Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
O P P E N H E I M E R | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 3 9 "T": Main Street running north/south and the entrance into the Tech-Section (the most securely guarded buildings within Los Alamos, where Oppie held his daily lectures) running east/west. Using models created by Adam Gelbart, we began to digest the scope and scale of our town, and construction coordinator Jonas Kirk began putting numbers to the initial concepts. The Art Department's first pass was too big to set up indoors, instead taking up the entire back patio. Coincidentally, it was also too big to fit the reality of our production budget. The model turned into our own version of Monopoly—what could we afford and what should we build? By the end of budgeting, there was a graveyard of sad (but very well- constructed) models living under our tables. Having given locations more time to gather Los Alamos site options, Chis and I headed back on the road. In New Mexico, we saw several potential locations, along with the actual Trinity test site, where the world's first atomic bomb was detonated. There, we scoped the three hundred sixty views within the Tularosa Basin, noting that many original bunkers remained on the range. We walked the original basecamp and its remaining foundations. We stood at what was left of the steel tower, upon which the bomb was placed—a somber, powerful moment. The success of this test and its significance for the U.S. (and the rest of the world) was not lost on me. We continued our New Mexico scout, heading due north to see several locations, including Ghost Ranch (located outside Abiquiu), and more specifically, a portion of land referred to as the Tennessee Valley. This section is high up on a plateau with unobstructed 360-degree views. It also resides along the exact same mountain range as the real Los Alamos town. Ghost Ranch was expansive, remote and uninhabited. Chris said, "This is epic." We all felt it. When cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema joined me and Chris there to talk through the potential layout and study the light and views, it was clear to each of us the powerful impact this location would have on our film. It was incredibly cinematic. We wanted to lean hard into the picturesque landscapes we'd found and committed to avoiding 1/24/22 Los Alamos Site Plan Scale: 1:500 1 0 25 50 75 100 FT & S1 (GUARD TOWER) TO S2 (GUARD TOWER) SC. 99 - OPPIE, NICHOLS, AND CONDON SHOW GROVES THE GROWING TOWN SC. 214 - OPPIE WALKS IN A DAZE, RELIEVED (POST BOMB) SC. 158 - GROVES AND OPPIE WALK DOWN MAIN DRAG, DISCUSS PROGRESS AND BIRTH CONTROL SC. 91 - OPPIE WALKS BETHE THRU SECURITY GATE SC. 151 - OPPIE WON'T LET TELLER LEAVE SC. 97 - CARS PULL UP; GROVES INTRODUCES FUCHS SC. 105 - LILLI HORNIG JOINS THE PLUTONIUM TEAM SC. 231 - OPPIE AND TELLER CHAT ABOUT BLACKETT SC. 108 - OPPIE GREETS LAURENCE + LOMANITZ SC. 205-207 - CRATES LOADED ONTO TRUCKS; THE BOMB IS CRATED; OPPIE AND GROVES TALK; THE TRUCK PULLS AWAY PROD DESIGN. RUTH DE JONG / SAD SAMANTHA ENGLENDER 310-343-8604 DP SET # LOS ALAMOS - OVERALL SITE LOCATION 108-112 GHOST RANCH, NEW MEXICO RELEASED 2/10/22 11:35:42 AM E. LOS ALAMOS SITE PLAN DRAWN BY JIM HEWITT. E