Miller's Planet

Logan Peterson

Professor Saphire

COM 126.01

10/23/2020

Miller’s Planet

I have always loved stories. I like when they make me sad, I like it when they do the opposite. I love the way movies use sound and image to drive a narrative in a way that no other medium. In particular, what really excites me is when a particular scene keeps me on the edge of my seat. When a scene is put together just right, it can make my heart pound and my mind race as I try to figure out what comes next. Interstellar, in one scene became one of my favorite films of all time because it did just that. 

To understand this particular scene in Interstellar, one needs context. The astronaut, Cooper has left his two children on a dying Earth in a search for another world in a distant solar system. Upon arrival, they find that all of the planets are orbiting an immense black hole that is swallowing the local star. They must go to each planet in the system and look for astronauts that had gone ahead of them to do research. Cooper and his crew land on a water world in a scene known as “Miller’s Planet.” Through the use of narrative, the director, Christopher Nolan begins to build the tension of the scene. “Miller” is nowhere to be found, but her signal is nearby. In addition, every second on this planet is a day on Earth, which means every hour spent on Miller’s Planet is seven years that Cooper loses with his kids.

As they land, one will notice that the décor on the inside of the ship does not differ much from the outside world. Though it is certainly high tech, the ship is filled with whites and greys and the outside world is mostly grey. As Cooper’s team exits to search for Miller, they step into knee-high water and are bogged down by the planet’s intense gravity. Their white, realistic looking space suits stand in stark contrast to the drab, featureless world around them. The world has a harsh, hard light that illuminates everything. There is no darkness in this scene, and for good reason. In the distance, one can see what appear to be mountains. The scene uses high key lighting, that avoids drawing attention to anything on screen, which allows these mountains to be seen, but only faintly. 

Throughout the scene, Nolan uses a slight ticking noise to convey the time passing on Earth. Every second they spend on Miller’s Planet, a tick, tick, tick, rings in the background, making the viewer exceedingly uneasy. The composition of the scene is immaculate. All the information needed to know what happens next is on screen, but the reveal is still intense because Nolan’s direction keeps you from figuring it out.

Cooper’s team finds Miller’s signal in a piece of wreckage, just under the surface of the water. One of the team members decides to go after the data, to see if any habitable planets were found in the system. She says that the data module must be towards the mountains and as Cooper looks out after his crew he realizes, “Those aren’t mountains, they’re waves.” The crew member starts rushing towards the module as Cooper goes to the back of the ship and opens it up to find a massive wave towering so high that it dissipates the clouds. The rule of thirds doesn’t matter here. While Nolan tends to keep his characters center screen throughout the scene, the shot cuts to behind Cooper’s head and slowly pans up, showing the wave taking up every line of sight and shaking the viewer to their core. The only kinesis is the water churning within the wave. The crew returns, and the wave picks the ship up and carries it before dropping it and slowly crawling away.

Every second of this scene has me on the edge of my seat. Through Nolan’s brilliant use of effective composition and sound design, Miller’s Planet is one of the most thoroughly unnerving scenes I’ve ever watched. From the tick tock of days passing on Earth, to the desperation of Cooper and his crew, Miller’s Planet is a perfect case study in the art of mise-en-scène.