The Trinity Test
To prove that the atomic weapon they create is useable, J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team conduct a test of a prototype weapon, later called the Trinity Test. Nolan, who is an anti-CGI (computer generated imagery) absolutist, created the sequence involving the first ever detonation of a nuclear device with the intensity it called for. Nolan shows sparks and explosions as the bomb erupts, spewing its energy into the Earth and unleashing hellfire upon the earth. The imagery Nolan uses is very violent and energetic, which underscores the weapon's bountiful power and its ability to inflict harm upon scores of people. The sounds of the whirring indicators and the sight of the dwindling timer show the high-stakes situation the scientists (and more broadly, the world, is in with the development of the weapon. If they were unsuccessful, their adversaries could have time to deploy a bomb of their own and dominate the world.
Strauss
The Strauss hearings and associated scenes in Washington D.C., which Nolan presents in black and white (the rest of the film is in color), are often drab and cold. The lack of color in these scenes illustrate the mundanity of the situation Strauss is in: on the surface, he is one of many men who have gone through the confirmation process in front of the United States. That is all Strauss thinks it is; however, audiences know that there is more beyond the surface. Audiences know that Strauss is single-minded in his hatred for Oppenheimer. Because of the black and white, audiences likewise know that Strauss has very little depth. They know that he is a petty and egotistical man who wants to do the right thing for him, but not anyone else.
Truman and Oppenheimer
When Oppenheimer and President Truman meet, Oppenheimer says he feels as though he has "blood on his hands." This scene is marked by a distant knocking noise and Truman mockingly offering Oppenheimer a handkerchief to wipe away his tears. When the two first meet, there is no soundtrack. However, as the tension in the scene escalates and Oppenheimer begins to speak earnestly, Nolan begins to incorporate music from the soundtrack and frames Oppenheimer in close-up. This auditory and visual imagery underscores not only the precarious position of the world as it relates to the proliferation of nuclear arms, but Oppenheimer's own narcissism. Truman waves his handkerchief in front of Oppenheimer to tell him that no one is crying for him and no one blames him for dropping the bomb on Japan. Truman does this to tell Oppenheimer that he shouldn't feel like he has blood on his hands and that his concerns are unwarranted, because the United States (and Truman specifically) was to blame for developing and dropping the weapon.
