How Oppenheimer's Sets Were Built Without CGI | Vanity Fair

Production designer Ruth De Jong shows us how she brought Christopher Nolan's vision to life for his iconic film 'Oppenheimer.' How do you portray scale with sets? What goes into building a 360 set? From ample research to gather all the intricate details to physically bringing the sets to life, Ruth takes us through her genius design process of the film.

Director: Funmi Sunmonu
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Cory Stevens
Talent: Ruth De Jong
Producer: Juliet Lopez
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Associate Producer: Emebeit Beyene
Production Manager: Andressa Pelachi and Kevin Balash
Associate Director, Talent:: Meredith Judkins
Camera Operator: Marques Smith
Sound : Kara Johnson
Production Assistant: Liza Antonova
Set Designer: Cedar Jocks
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Jovan James
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Graphics Supervisor: Ross Rackin



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[akhillmufc]

The fact that they filmed the whole movie in 57 days makes this even more incredible

[lewisanderton]

Just bear in mind that if you take the total budget of this film and add Barbie's total budget on top of it, both films combined cost less money to make than the Flash.

[jackson]

9:41 I'm sorry what? They shot this entire masterpiece of a movie in less than 2 months? That's insane!

[KainedbutAble]

Crazy that there was no Oval Office set available to use, it must be one of the most reproduced locations in TV appearing in almost every political thriller.

[olgamatys]

What I love most about this movie is that I can literally ***see*** that the whole Nolan's team was working at some heavenly level. Now seeing how it was built is just so amazing.

[holasoyjuansm]

Ruth is amazing, so inspiring and fun and talented

[louisberry]

Ruth is awesome and deserves a Oscar nomination for Oppenheimer.

[momochanjones]

“And we will carry on”

-Christopher Nolan

[rexjamerson]

Having worked as a draftsman and CAD technician for well over 25 years and worked in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, architectural and land surveying, all of this was super interesting to me and I understood clearly everything she brought out in detail concerning the excellent drawings and lay out. Kudos to all those involved in this incredible project and bringing it to life. Can't wait to see the actual movie.

[happynealltdpolly]

I’m stressed just listening to it, bulding the oval office for 24 hours straight for a week

[RLVRT]

"You have to build this."
~Christopher Nolan

[trinaq]

I was really impressed by the set designs, and it's wonderful to see how they were created.

[JohnnyNiteTrain]

When the best of the best in their particular field collaborate, you get this masterpiece. Production designers, director, DP, art directors, composer, actors, editor. Awesome.

[MaleekLoyd]

Felt the pain in her voice when she said they shot it in 57 days

[brucecrawford_]

I respect her and the crew so much for building the Oval Office that fast. ✊

[saadalizeb]

I love watching these videos where we see such brilliant minds at the top of their game discussing their creative processes

[BlueButterfly]

They handled everything so well and so fast that it is mindblowing

[evandh]

She looks like she could use a hug and Costco-sized bottle of wine after working that film 😂

[LouieRides]

Wow that’s wild. I love hearing the stories of those behind the camera that are just as, if not more, vital to the movie

[abiola]

There was such a physical and solid authenticity to the set.