Oppenheimer: Christopher Nolan Reveals Why Some of the Film Is in Black & White

The upcoming Oppenheimer will see Christopher Nolan forging a new path in some ways while also embracing some of his tried-and-true cinematic techniques, one of which being the use of black-and-white photography. Given that Nolan is known for being a detail-oriented filmmaker, this isn’t at all an arbitrary stylistic choice, as he recently recalled that by jumping between color and black-and-white photography, it helps convey the perspective of Oppenheimer himself, as played by Cillian Murphy, versus the objective details of how the real-world events unfolded. Oppenheimer is slated to hit theaters on July 21st.

“I knew that I had two timelines that we were running in the film,” Nolan shared with the Associated Press. “One is in color, and that’s Oppenheimer’s subjective experience. That’s the bulk of the film. Then the other is a black-and-white timeline. It’s a more objective view of his story from a different character’s point of view.”

This isn’t the first time that Nolan has used this shift to help convey dual storylines, as his breakout film, Memento, used a similar device. With that movie featuring a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury that impacted his short-term memory, Nolan told the whole story by using two timelines that ultimately converged together by the end of the film. The timeline in color featured sequences that chronologically unfolded in reverse, conveying how the man kept finding himself unaware of what led to these encounters he found himself in, while the black-and-white interstitials unfolded chronologically, leading toward a convergence.

Using these varying color schemes wasn’t as easy of a feat for Oppenheimer, as it utilized IMAX cameras to help convey the scope of the storyline. Given that the format is often utilized to offer audiences as vivid a picture as possible, Nolan had to work with the company to develop the black-and-white format to be utilized for his project.

“We shot a lot of our hair and makeup tests using black and white. And then we would go to the IMAX film projector at CityWalk and project it there,” Nolan detailed. “I’ve just never seen anything like it. To see such a massive black-and-white film image? It’s just a wonderful thing.”

Oppenheimer is slated to hit theaters on July 21st.

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