Paul Debevec

Debevec was a researcher in Computer Graphics at the University of Southern California. He is Known for his work in high Dynamic range imaging and [more importantly to "bullet-time"] Image-based Modelling and Rendering.

In 1996, his research thesis was in Photogrammetry. This is where the 3D shape of an object could be collected from a group of stills taken from different angles. This lead to him embarking on a task in 1997 where he created a "Bullet-time" style flyby of UC Berkeley's famous Campanile tower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPhGEiM_6lM

This was created by firstly taking pictures of the tower and the surrounding area from all sorts of angles. These were then in-putted into Debevec's Image Rendering software. This then created a 3D model which was then rendered and added to real video footage.

Many of the team that created the Campanile film went on to work on the matrix film, including Paul Debevec himself. this technique was used to create the rooftop backgrounds of many of the "bullet-time" scenes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhxbYTMNMxo&feature=related

John Gaeta was quoted saying...

"Once I saw Debevec's movie, I knew that was the path"