Six Special Effects From The Matrix

Six special effects from the matrix

“Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to feel it for yourself” says Morpheus to Neo. Well, the statement is only more fitting for the special effects in the film. I might be able to explain Matrix, given adequate time, but the action, oh boy! you have to watch it for yourself. Released in 1999, The Matrix was not just a crossover between Philosophy and Science fiction but a revolutionary action entertainment that was more than capable of enthralling the audience by the weight of its action alone. It showcased the type of fluid acrobatism popular in chineese action flicks coupled with some very innovative use of computer graphics. Here we take a look at the six amazing special effects from The Matrix.

Agent brown dodging bullets

Lets start with the least popular one. Agent Brown appears as Agent Smith's sidekick with very little dialogue and hardly any expression(and rightly so as they are meant to be emotionless programs). He has his task cut out. Get out there and do what Smith orders him to do. In the terrace fight scene, when Neo and Brown are engaged in the gun battle, Neo fires an array of shots at Brown. I counted 18 of them and Brown dodges them all by moving sideways and ducking forward. The movements are so fast that you see the image trails of Brown in all three directions around him (except rear). This may not have caught your eye while watching it but look at how close Neo is to agent while firing . To dodge that many shots in a distance that short ,one has to be insanely fast. To capture such impossible speeds, i am not sure what better effect could have fit in. 18 years have passed since The Matrix was released and this trick might fail to impress you now. His dodging technique and graphics is just ordinary for modern day standards. My computer webcam has almost the same effect preinstalled and you have apps and softwares which will let you do this in no time. But for 1999, it looked way more cooler. More than the technology involved, it was a lot about employing the right technique at the right place that stands out.

Bullet trail

Another one of those impact-visual that has become increasingly obsolete, thanks to the advancement in softwares. This will probably take ten minutes for you to replicate, if you are an Adobe After Effects expert(any good visual effects software for that matter) and may be a bit more time if you want to learn it from the many youtube tutorials available and employ it. The bullet trail looks like ripples in the air and paired with Matrix's own aesthetic application of slow-motion, this creates a unique style. The effect is used when Brown fires at Neo, when Neo and Smith locks themselves up in a mid-air subway clash, When a bullet from Smiths gun hits Morpheus leg and when Neo finally freezes the bullet in the climax. This bullet trail effect was used in many movies around the world after matrix had set the trend.

Flowing fire

We are talking about a scene that lasted not more than 12 seconds in the film. . It finds its place in the elite list of super special effects from Matrix for i am yet to see anything like this. Remember the lobby shoot out scene? Neo and Trinity rips throughs the guards in no time and before the scene cuts to the interrogation room where Morpheus is held, there is my golden 12 seconds of what i would fondly call 'Flowing fire'. Neo and Trinity blows up the elevator and the fire comes forth taking off the door. It looks visually stunning. Actually it looks like a flood of fire. It is not just a blast, but an artistic stream of fire that flows out of the door and spreads in all directions. Once again, the slow motion effects are the icing on the cake.

Matrix code/ Matrix digital rain

Matrix is a computer generated dreamworld and it is all about the codes that run this world. We see Tank, the computer operator ,working on it all the time, looking at the falling green codes and deciphering it to track the activities in Matrix. This digital rain is probably the most iconic image of the movie franchise. A multitude of wallpapers and screensavers have come out of it. The effect goes to a whole new level when Neo develops his code-vision and he is able to see codes directly in the world of Matrix. The creative use of the green rain continues across the whole Trilogy.

Trinity – bullet time kick

Incase you wondered why this didn' t come up so far, here it is. But before we disssect the aesthetics of this scene, lets meet bullet – time effect. Known in many names like Time-Freeze effect, Dead Time effect etc, this is a shot where the camera moves around the action or the object while the action itself is slowed down. This lets the viewer to enjoy a 360 degree (almost 360 degree atleast) view of a scene as the camera navigates around the object while freezing or slowing the time. This effect is achieved by arranging a series of still cameras around and shots from each camera is organised in sequence to create the impression of camera circumnavigating the object. So what does trinity do with bullet time? She kicks and she kicks well. . Arms stretched out, she raises in air and kicks the security officer to the wall. The time freezes as she is in the air and allows the viewer to explore the space around her. In Matrix, this happens so early in the film an sets the tone for the action feast that is about to follow. Trinity's jump is a trinity itself as it combines wire-work (her jump) – Camera work and offcourse, her hardwork.

Neo's bullet dodge

Yes, I saved the best for the last. If ever there is a record for the action scene that is copied the most number of times, this scene should bag it hands down. So what happens here? Agent Brown fires 9 shots at Neo and he bents on his knees in reverse direction to evade seven of them before being hit by the last two. His acrobatic pyrotechnic may not have had the effectiveness of Brown's dodging method as Neo gets himself to a position from where it is difficult to protect his body. But the style and visual impression it leaves is too good to beat. Once again, this is not just a bullet dodge, but a 'bullet-time- bullet dodge', so we start from Neos behind and as he bents and evades bullets, the camera completes a complete revolution around him before it ends up where it began. If Matrix digital rain is the most iconic image of The Matrix ,this would be the most iconic scene from it.

It is not just the technology involved or the hardwork the actors put in alone which made Matrix's action a class apart, but its a case of a number of factors working in unison like CGI, cinematography, wire, acrobatism etc to get the adrenaline of the audience flowing and to make The Matrix a landmark action movie. There are more special effects spread across the entire trilogy but hope you enjoyed this for now.