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What is the deal with everything haven't bullet time now? Ever since the Matrix, it seems like buckets of movies are doing bullet time effects. For instance, SWAT had a bullet time sniper shot. House of the Dead has bullet time shotgun shells. Everyone is kung fu fighting... except that now it's doing kung fu fighting completely in slow motion while panning around the characters. The original Matrix had an excuse, it was to show that Neo was moving as fast as the bullets when he dodged it. Then in Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, it just made the fight shitty. Now everything seems to have it, and it's making them look cheap and fake. It also breaks up the fight, grinding it to a halt, ruining it's pacing.

ARGH! It just seems like a cheap way to pack in special effects and CGI objects to me. Am I wrong here or does it actually have any useful purpose cinematically?

Bullet time existed long before The Matrix since it was used by a guy working in the BBC. The Wachoskis saw it then took it to EXTREMES and so has Joel Silver.

Now it's used in everything and isn't unique anymore.

Kinda like cel shading in console games

Hamel wrote:Kinda like cel shading in console games

Fads, they soon die out and are used properly. Though games like XIII and the Macross sim benefit from that style.

various sporting events also used bullettime to slow down the motion in the games. which was well before the wachowskis came along. they simply made it famous.

it was also used in gap comercials.

Plenty of Hong Kong kung-fu movies used bullet time (also known as "slow motion") well before the Matrix.

Please be aware that when I saw "bullet time" I'm not talking about simple slow motion. I'm talking about the hyper extreme super slowmotion that was in first Matrix, which, while not invented there, was certainly popularized there.

God, you guys are nitpickers.

I remember it was in the first Blade movie as well.

Gil Hamilton wrote:Please be aware that when I saw "bullet time" I'm not talking about simple slow motion. I'm talking about the hyper extreme super slowmotion that was in first Matrix, which, while not invented there, was certainly popularized there.

God, you guys are nitpickers.

IIRC isn't bullet time more specifically the whole slow-motion rotate thing?

Gandalf wrote:I remember it was in the first Blade movie as well.

I don't recall that. Which part?

As Gil mentioned, bullet time is where multiple cameras (usually over 140 worth) set up in a desired pattern to take a snapshot of a scene at once thus giving a 3D image effect. It is NOT slow motion.

Admiral Valdemar wrote:

Gandalf wrote:I remember it was in the first Blade movie as well.

I don't recall that. Which part?

As Gil mentioned, bullet time is where multiple cameras (usually over 140 worth) set up in a desired pattern to take a snapshot of a scene at once thus giving a 3D image effect. It is NOT slow motion.

Ah, my bad, I emant the scene in the park where you see the bullets in the air and Deacon sidesteps them.

Gandalf wrote:

Admiral Valdemar wrote:

Gandalf wrote:I remember it was in the first Blade movie as well.

I don't recall that. Which part?

As Gil mentioned, bullet time is where multiple cameras (usually over 140 worth) set up in a desired pattern to take a snapshot of a scene at once thus giving a 3D image effect. It is NOT slow motion.

Ah, my bad, I emant the scene in the park where you see the bullets in the air and Deacon sidesteps them.

That's simple slow-mo with added CGI. You can always tell bullet time because it will revolve around the subject and give it a 3D look that no computer could create now and for a fraction of the price.

Mind you that they do often use computers to blend the still images together while moving.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Mind you that they do use computers to blend the still images together.

True, but the original raw footage still works for things like TV ads and so on. A David Attenborough documentary was one of the first series to use the technique on certain parts of the programme, especially the end. One had a flock of geese paused in mid-air flying low level captured by a ring of cameras before the original motion returned and a MiG-29 flew over at speed and disrupted the flock. Was amazing when I first saw it.

The intro for Howard Stone on E! also featured bullet time.

The original Matrix use of bullet time was one of the best ever. In the sequels bullet time seemed more like a cliche.

Freezeframe with Wraparound? You mean like the effects in the atrocious 'Lost In Space' when they hit the 'Anywhere but here' button?

*Inserts Sam Pechinpah Western*
*watches bad kung fu movies*
*watches six million dollar man re-run*
*watches Micheal Mann action flicks*
*watches John Woo Action Flicks*

What is this new "Bullet Time" effect, I thought it had been around for a while....

still it's been done far better then when the W. bros took it over....

Not slow motion. Bullet-time is with all the damn synchronised still cameras.

And they're called "HK martial arts films", not "bad kung fu movies," by the way.

Then your talking early micheal mann/luc beason work (La Femme Nikita, Manhunter) work...

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:And they're called "HK martial arts films", not "bad kung fu movies," by the way.

I don't know, they look like "bad kung fu movies" to me.

Admiral Valdemar wrote: That's simple slow-mo with added CGI. You can always tell bullet time because it will revolve around the subject and give it a 3D look that no computer could create now and for a fraction of the price.

actually creating the bullet time effect with a computer is incredibly easy.

here´s a tutorial for max:
http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/jcmiller/Bullet.htm

most of the things in Matrix II were clearly CGI, and not bullet time. I mean come on, in the Smiths fight scene they hadn't bothered even giving Neo a face.

i remember seeing bullet time on a centre parcs advert years ago, long before the matrix.