Oppenheimer credits ignore VFX artistes

A still from Oppenheimer

While Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is noted for not having any CGI in recreating the nuclear explosion, it did still have a lot of VFX artistes who worked in creating the practical explosion. However, according to the end credits, Nolan forgot to credit over an estimated 80 per cent of those artistes.

The biopic is based on J Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who oversaw the Trinity Test and the Manhattan Project, leading to the development of the first atomic bomb in history in 1945 during the end of World War 2.

One of the film's biggest highlights was when Nolan said that in recreating the nuclear explosion or any of the other elements, such as neutron particles which the scientist kept seeing in his imagination were all created through practical effects and featured no CGI.

This was indeed true as the blast and its accompanying intricacies such as the heatwave, radiation or the burning flames were indeed recreated through practical effects such as miniature explosions and such, meaning that indeed no computer imagery was used. But that does not mean that VFX wasn't used.

Recreating the explosion without any CGI was probably the most difficult part in the movie, and several animators and VFX experts have said that Nolan has not credited most of the VFX team who helped in designing the explosion. While only 27 names appeared on screen, DNEG, which is one of the leading global VFX production companies and collaborated with Nolan for the film, has said that over 160 VFX artistes in fact worked on the film accounting for at least 80 per cent artistes not being credited.

Many animators and visual effects experts have expressed anger at this on social media, though Oppenheimer crew has been silent on the whole thing. Perhaps at a later date, they may reveal what truly happened as they begin breaking down the explosion and other aspects.

Oppenheimer's box-office numbers are far exceeding its expected global projections grossing over $85 million so far and receiving an overwhelmingly 96 per cent positive reception, which has by far been the highest in 2023.

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