Christopher Nolan created ATOMIC EXPLOSION without CGI for OPPENHEIMER
Without the use of computer images, Nolan said, "I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation ever] was a significant undertaking to take on" (via Games Radar). "Andrew Jackson, my visual effects supervisor, who I brought on board early, was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the actual Trinity test, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New mexico in extraordinary weather, much of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there - there were huge practical challenges."
J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the "father of the atomic bomb," oversaw the "Manhattan Project," which created the first nuclear weapons for World war II. He also served as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. Additionally, he oversaw the Trinity Test, which saw the successful detonation of the first atomic weapon in New Mexico. The scientist in question is portrayed by Cillian Murphy, and his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, is portrayed by Emily Blunt.