In atom bomb test footage, why is the background just black most of the times?

Question

So, I’ve been watching alot of atomic bomb test footage from the 1950’s. And almost every single time the background is black, Is this because the cameras are shooting on black and white film?

In: Other

Answer 1

Other people have the answer about the dark filters…the light is so bright you’d bake your film. Another interesting thing about the tests is the vertical lines of smoke in many of them. I considered them pretty odd and unnatural, so I looked it up. They’re from rockets launched just before the test so the researchers could track the shock front of the explosion.