MovieChat Forums > Ritânâ (2002) Discussion > 'Bullet Time' not an invention of The Ma...

'Bullet Time' not an invention of The Matrix

posted 19 years ago by UberNoodle
26 replies | jump to latest

Many people are comparing The Returner to The Matrix because of the so called "Bullet Time" affects. Read below ...

History
Long before the emergence of a technology permitting a live-action application, bullet-time as a concept was frequently developed in cel animation. One of the earliest examples is the shot at the end of the title sequence for the late-sixties japanese animated series Speed Racer: as Speed leaps from the Mach 5, he freezes in mid-jump, and then the camera does an arc shot from top to sideways. The most renowned anime example can be found in the cult classic Akira. In one scene, the telekinetically inclined antagonist, Tetsuo, dodges bullets as a camera orbits around him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_time

Please the read the rest .. it's a very interesting page.

Now, I hope that this can set the record straight and people can enjoy The Returner for the fun film it is without this ironic comparison to The Matrix that ripped off nearly everything Asian Action and Scifi had to offer - live action and anime alike. And the creators freely admit it. Why can't fans?

[–] sephiroth-clone-0 19 years ago

Kudos, Dude!!!

Exactly.

Like, camera pans in slo-mo have been all over the anime industry for like, freakin' forever, so it's not some huge new thing.

I DO think, though, that the Matrix WAS the first commercially released movie to America to have the "bullet time" effect, if not the first live action film at all (don't think the last one's true, SOME Japanese movie or another had to have beaten it on that record), but it was pulled off originally on the first Matrix-- then it was all CG, which was by that point all over the place. (which, incidentally, I heard they TRADEMARKED the phrase, 'bullet time', though I have no idea WHY). I mean, I don't remember the shot from Akira (gotta watch it again, I guess), but like, it was in Ghost in the Shell, for instance.

Returner was way cooler than the Matrix trilogy anyway.
Matrix 1 was really good, but...

Just the fact that Miyamoto wasn't like, in a computer simulator and practically immortal, but he still kicked that much ass... that shows you that Neo was a pansy. And Miyamoto still didn't die, Neo did. the feeb.

[–] caparzo21 19 years ago

The 1998 Lost in Space movie has a time travel sequence where the characters are frozen in space as the camera pans around them (albeit in a very shallow arc). Also, check out Blade, from the same year, for slow motion dodging of silvery CGI bullets that leave wakes in the air.

The earliest I can remember seeing a bullet time style camera effect being used was in an advert for either the Brit or Q awards TV show in the UK, where they used a smaller scale camera rig to film the red carpet arrivals.

That was probably '95 or '96 because it was about the same time the Rolling Stones had 'Like a Rolling Stone' out, the video for which utilised a similar 'shallow pan' camera rig, to create the impression of 3d photos being rotated left to right and vice-versa.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] wopla 19 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne

[–] godsburden 16 years ago

A better tomorrow 2 has a scene where a bullet is frozen mid frame for effect. However, i've seen the spinning "bullet time" effect done in various forms well before the matrix.

[–] alaskowski 19 years ago

Trancers (1985)
Long second watch.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090192/

[–] tawdry_hepburn 19 years ago

well, an indie film called "SLC Punk!" actually had the effect in 1997. only, they did it with still camera shots looped together. hell, that movie's budget was 750,000 total. but damn good flick.

said the shotgun to the head
-Saul Williams

[–] SilentJay32 18 years ago

Like, camera pans in slo-mo have been all over the anime industry for like, freakin' forever, so it's not some huge new thing.

Anime and live-action are two very different mediums. It's one thing to have a drawn image to do something, as the camera isn't panning around anything, and completely another to have a real person do the same thing. The Matrix was arguably the first major movie to use anime styled effects with live-action.

[–] HHFan 18 years ago

"Anime and live-action are two very different mediums. It's one thing to have a drawn image to do something, as the camera isn't panning around anything, and completely another to have a real person do the same thing. The Matrix was arguably the first major movie to use anime styled effects with live-action."

Irrelevant. They didn't invent it, therefore they shouldn't be treated as gods over something like that.

[–] caparzo21 17 years ago

The Matrix was arguably the first major movie to use anime styled effects with live-action.

City Hunter?

[–] Sgt_Price 16 years ago

True, but sadly the MATRIX took it to high level and now Bullet time is associated with it. Pretty dumb, but yeah.

[–] AndromedaRoach 18 years ago

it was pulled off originally on the first Matrix-- then it was all CG, which was by that point all over the place.

It wasn't all CG; the actors were photographed with a rig of hundreds of synchronized digital cameras. The ability to freeze time and truck (physically move a camera sideways through space, as opposed to pans which are just pivots) through an area or around an object has existed for decades; the apparatus would run a strip of unexposed film through a series of dozens of identical lens mounts and expose every cell simultaneously. Nothing digital about it, no animation required.

The cockroach is a noble beast....

[–] tawdry_hepburn 19 years ago

okay, but this film is still ripped off of inumerable american films. hell, the space pod and alien were almost directly out of ID4. the plot was the terminator. and this film was most definitely infulenced by the world wide success of (the far superior) The Matrix.

said the shotgun to the head
-Saul Williams

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tawdry_hepburn 19 years ago

well, they reused themes. i cant speak for La Jetee, (though i will make an effort to see that now) but ID4 made reference to WotW then moved on with its own story. this film seemed to have sequences made specifically to evoke and immitate the other films.

said the shotgun to the head
-Saul Williams

[–] Ace19444 15 years ago

The first alien invasion movie didn't come out in 1996, Independence day ripped off just as much as this did

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Ace19444&view=videos
music videos I've made^

[–] tawdry_hepburn 15 years ago

No. This movie took clear visual cues from ID4.

,Said the Shotgun to the Head--
Saul Williams

www.myspace.com/ohhorrorofhorrors

[–] wounds 19 years ago

All given examples here do a freeze... while durring bullet time the action keeps on running... that is the true power of bullet time...

And comparing anime with live action movies is lame...

[–] theburningone 18 years ago

The thought about The Matrix not revolutionizing Bullet time is true. But really what was so revolutionary about the Matrix bullet time is the WAY it was filmed. That's really what the big deal about it was back when it first came out.

[–] MirrorMirror 18 years ago

they borrowed music from Deep Impact.. just listen closely towards the ending

'He's got a towel - run away!'

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] grgurmg 18 years ago

Just a quick thought...

I always concidered "bullet time", as it's called in The Matrix, to be more the actual technology utilized to create that effect, as seen in the original Matrix. Now, this may not be technically true of the definition or most popular use of the word, but it's perhaps what people have in mind when they say they "invented bullet time" for The Matrix.

That technology being the use of chained together still cameras to get that "frozen in time" but still moving effect. Not only are the actors moving but so does the camera appear to. It's more then just slow mo panning. Furthermore, obviously (as people have mentioned) it's a different story when you talking about animation.

Furthermore, it's interesting to note that the original "bullet time" technology wasn't used as much (if at all) in the Matrix sequels. Most of it was done with CG doubles instead. I suppose you could still call it bulletime, but since I have my own idea (whether correct or not) of what the "bullet time effect" is, I kinda like to concider it "simulated bullet time"... or even "bootleg bullet time".

Even furthermore, I would like to point out my "probably" almost "obnoxious" use of "quotes" in this "post". ;)

[–] TheEmulator23 17 years ago

It's called bullet time because of the way the cameras are setup and the way it is processed. Try watching some of the special features on "The Matrix" films to see just exactly how it works. Give it a try.

[–] KUKlein 17 years ago

I personally liked it better in Ritana...

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Lunchbox-3 16 years ago

As everyone said, Matrix didn't invent the effect, they didn't invent the array of still cameras, these effects were used in live-action before. My first memory was in a series of commercials for The Gap and later in "Lost In Space." But they did popularize the effect by using in a movie that was seen by a lot more people than anything else mentioned, and by using it a lot in the movie and it a way that called attention to itself as an important plot point, so people remembered it more. Unlike "Lost In Space" where it was just a 5-second throwaway effect.

It's like Christopher Columbus, he didn't invent America, it was already there, he really didn't even discover it since other Easterners had been there before. He just made it the cool place to be.