5 Christopher Nolan movie scenes that you thought were CGI, but aren’t

Oppenheimer is all set to hit the theatres on July 21, alongside Barbie. Nolan’s 12th venture as a director is a biographical thriller revolving around the life and work of Julius Robert Oppenheimer, the leader of the Manhattan Project, and the father of the atomic bomb.

ALSO READ: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a must-watch in IMAX; here’s why 

Like any Nolan movie, there’s a lot of anticipation around Oppenheimer, especially with the audiences wanting to see the recreation of the Trinity nuclear explosion on screen. What makes this scene iconic is that contrary to popular belief, Nolan and team did not use any CGI for the explosion. Surprised? You’ll be equally surprised to know that this isn’t the first time that Nolan has pulled something of this sort. Here are five movie scenes you may have thought were shot using CGI but weren’t.

The Trinity Test – Oppenheimer (2023)

There is no doubt that a visually stunning, and not to mention, convincing nuclear explosion could definitely be recreated using CGI. However, Nolan recreated the scene using a combination of- believe it or not, ping pong balls being smashed, paint being chucked onto the walls along with a luminous magnesium solution. All these were shot up close at variable frame rates, as well as explosions caused using gasoline and a combination of Potassium Nitrate, Sulfur, and charcoal.

The truck flip scene – The Dark Knight (2008)

Who doesn’t remember The Dark Knight, starring Heath Ledger as the Joker? In this iconic scene, the Joker is seen wreaking havoc in Gotham City in a big rig by night, following which Batman stops him using a steel cable, causing the truck to flip over.  

Now, one would naturally assume the same was shot using CGI. After all a vehicle that size being brought to a halt and flipped using a cable is seemingly implausible, even by Nolan’s standards. The secret behind this shot was to use a piston placed in the ground to launch the truck and cause it to flip. What’s more, all members of the cast and crew, including the driver of the truck, were unhurt in the shooting of the sequence. 

The docking scene – Interstellar (2014)

This is the scene in Interstellar where Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) tries to dock the Ranger to the heavily damaged Endurance spacecraft. And it was yet another impressive example of practical effects being combined with cinematography to create an immersive and realistic viewing experience.  

Both the Ranger and the spinning Endurance spacecraft were created as models built to scale, to capture a realistic look and feel. Furthermore, to accurately and realistically capture the spacecraft’s rotation, motion control camera systems were used for precise camera movements, which could be easily repeated. Additionally, the footage of the Endurance spinning was also projected onto a screen surrounding the set, which created the illusion of movement.

The hallway fight scene – Inception (2010)

Inception takes audiences on a roller-coaster ride and constantly makes them question what reality is and what isn’t. One such scene was the gravity-defying hallway fight. The sequence, wherein Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) engages in an intense brawl, was created by using two sets combined with good old-fashioned stunt work.  

The first set, used to recreate the zero gravity scenes, was vertical, but stationary. The other was a set identical in every sense, except that it was a horizontal centrifuge set, used for portions of the fight wherein gravity was shown to be shifting. This, coupled with the use of wire harnesses later edited out, resulted in a breathtaking scene which seemed to defy the very laws of physics.

Dogfighting Spitfires – Dunkirk (2017)

Dunkirk’s sound design and sets are still perhaps unparalleled when it comes to audio-visual recreations of World War II. Take, for example, the scenes where one sees Spitfires of the Royal Air Force engaged in combat over the beaches of France, with German Messerschmitt Me 109s.  

Nolan, for this sequence, borrowed an actual Hispano Buchon aircraft, which was disguised to look like its older sibling, the Me 109. Along with it were three real Supermarine Spitfires all flown by trained pilots, and a few remotely controlled models built to scale, all of them complete with period markings on them.

Bearing in mind the sheer hard work and ingenuity that went into the aforementioned movies, we can’t wait to see what Oppenheimer has in store for us. Can you?