• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Oppenheimer's VFX supervisor sets record straight on use of CGI in the movie

Home> Entertainment> Film

Updated 10:13 8 Jan 2024 GMTPublished 16:15 27 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Oppenheimer's VFX supervisor sets record straight on use of CGI in the movie

In Oppenheimer it's thought that Christopher Nolan recreated a real nuclear explosion without CGI

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Oppenheimer's VFX supervisor has finally set the record straight on the use of CGI in the movie.

Since the film's release last month, cinema-goers have been witnessing Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy take centre stage with his remarkable portrayal of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who devised the world's first atomic bomb during WWII.

The three-hour film is director Christopher Nolan's first ever biographical drama, which also stars the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, among many others.

Advert

Oppenheimer has promised to be a nuclear hit from the get-go as Nolan’s movie has grossed $718 million at the global box office.

It is now the fourth most successful movie of Nolan’s career, and the fourth biggest film of the year.

Besides the star-studded line-up and the storyline, what hooked viewers in was reports that the film was made without CGI - and without detonating an actual bomb, of course.

Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy plays the theoretical physicist.
Universal Pictures

Explaining how they detonated a fake atomic bomb, director of photography, Hoyte van Hoytema, previously told Variety: "Obviously, we couldn’t make an explosion the size of the actual explosion so we used trickery.

Advert

“We had moulded metallic balloons which were lit up from the inside.

“We had things slamming and smashing into one another such as ping-pong balls, or just had objects spinning.”

He added: “We had long shutter speeds, short shutter speeds, wide negative colour, negative overexposure, underexposure.

"It was like a giant playground for all of us.”

However, Oppenheimer’s Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Andrew Jackson has clarified the use of CGI in the film.

Advert

Universal Pictures

"Some people have picked that up and taken it to mean that there are no visual effects, which is clearly not true," Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter.

He explained that 'visual effects can encompass a whole lot of things', including CGI.

But Jackson did firm up that '[Nolan] didn’t want use any CG simulations of a nuclear explosion'.

"He wanted to be in that sort of language of the era of the film … using practical filmed elements to tell that story," Jackson added.

Advert

"They used four 44 gallon drums of fuel and then some high explosives under that, which sets the fuel alight and launches it into the air.

"We had some with really close-up detail of the burning explosion.

"We had a lot of material that we could layer up and build into something that had the appearance of something much bigger."

Featured Image Credit: Universal Pictures

Topics: Oppenheimer, TV and Film, Christopher Nolan

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

X

@Anish_Vij

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
4 hours ago
22 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Film fans are urging people to watch dystopian thriller that becomes ‘more relevant every year’

    It's been nearly two decades since the film was released

    Entertainment
  • 4 hours ago

    Johnny Depp explains why he took Amber Heard to trial in rare interview

    He reckons he's a 'crash test dummy' for the MeToo movement

    Entertainment
  • 22 hours ago

    Machine Gun Kelly speaks out for first time about relationship with Megan Fox since having daughter

    Actress Megan Fox and musician MGK are 'co-parenting' their baby daughter after being in an on-and-off relationship for four years

    Entertainment
  • 22 hours ago

    MrBeast shares 'depressing' impact 14-day water-only fast had on his body

    YouTube champion, MrBeast, said his 14-day water fast came with unexpected negative effects on his mind and body

    Entertainment
  • Disturbing detail in Interstellar has been noticed after it was re-released in cinemas 10 years later
  • Christopher Nolan reflected on accepting award for Heath Ledger in emotional Golden Globes speech
  • Man rewatching Titanic in stitches at ‘worst CGI in cinema history’
  • Tragic story of guy who played Sloth in The Goonies as sequel movie is announced