Christopher Nolan has always been a filmmaker who chooses practical effects over CGI whenever possible, believing that what happens in front of the camera creates a more authentic experience. With Oppenheimer, he took this philosophy to the extreme - creating an entire film about the atomic bomb without using a single CGI shot. Instead of relying on digital effects, his team used massive cloud tanks filled with spinning beads on wires, aluminum flakes, pieces of wood, and burning thermites, all captured on 65mm IMAX cameras. They even used real explosives to recreate the Trinity test, experimenting with different shutter speeds and color techniques that Nolan described as “like a giant playground.” Nolan’s approach proves that practical effects can still outperform CGI when done right. His goal was to make the Trinity explosion “both beautiful and mesmerizing, but horrifying in equal measure” - and the result speaks for itself. While most filmmakers take the digital route, Nolan remin...