Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER

[JediMichael]

Heres a really cool video showing the threading of an IMAX projector.
It actually feeds from left to right across the lens, where as 35mm feeds top to bottom, but still lays on its side. The really old ones had the reels upwards, like anyone remember watching 8mm or 16mm films in school back in the day.
Digital has really leapt forward the last 20 years, thanks to George, but something about the old school film way is just hard to truly beat.

 

[Pepperbone]

I like it.

 

[JediMichael]

Usually time period movies aren't my favorite, but, I have always been interested in atomic bomb stuff and how devastating the blast can be.
So I think this is one movie that I will go watch, and in IMAX. Theres a theater about 20ish mins from me with one.
I think I only have seen The Dark Night in IMAX all those years ago.
NASA had a short film about space in IMAX at Kennedy Space Center I saw in 1992. I also saw Ben Burtt's Special Effects: Anything Can Happen in IMAX.
So I really haven't seen a whole lot of movies in IMAX.

 

[jusdrewit]

Anyone have any inkling how they created the nuclear blast for the movie since it's reported CGI wasn't used for that?

 

[Moviefreak]

Anyone have any inkling how they created the nuclear blast for the movie since it's reported CGI wasn't used for that?

“For the Trinity explosion, the special effects crew, led by Scott R. Fisher, employed a traditional technique known as Forced Perspective, using scaled-down models. However, Fisher proudly referred to these models as "big-atures" instead of miniatures, as they were made as large as possible while maintaining manageable proportions. The trick is simple: the closer these props were positioned to the camera, the larger they appeared, effectively conveying the desired visual impact.”

“Following the prop sets, the intense fire during the explosion was an amalgamation primarily of gasoline and propane. According to Fisher, this combination was chosen due to its high energy output in terms of the pyrotechnic aspect. The addition of aluminum powder and magnesium aimed to recreate the blinding flash commonly associated with a nuclear explosion. The team's intention was to create a visually striking effect that would leave a lasting impression on the audience, akin to the brightness experienced during an actual nuclear event. Their ultimate objective was to captivate viewers with this remarkable display and stimulate discussions surrounding it.”

“However, the biggest challenge was to create the mushroom cloud infamous for mammoth explosions. “Mushroom cloud” is a typical layman's term used to describe the quintessential by-product of a nuclear detonation. In a conversation with Empire, Nolan revealed that visualizing the fiery abstractness within Oppenheimer's brilliant mind is an insurmountable challenge. To achieve that veracity, palpability, and tactile explosion of the Trinity, the crew sagaciously photographed the whole explosion created by TNT in a multifaceted viewpoint and did compositing using computers which enabled the team to add multi-layers to the explosion. In a way, Nolan actually set off a bomb, but it's not an actual nuclear bomb.”

 

[jusdrewit]

“For the Trinity explosion, the special effects crew, led by Scott R. Fisher, employed a traditional technique known as Forced Perspective, using scaled-down models. However, Fisher proudly referred to these models as "big-atures" instead of miniatures, as they were made as large as possible while maintaining manageable proportions. The trick is simple: the closer these props were positioned to the camera, the larger they appeared, effectively conveying the desired visual impact.”

“Following the prop sets, the intense fire during the explosion was an amalgamation primarily of gasoline and propane. According to Fisher, this combination was chosen due to its high energy output in terms of the pyrotechnic aspect. The addition of aluminum powder and magnesium aimed to recreate the blinding flash commonly associated with a nuclear explosion. The team's intention was to create a visually striking effect that would leave a lasting impression on the audience, akin to the brightness experienced during an actual nuclear event. Their ultimate objective was to captivate viewers with this remarkable display and stimulate discussions surrounding it.”

“However, the biggest challenge was to create the mushroom cloud infamous for mammoth explosions. “Mushroom cloud” is a typical layman's term used to describe the quintessential by-product of a nuclear detonation. In a conversation with Empire, Nolan revealed that visualizing the fiery abstractness within Oppenheimer's brilliant mind is an insurmountable challenge. To achieve that veracity, palpability, and tactile explosion of the Trinity, the crew sagaciously photographed the whole explosion created by TNT in a multifaceted viewpoint and did compositing using computers which enabled the team to add multi-layers to the explosion. In a way, Nolan actually set off a bomb, but it's not an actual nuclear bomb.”

Wow, thanks for that! Super interesting

 

[JediMichael]

I wonder if that will be the very end of the movie, or sooner with them deciding to actually bomb Japan?
It is exciting to see how they pulled all this off this way, and that they chose it to be more real then just CGI it all.

I can imagine, when everything was in place, getting the cameras rolling, how nervous everyone was waiting to blow up the whole set and hope it worked out correctly.
That would be with any movie.
All the model work from Independence Day and blowing up all the buildings like the White House. Real will pretty much always beat out CGI.

 

[Malibu139]

I can’t imagine Nolan crafting the movie to build up to THE event at the end. Also I can’t imagine THE event in the beginning and doing the overused “tell the story of how we got to this point” either.

I am betting on an incremental reveal throughout, while hoping for a gripping character driven story.

Its a pretty cool to have no idea and be this excited. I can’t remember the last time I have seen this many movies in theater in this short a time.

My kids are pushing for a Barbenheimer weekend, I am not so sure…

 

[batguy]

I want a Barbie/Oppenheimer crossover flick.

 

[Pepperbone]

I want a Barbie/Oppenheimer crossover flick.

Meanwhile, at Disney headquarters….

 

[Pepperbone]

I liked it a lot, but I’m looking forward to re-watching it at home. Except for a few scenes, I couldn’t understand most of what the characters were saying. Not sure if it was because of the theater’s system or the mix, but it kinda ruined the experience.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

I liked it a lot, but I’m looking forward to re-watching it at home. Except for a few scenes, I couldn’t understand most of what the characters were saying. Not sure if it was because of the theater’s system or the mix, but it kinda ruined the experience.

Yeah, a lot of reviews are saying they had the “Tenet experience” regarding the sound mix…that it sounded like a lot of mumbling in some scenes, unfortunately.

 

[Eruonen]

I liked it a lot, but I’m looking forward to re-watching it at home. Except for a few scenes, I couldn’t understand most of what the characters were saying. Not sure if it was because of the theater’s system or the mix, but it kinda ruined the experience.

I really want to know why this has become such a consistent problem with Nolan. He didn’t used to release movies with bad sound mixes.

 

[Pepperbone]

Yeah, a lot of reviews are saying they had the “Tenet experience” regarding the sound mix…that it sounded like a lot of mumbling in some scenes, unfortunately.

I'm still baffled by how bad it was.
Nolan's endings, to me, are always epic.

In this one, without revealing anything, it ends on a character saying something to another character, and that exchange ends up triggering a sequence of important events...and having no clue what was said, I walked out of the theater feeling cheated.

I really want to know why this has become such a consistent problem with Nolan. He didn’t used to release movies with bad sound mixes.

I mean...yeah, Tenet was bad. But this one's a lot worse. I'm completely blown away by how muffled it sounded.
I was often cupping my hands behind my ears to try and catch what was being said.

Great performances, incredible cast, great visuals, good score, writing, editing, pacing....but a big disappointing fail for the mixing.

 

[publiusr]

I think barrels of flash powder used to be used to simulate blasts in wargames?

 

[wayouteast]

I'm still baffled by how bad it was.
Nolan's endings, to me, are always epic.

In this one, without revealing anything, it ends on a character saying something to another character, and that exchange ends up triggering a sequence of important events...and having no clue what was said, I walked out of the theater feeling cheated.


I mean...yeah, Tenet was bad. But this one's a lot worse. I'm completely blown away by how muffled it sounded.
I was often cupping my hands behind my ears to try and catch what was being said.

Great performances, incredible cast, great visuals, good score, writing, editing, pacing....but a big disappointing fail for the mixing.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a deliberate decision by Nolan to - in his words - 'play with our perceptions of sound'. All his most recent films have had the same issue, and he's reacted to criticism of the inaudibility of dialogue in those movies (even from fellow film-makers) in a very arrogant and frankly rather pretentious way by blaming the listeners for their narrow-mindedness. Imagine the nerve of us plebs wanting to hear what people are saying! /s

It's why I'll wait for Oppenheimer to come out on streaming or Blu-Ray so I can watch it with subtitles, assuming Nolan doesn't decide to go one stage further and forbid their use . I go the the cinema to be thrilled, moved and entertained, not frustrated.

 

[Pepperbone]

Unfortunately, it seems to be a deliberate decision by Nolan to - in his words - 'play with our perceptions of sound'.

If that’s the case, he has lost his mind.

 

[blewis17]

I liked it a lot, but I’m looking forward to re-watching it at home. Except for a few scenes, I couldn’t understand most of what the characters were saying. Not sure if it was because of the theater’s system or the mix, but it kinda ruined the experience.

Chris Stuckmann says it's the mix and POSSIBLY an artistic choice.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

He didn’t used to release movies with bad sound mixes...

He used to release movies with bad dialogue. Now he releases movies with good dialogue but bad sound to balance it out.

 

[Pepperbone]

Chris Stuckmann says it's the mix and POSSIBLY an artistic choice.

I have no words.

What's next, Vaseline on the lens?