How Christopher Nolan Made Oppenheimer — Oppenheimer Behind the Scenes

Oppenheimer Behind the Scenes — How Christopher Nolan and his team crafted one of the most visually stunning biopics, including a breakdown of the cinematography, practical effects, and non-linear structure.

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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Oppenheimer
01:05 - Nolan's unique approach to Oppenheimer
03:19 - Chapter 1: IMAX Cinematography
09:52 - Chapter 2: Practical Effects
13:52 - Chapter 3: Non-Linear Structure
17:05 - Takeaways

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THE MAKING OF OPPENHEIMER

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer currently stands as the highest-earning biopic in history. Having the birth of the atomic bomb as subject matter certainly doesn’t hurt, but it was arguably Nolan’s filmmaking craft that pushed this film to such heights. In this video, we’re breaking down the making of Oppenheimer, including the cinematography, practical effects, and non-linear structure, to see if we can’t understand the mechanics of its success.

OPPENHEIMER CINEMATOGRAPHY

Working again with DP Hoyte van Hoytema, Nolan shot Oppenheimer on large-format film. This included 5-perf 65mm and 70mm film, IMAX (15-perf 70mm) in color and B&W. There was also a priority to shoot everything practically, with the only computer assistance being the compositing together of practical elements. The result is a film with the highest resolution possible of a rather intimate and subjective character study.

VISUAL EFFECTS IN OPPENHEIMER

Nolan and his team went out of their way to shoot everything in-camera. This included the vibrating backgrounds during Oppenheimer’s anxiety-ridden speech — achieved by projecting the background onto itself to create the effect. Oppenheimer’s visions were done with a combination of cloud tanks, practical lights, macro lenses, and varying frame rates. The nuclear explosion was an achievement in itself — perhaps the closest to an actual atomic blast without resorting to the real thing.

THE STRUCTURE OF OPPENHEIMER

If you’ve seen the film, you know it jumps back and forth between two main narrative threads — one following Oppenheimer and the other tracking Strauss. This non-linear structure was always the intent as Nolan wrote the script following this basic format, but editor Jennifer Lame also came with fresh eyes. She was able to hone the structure into a cohesive whole to make a 3-hour film of mostly people talking feel as tense as a train heading for a cliff.

With these filmmaking tools and artisans at his disposal, Christopher Nolan orchestrated one of the most visually stunning, gripping, and morally compelling films of recent memory.


#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking

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♬ SONGS USED:

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“We’ll Meet Again” - Very Lynn

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