmobile chase. Using a remote control, an operator can whip the crane
around the car in six seconds when he sees a shot he wants.

2. A simple rig is used to film cutaways of police officers driving
during the chase. It consists of a "hostess tray" with a hard-mounted
Panavision Platinum camera. A Mole-Richardson 1K Zip light on the
opposite side of the car provides edge light on the stunt driver
playing the cop. This setup allows Pfister to film the stunt player
driving the vehicle without requiring a towrig.

3. Stunt driver Steve Holladay tracks the Batmobile in profile from the
perspective of a motorcycle with a sidecar. A Libra 4 gyro-stabilized
head with a PanArri 435 is mounted to the sidecar. The Libra head and
camera are operated via radio control from a console along the side of
the street.

4. When a police car collides with a median, the audience gets a
bird’s-eye view from the perspective of a PanArri 2C camera mounted on
the front grill of the lead vehicle.

5. Here, the Batmobile led by the Ultimate Arm on the Mercedes SL55, is
seen narrowly evading two police cars. The lighting is 100 percent
natural. Pfister keeps the cameras moving even during the most
breathtaking stunts, because Nolan wants the audience to experience the
chase from as close to the action as possible. Columns supporting the
overhead elevated train tracks zip by the windows, amplifying the
perceived speed, while some 60 Par 64s with different gels splash
streaks of colored light on the walls at the sides of the road. Pfister
penetrates the darkness with a Panaflex Primo 10:1 zoom on a Panaflex
Platinum body and by force-processing (pushing) the 500-speed Kodak
Vision2 5218 film by one stop. Pfister says the film "sees" the chase
scene the way the human eye does, with subtle details in the brightest
highlights and darkest shadows, nuanced shades of contrast and colors,
and grainless images.

6. This scene is covered by six cameras including a Panaflex Platinum
with a Primo zoom, two Panaflex Millennium XLs with type E and C
Primes, an Arri 435 and an Arri 2C with Zeiss primes.
The overhead sodium vapor lights are practicals. The two vertical
stripes on the wall come from PAR 64s, small parabolic lights with
color gels provided by Mole-Richardson to help create the illusion of
speed as cars race by. Pfister also created a little edge light with a
Mole-Richardson 1K ZIP which matched the sodium vapor illumination from
the overhead lights.

Credits: Director: Christopher Nolan ¦ Cinematographer: Wally
Pfister, ASC ¦ Editor: Lee Smith ¦ Film Lab (Film Dailies): Astro Labs,
Chicago ¦ Color Timer: Peter Hunt, Technicolor, London ¦ A Camera
Operator: Steve Adelson ¦ B Camera Operator: Michael FitzMaurice ¦
Chief Lighting Technician: Cory Geryak ¦ First Assistant Camera: David
Morentz ¦ Second Assistant Camera: Peter Morentz ¦ First Assistant
Camera: Mike Weldon ¦ Video Assist Technician: Bryce Shields ¦ Libra
Head Technician: Nick Phillips