A look at some of the high-tech moves in "The Dark Knight":

IMAX:

Six of "The Dark Knight's" sequences, including its three biggest action set pieces, were filmed using large, heavy and very noisy IMAX cameras. Unparalleled for the clarity and resolution of their images, this is the first time the cameras, usually employed for their sister theaters' giant screen documentaries, have been used for a make-believe Hollywood movie.

"We wanted to make the biggest film that's ever been made," director Christopher Nolan says with only a hint of a "just joshing" smile.

"And when you see these sequences on the IMAX screen, it creates a very, very immersive, very much larger-than-life feel for the film.

"Working with the IMAX cameras was difficult, but we found our feet with it pretty quickly," Nolan adds. "I actually felt that whatever production issues we would face - which were considerable - they were actually much more controllable in a theatrical fiction film.

"Even when you shoot in a real location, you put your own light in, you control the whole environment. So I actually think IMAX is pretty well-suited to Hollywood filmmaking. And the Hollywood production machine is amazingly efficient, so it was able to absorb the extra demands of IMAX incredibly effectively."

Just in case, though, IMAX provided some handy advice for the actors.

"You know, there's a booklet that comes with the IMAX on how to act," marvels Gary Oldman, who plays Batman's police ally Jim Gordon.

"You have to make it really subtle because it's going to be so much bigger."

"An instruction booklet? I missed that one," Bat-actor Christian Bale contends. "As far as I'm concerned, whether the camera pointing at me is digital, IMAX, 35-millimeter or whatever the hell it is, I'm doing the same thing."

BAT-POD:

The Bat-Pod is an impossible new fighting vehicle for those times when even millionaire Bruce Wayne feels it's not worth fueling up the tanklike Batmobile. Nothing like a conventional motorcycle, the heavily armed, two-wheeled balloon-tired gizmo was whipped up at Nolan's home with the help of production designer Nathan Crowley.

"Not the one that runs, but we did build a full-size model you can actually sit on in my garage," Nolan reports. "The special-effects guys took one look at it and said to Nathan and myself, 'You don't know anything about motorbikes, do you?' We said, 'No, not a clue. We like the way it looks.' But they went away and found a way to make the thing actually drive, which was pretty remarkable. I will be honest and say that there's only one person in the world who can drive it because it's not the most practical vehicle."

That person would be professional stunt rider Jean-Pierre Goy.

"The biggest challenge for me in the whole movie was having to admit that I didn't stand a chance in hell of riding that thing," Bale confesses. "I ride motorbikes, but many world-class bikers - way, way, way superior to me - were not able to manage it. They would take a turn and it would land on top of them."

BATSUIT:

Batman gets a wardrobe makeover in "The Dark Knight." And not a moment too soon. The "Batman Begins" suit was made from just three suffocating pieces of neoprene. The new job has 110 pieces, mostly of more elastic urethane, connected to a base of polyester mesh.

"It was a relief and an aid," Bale says gratefully. "It was just so much superior to the first one, and in keeping with the story, the Batsuit should evolve as well. It's far more the look of a future soldier's military gear.

"And it was far more comfortable to wear. It was heavier, but you didn't notice that because it was a lot more mobile. The first one, I fought against the suit to be able to do the fights. Therefore it was tiring, the cowl was constricting, and I couldn't breathe very well. It took 15 minutes to get out of it!

"This one, I could turn my head! And it was compatible with fighting, so I could do so much more, keep going for so much longer; I had so much more energy within it. And it was leaned-out as well - and cooler."

TWO-FACE FACE:

The Joker may be getting all the early attention, but once people see "The Dark Knight's" other villain, Two-Face, they'll likely be talking as much about him. The ultimate split personality, one side of the character's head has been horribly burned while the other, sane half looks just fine.

It's the one part of the movie where computer effects-averse director Nolan felt that CGI was the appropriate way to go.

"I wanted the look of it to be so extreme as to be a little bit fanciful," Nolan says. "When we were doing sculpts in clay of how the degraded face would look, the more subtle the mutilation the more horrible and depressing it was, somehow. So it's the one area of the film where I felt being a little less realistic was preferable. We don't want people throwing up their popcorn or looking away from the screen. We want them to be able to engage with this character, so we went for just a lot of interesting sculptural detail for the audience to look at and have a sort of morbid fascination with."