Oppenheimer: How Did Christopher Nolan Recreate the Atomic Bomb Explosion for His Film? Exploring How the Practical Effect was Achieved!

When it comes to practical filmmaking, Christopher Nolan is a director who tries to stay a step ahead of everyone. A man known for using CGI only to enhance his work, Nolan’s commitment to keeping things as real as possible is a testament to just how devoted he is to the medium of filmmaking, and Oppenheimer is another work of his that just pushed him forward to capture as much in camera as possible. Oppenheimer Box Office Collection Day 2: Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr’s War Drama to Soon Cross $77 Million in the USA.

Throughout his career, Nolan has captured some of the biggest blockbuster sequences in camera. For the hallway fight in Inception, he actually built around a hallway that rotated - for the plane sequence in The Dark Knight Rises, he actually dropped a plane from a really high altitude, and of course there is Tenet, where he blew up a plane for real. However, Oppenheimer portrayed a new challenge for him as he had to showcase the explosion of the atomic bomb, and to achieve that effect, there is a really cool practical effect behind it.

Before the release of Oppenheimer, many were wondering exactly how Nolan would recreate the explosion of the first ever atomic bomb, with some even joking that he would drop a real nuke. But no, the answer behind the recreation of the explosion is actually quite interesting and had a lot of practicality behind it.

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In an interview with Empire prior to the release of Oppenheimer, Nolan stated how “CG is rarely able to grab you” and wanted to show an effect that honed in on the disaster of detonating a weapon like this. In the interview with Empire, Nolan explained that to achieve the effect, they used some “very experimental” methods. "Some on a giant scale using explosives and magnesium flares and big, black powder explosions of petrol, whatever," he said, and continued to reveal that “some absolutely tiny, using interactions of different particles, different oils, different liquids" were used to recreate the mushroom cloud look the bomb actually gives off.

So, to recreate the explosion, a whole lot of actual science went into it that just boiled down to a mixture of chemicals. And when it came to filming, closeups were used to emulate the feel of something large. This is a Nolan classic as the director is known for usually opting to use miniatures to show off a large sequence, however, capturing the explosion itself did take a lot of work, and the effect looks mighty impressive on screen too. Due credit has to be given to visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, production designer Ruth De Jong and special effects supervisor Scott Fisher who were responsible for making the scene possible. Oppenheimer Movie Review: Cillian Murphy is Outstanding in Christopher Nolan’s Riveting Look Into the 'Father of the Atom Bomb' (LatestLY Exclusive).

The scene in the film plays out like a hauntingly beautiful disaster where the explosion itself leaves you speechless. The buildup and the payoff to the scene is one of the best things you will see at the cinemas this year, and if anything, it speaks to Nolan’s testament for wanting to capture everything in camera. Oppenheimer is playing in theatres right now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 24, 2023 02:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).