Matt Damon says Christopher Nolan shot an 18-foot tall Cyclops puppet inside a real cave for The Odyssey instead of relying on digital effects

Matt Damon revealed how director Christopher Nolan managed to bring the giant "Cyclops" to life in The Odyssey without relying entirely on digital effects (CGI). During an appearance on the Good Hang podcast, Damon explained that the crew built a real 60-foot tall Cyclops puppet inside a cave. Unlike traditional production methods that rely on studios or green screens with the character added entirely through digital effects, Nolan made a point of executing as much of the scenes as possible in the actual filming location. To this end, the team built the set inside Psychro Cave, which is believed in Greek mythology to be the birthplace of Zeus. Damon said, "He uses as little special visual effects as possible. You can do a lot of things without CGI. He is aware of the era he lives in and works with the best visual effects teams who help him find ways to accomplish everything that can be filmed practically in front of the camera." Nolan is known for his constant efforts to implement practical effects as much as possible. He flipped a real truck in the streets of Chicago while filming The Dark Knight, hung Matthew McConaughey on wires, and made him spin inside a real version of the "tesseract" at the end of Interstellar, and recreated the enormous flash of a nuclear explosion using practical effects in Oppenheimer. As a result, many wondered how he would be able to present a fantastical story like The Odyssey without heavily relying on digital effects, and it seems that the team found the solution. Of course, Nolan uses some digital effects to enhance the image and integrate the practical effects, and it's important to note that he does not oppose using such technology per se, but rather rejects relying on it as an easy way out, especially when large budgets allow scenes to be executed practically on set. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the elements of The Odyssey were implemented, but the Cyclops was undoubtedly one of the biggest questions on the audience's mind. Nolan also has a deep passion for IMAX technology, and has dreamed for years of filming a complete movie using 70MM IMAX film. With The Odyssey, he finally achieved that vision. Previously, this was impossible because IMAX cameras produced high noise levels that made using them in dialogue scenes impractical, so they were only used for big scenes and establishing shots. However, the IMAX team developed new equipment that reduces camera noise, allowing The Odyssey to become the first feature film shot entirely using IMAX cameras. The Odyssey is set to be released in theaters next week, on July 17.