Director Christopher Nolan explains the technological feat of Oppenheimer, which will make film history. Oppenheimer is Nolan’s first release since 2020’s Tenet. With Tenet underperforming at the box office due to pandemic restrictions, Nolan hopes to turn his luck around with Oppenheimer. The film is a biographical epic following scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the creator of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy in the titular role, along with a superstar supporting cast of actors such as Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, and Casey Affleck.
In a new interview, Nolan explained the technology behind Oppenheimer that makes it unlike any film before. According to Games Radar, Nolan and his team had a special request for those at Kodak Photochem – they wanted some Oppenheimer scenes to be shot in black-and-white IMAX. If the tests were successful, Oppenheimer would become the first film ever to use both formats at the same time. Nolan describes his request for this form of filmmaking and his resulting reaction to their first tests of the form.
“So we challenged the people at Kodak photochem to make this work for us. And they stepped up. For the first time ever, we were able to shoot IMAX film in black-and-white. And the results were thrilling and extraordinary. As soon as Hoyte [van Hoytema, Nolan cinematographer since Interstellar] and I saw the first tests come in, we just knew that this was a format that we were immediately in love with.”
The Evolution Christopher Nolan’s Technology Choices
Nolan has been known as an IMAX director for years. IMAX cameras were not always Nolan’s weapon of choice, however. His breakout hit Memento was shot on a 35mm camera with an anamorphic lens. The Dark Knight changed Nolan’s strategy as Nolan shot sequences of The Dark Knight with an IMAX camera, and shortly thereafter that became his go-to format for his large-scale sci-fi action films.
As if Nolan’s groundbreaking IMAX films were not enough, the director will now break another film record by combining IMAX with black-and-white. By using the black-and-white color scheme, which defined cinema from the period in which J. Robert Oppenheimer himself was alive, and combining it with the uniquely 21st-century IMAX form, Nolan has the opportunity to break records not just behind the scenes, but have a distinct visual effect on screen that is different from any of its predecessors. The black-and-white filmmaking also represents a return to Nolan’s roots, as his first-ever feature, Following, was shot in black-and-white back in 1998.
How Much of Oppenheimer Will Be in Black & White?
Based on Oppenheimer’s most recent trailer, however, Nolan is not committing to black-and-white for the film’s duration. The teaser trailer for Oppenheimer was predominantly in black-and-white, save the explosive fire on screen. Now, the newest trailer features scenes in black-and-white, but most of it is in color. How much these black-and-white moments will be used remains to be seen. Nonetheless, with the IMAX camera being used, Nolan will make history with Oppenheimer and allow himself to more seamlessly transition between the color and black-and-white sequences.
Source: Games Radar
