This is a featurette found on the DVD for The Matrix, as well as on one of the 10 discs in the Ultimate release. It consists of behind-the-scenes footage, test material, animatics and an interview. John Gaeta, the man behind the technology, explains... throughout this... and thus answers the question posed in the title. It's not bad, and the information is interesting, it's just perhaps not the most gripping way to tell it. The method is described, and we do get good insight into how it works and the way they do it, the photography and all. For being so short... six minutes... it does hold a fair amount. The editing is fine. Pacing is unimpressive. This breaks no new ground, and has nothing to offer anyone who doesn't specifically wish to find out more about this particular subject. This doesn't necessarily give anything in the film away(the first one, obviously, what with the year on this), and it doesn't hold anything objectionable, the strongest is images of bullets hitting, of which there is slim to nil in this. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know about Bullet-Time, and maybe fans of the franchise. 6/10
2 Reviews
Interesting short that doesn't quite pass on the passion or sense of discovery
bob the moo26 June 2003
Following the success of The Matrix's groundbreaking special effects, the creator of bullet time photography, Gaines, talks through how the process works and how they put together the effects that worked to great effect in the film.
This little short has probably out lived it's usefulness. When it was made it was 1999 - the year of The Matrix - and the talk was all about the special effects and in particular the unique bullet time technique. We'd all seen the majority of the Matrix before (ie the wire work) but this was new and everyone was pretty taken by it. This documentary gives a nice introduction to the technique without going over the top on technical detail. It is interesting to see the scenes being shot against the green background and see the computer moving around freely on the set of the rooftop or subway station where the two main effect shots happen.
But is 4 minutes really enough? Yes, I'd say, but the problem is that this subject should have been part of a much bigger documentary rather than one of 3 very short films put onto the dvd and video. Instead of being lost in a sea of discussion and facts I was left simply going `oh'. One of the antidotes for this was the delivery of special effects co-ordinator Gaines who is genuinely enthused about the subject and manages to bring out his passion despite the fact he must have talked it to death by the time he made this film. The contribution from voice-over man is annoying and only serves to make this feel more like a cheap trailer and not a docu-short.
Overall this is of interest to Matrix completists but I doubt many fans don't already know the basics that are covered in this short. Also, seeing many other standard actioners aping the effects here (and seeing Reloaded take them further) take away from their impact now. Worth a watch in companion with the film though - it's only 4 minutes long after all.
This little short has probably out lived it's usefulness. When it was made it was 1999 - the year of The Matrix - and the talk was all about the special effects and in particular the unique bullet time technique. We'd all seen the majority of the Matrix before (ie the wire work) but this was new and everyone was pretty taken by it. This documentary gives a nice introduction to the technique without going over the top on technical detail. It is interesting to see the scenes being shot against the green background and see the computer moving around freely on the set of the rooftop or subway station where the two main effect shots happen.
But is 4 minutes really enough? Yes, I'd say, but the problem is that this subject should have been part of a much bigger documentary rather than one of 3 very short films put onto the dvd and video. Instead of being lost in a sea of discussion and facts I was left simply going `oh'. One of the antidotes for this was the delivery of special effects co-ordinator Gaines who is genuinely enthused about the subject and manages to bring out his passion despite the fact he must have talked it to death by the time he made this film. The contribution from voice-over man is annoying and only serves to make this feel more like a cheap trailer and not a docu-short.
Overall this is of interest to Matrix completists but I doubt many fans don't already know the basics that are covered in this short. Also, seeing many other standard actioners aping the effects here (and seeing Reloaded take them further) take away from their impact now. Worth a watch in companion with the film though - it's only 4 minutes long after all.
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