Matrix digital rain
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Matrix digital rain, Matrix code or sometimes green rain, is a fictional source code featured in the Matrix series. First appearing in The Matrix (1999), the falling green code is a way of representing the activity of the virtual reality environment of the Matrix on-screen. All three Matrix movies, as well as the spin-off Animatrix episodes, open with the code. It is considered a characteristic mark of the franchise, more or less like the opening crawl is for Star Wars.
In the films, a few people can understand what happens inside the Matrix by looking at the code on computer monitors. Operators from Zion, unable to jack into the Matrix, concentrate ways to read the scrolling code, or "rain", and infer data from it such as the location of a person in the City, possible exits, and so forth. The character Neo is the only human that can see the code of which avatars are composed while in the Matrix, and is therefore able to see their "true" digital form. By contrast, some programs are not seen as part of the green code, but as golden code (e.g., Seraph).
The code is characterized by green flashing Roman and Katakana characters and Arabic numerals, as well as pictorial symbols, such as a bull's head (as pictured at the end of the Matrix Revolutions title sequence), falling in a black screen while changing and fading. The effect resembles that of the older green screen displays, since the letters leave a fluorescent trace on the screen.
In The Matrix: Path of Neo game the player can press up on the d-pad (on the PlayStation 2 version) and the world would turn into this "code vision." A similar effect is seen when the game is paused.
Sound designer Dane A. Davis digitized raindrops against window panes to create the sound of the letters as they rotate and fall.
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[edit] In pop culture
Because of the popularity of the movies, the effect has become noted in itself and a part of pop culture. It has influenced other franchises and has been used in new-tech advertisements, TV spots, video-clips, posters and appeared in other high-tech topics, such as flash intros of cyberpunk related websites. There are several screensavers based on it, like XMatrix and GLMatrix found in the XScreenSaver collection.
The code appears in some scenes in Code Lyoko
A horizontally-scrolling variation of the "rain" can be seen briefly in the 2001 film Swordfish, where a character creates digital encryption code. Movie producer Joel Silver was involved in both projects.
In the computer game Deus Ex, there is a cheat, known as 'may-tricks mode', which replaces all in-game textures with a constantly scrolling form of digital rain.
[edit] Trivia
Code similar to that in The Matrix can be seen in an earlier movie Alien (1979, directed by Ridley Scott). There is a scene where Captain Dallas is "talking" with Mother and the "Matrix code" can be seen (even the word 'matrix' is written in the Mother Program main menu screen). Another similarity is where Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is seen looking at a monitor with a "green (matrix) code" and she is interpreting the code and understands that the transmission was no S.O.S. but a warning.
In the 1996 movie Independence Day, a code scrolling effect very similar to that of the Matrix code can be seen on the cockpit monitors of the alien flying saucer that was captured by the U.S. government.
At one point in the video for Skillet's song "Alien Youth", what looks to be the matrix code can be seen.
No official version of the source code typeface actually used in the Matrix trilogy and in the website for the game Path of Neo has been released. Several imitations have been made.
In the Matrix MMORPG, The Matrix Online the world first loads with everything as green code, slowly fading into a more realistic view.
[edit] Influences
The 1995 cyberpunk film Ghost in the Shell, a strong influence on The Matrix,[1][2] features opening credits similar to the digital rain.
The creators of the Matrix claim the look was inspired by the Korean language credits at the end of the movie Tron, ironically after failing to find inspiration in the film itself.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Joel Silver, interviewed in "Scrolls to Screen: A Brief History of Anime" featurette on The Animatrix DVD.
- ^ Joel Silver, interviewed in "Making The Matrix" featurette on The Matrix DVD.
[edit] Related Topics
[edit] External links
- Official screensaver - Digital rain for both Mac and Windows
- Fan Screensaver - An accurate matrix-style screensaver. (Still in development)
- Guide to create the Matrix effect in Photoshop
