[Warning: Small spoilers and plot details, like descriptions of settings, are mentioned.]

1. Full Scale and Miniature Model Spacecrafts Were Used, Not Special Effects The connecting theme of Nolan's work is his devotion to creating movies that feel real. In Interstellar, the director carried that notion into the design process of the space station and shuttles used in the film."For me, the starting point of the movie is a familiar Earth. We didn't put a lot of futurism in the designs," says Nolan. "I wanted to carry that tone into the spacecraft, not jump too far in the future." Nolan and his production designer, Nathan Crowley, constructed detailed models, like in Star Wars, for some exteriors and they even built full scale versions of the ships for landing sequences. Along with Star Wars, Nolan has cited 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, and Blade Runner as inspirations.

The shuttle and space station used in Interstellar. (Paramount Pictures)

4. Nolan Created a Virtual Reality for His Actors

Nolan also created the film's visual effects in advance of shooting so he could project those images for the actors. When they looked outside their spacecrafts, they saw the dark of space instead of a green screen. Anne Hathaway, who plays astronaut Amelia Brand, told USA Today, "...When you see us looking out the window at a celestial body, there is a celestial body projected onto a screen outside a practical window. I don't know of any other filmmaker who can inspire people to do that."

Nolan and McConaughey talk Interstellar on set. (Paramount Pictures)5. Hoyte Van Hoytema For the first time in his career, Nolan used a Director of Photography not named Wally Pfister (who was busy directing Transcendence). Enter Hoyte van Hoytema, the eye behind Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In, as well as The Fighter and Her. In short, Van Hoytema's work is awe-inspiring. The shots of the celestial bodies (especially Saturn) will take you there, and the cinematographer did it with old fashioned ingenuity. Under the careful eye of Nolan, who used more IMAX shots in this movie than any of his others, Van Hoytema modified an existing IMAX cam to make it handheld for certain interiors. He also installed an IMAX cam in the nose cone of a Learjet for some of the space sequences.

Nolan on the set of Interstellar. (Paramount Pictures)

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5 Big Reasons Why 'Interstellar' Will Not Disappoint You