I did this by using a search engine and typed the words “Bullet Time” into it. It then showed me over 28.000.000 results which related to my search, the top one being a Wikipedia page, which gave me a description of what bullet-time is and where the term comes from. It also gave me a historical background and a list of where the concept has been applied in film. However it is common knowledge that you can not take everything on a Wikipedia page for fact as the information is collated and edited by its users therefore the information may not be true. That meant I would use the information found as a basis for my research.
One name that came up on the Wikipedia page for being the forefather of the “bullet time” technique of Time slicing was Eadweard Muybridge. I then typed his name into ‘Google Books’ to find out whether he had written any books about how he took the famous horse photograph. It turned out he had, the book was called ‘Animals in Motion’ written by Eadweard Muybridge himself. In the book he explains how he settled the argument “unsupported transit” (whether all four of horse’s legs leave the ground at the same time while galloping). In the book he gives detailed explanations of how he went about capturing the negatives used to prove the theory. This method research I believe is more trustworthy than using Wikipedia as you can be more certain that it is the author’s words and hasn’t been changed by someone else over time. Therefore if Eadweard Muybridge wrote this in 1957 then you can be assured it will be the same words here in 2010.
I then sought to find out how it had been developed between Muybridge and the Matrix. I did this by looking at the list of examples on the Wikipedia page and tried to find them using Search engines and the Video sharing site YouTube.com. This turned out to be extremely successful way of researching how “bullet Time” had developed, because even the clips had been made years before the internet was invented, someone somewhere had uploaded it on to the internet. Using the clips I was then able to ascertain how technology and the techniques progressed over time. I also started to see the same names popping up over and over again. The most prominent would be Michel Gondry who directed many music videos and adverts during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. I then used an internet search engine to find out his background. A site that caught my eye was Director-file.com which gave me a biography as well as an interview with Michel, which gave me information on his influences. Again I think interviews are generally a trust worthy research method as they are actually words that the person said, however it has been known that some magazines/internet sites make up interviews for an array of different reasons. This meant I couldn’t rely purely on this website. So I went back to the search engine and found another site which I could then verify the facts. This site was IMDb.com which is an extremely reliable site when it comes to movie related information.
I then decided to look directly at the ‘Matrix’ as this was the film which first coined the term “Bullet time” I did this again by searching on the IMDb site as I knew it would be able to give the information of who worked on the film as well as information about plot, awards, reviews, ect. This helped me to find out who was responsible for the special effects on the film. This turned out to be John Gaeta. I then looked to see if I could find out where he got his inspiration for the visual effects from, I found this in an article on the CGsociety’s website. Here he mentions a guy called Paul Debevec, “Gaeta knew what he wanted to do – not just create virtual backgrounds as had Paul Debevec for his film “The Campanile Movie,” which had inspired him”. Therefore I decided to find out what Paul Debevec’s technique was. I did this by again typing his name into a Search engine and his website was the top result. This enabled me to get accurate information about how Debevec created his film and how it was relayed in to the matrix. This was because it was his official website therefore I could relatively sure that it was trustworthy.
Though this information was helpful in telling me how the realistic backgrounds were created, as they were filming a studio, it didn’t help me work out how they were able to create a virtual camera that could travel through a scene. In fact stumbled through this while searching through videos on YouTube for different examples of how bullet time has been used. I found that a vast majority were being uploaded by a single user so I decided to look at their channel. Here I found a link to a website for a production company that specialises in the “bullet time” technique. Therefore I decided to look for contact details. I then rang the company up so that I could find out what techniques they used to capture. I got through to a technician who explained that they used a rig that used a mixture of still and motion cameras, which I replied “just like the matrix?” which is when he went on to tell me that the matrix used their founders technique a rig set up. Their founder, Tim Macmillan, incidentally is believed to be the creator of the ‘Time Slicing’ technique. So I decided to do some research into how he came up with the idea, which I found on the Duckspool photography website. No w that I had found out how the effect had been created a developed up to the ‘Matrix’ I wanted to find how it was going to develop into the future. I did this again by looking at websites and using Wikipedia for guidance.
What I have learnt from this Project is that not all research methods are necessarily trustworthy and that may also need to use more than one form of research to find out all the relevant information. For example the use of sites such as Wikipedia should be used with caution if at all as the information on such site can be corrupt. Therefore I should have probably not used Wikipedia as much as I did to start off with, though it did help to steer me in the right directions. YouTube was a great tool as it helped me to see examples of how the effect was used in films and how it developed and became slicker over time. I could have strengthened my research by adding a practical side; this may have in turn increased my understanding of how it worked. However this proved to it would be too costly and I was unable to find the right equipment. Also if I had found TimeSliceFilms earlier in my research I would have loved to have tried to get a placement with them.
Bibliography
• Muybridge, E.(1957), ‘Animals in Motion’, London: Dover Publications.
Filmography
Film
Zotz! (1962), rooftop fight including "slow-motion" dodging of a pistol bullet[7]
"Wink of an Eye" (196? episode of the original Star Trek television series) is entirely based on bullet-time: The villains exist exclusively in hyperspeed and attempt to utilize it to take over the starshipUSS Enterprise and her crew.
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Inspector Clouseau practices kung-fu with Cato in slow motion
Trancers (also known as Future Cop, 1984), features two slow motion scenes involving Jack Deth's actions. One of them involves him saving Helen Hunt's character from being shot.
Buffalo '66 (1998)
Lost in Space (1998), features a scene similar to bullet-time: When ship enters hyperspace, all the action freezes, but the point of view moves slightly in an arc.
Wing Commander (1999), performed poorly at the box office, though the trailer gained some notice for its inclusion of the film's bullet-time scene, showing people, and a spilling cup of liquid, captured in mid-air.
Titus (1999), contains a simple bullet-time scene near the end, as Lucius kills Emperor Saturninus
Michael Jordan to the Max, in the opening sequence of this IMAX documentary, Michael Jordan executes a slam dunk in bullet-time while practicing at the United Center.
Swordfish (2001), opens with a scene where an exploding claymore-like bomb propels steel ball bearings across a city street. The virtual camera dollies parallel to the street as the carnage unfolds.
Television
Speed Racer (1967-8), opening sequence
Super Bowl XXXV (?), CBS employed a system of cameras that allowed for bullet-time-like effects on its broadcast. This system proved to be the difference in upholding a replay challenge on a Jamal Lewis fourth quarter touchdown by showing that he clearly broke the plane of the end zone. The bullet time was accomplished using cameras only, without any computer interpolating.
Futurama episode "Three Hundred Big Boys" (?), the animated series features a scene in which Fry enters a state of hyperspeed after consuming one hundred cups of coffee. In this state, he is able to observe individual wingbeats of a hummingbird.
The Fairly OddParents (season 1) episode "Power Mad!" (?), Timmy, in his video game, was attacked by ninja bunnies which throw carrots and it is in bullet time. Also in The Fairly OddParents: Wishology (?), Timmy was in a spoof on the Matrix with some bullet time.
Angel (2003+), select episodes following Season 4's "Home" (4x21) have featured stylized bullet-time action sequences.
Smallville (?), many episodes use bullet time
Jimmy Neutron episode "Maximum Hugh" (?), Jimmy's Dad consumes marshmallows while in slow motion, bending backwards when Jimmy throws them at him, recreating a key bullet time scene from The Matrix.
2007 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest (2007), replays of the dunks were shown in bullet time, so while the dunk contest participants are in mid-air, the camera goes around them and then slam dunked the ball.
American Dragon: Jake Long episode "The Hong Kong Longs" (?), during a 1972 flashback scene, Fu Dog jumps almost to the roof, and then the camera pans around the room while Fu is frozen in mid-air.
Music videos
Accept's "Midnight Mover" (1985)
Suede's "The Wild Ones" (1994)[8][9]
Bjork's "Army of Me" (1995)[10]
The Rolling Stones' "Like a Rolling Stone" (1995)[11]
Sting's "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" (1996)[12]
Smoke City's "Underwater Love" (1996)[13]
Alan Jackson's "Little Bitty" (1996)
Coolio's "C U When U Get There" (1996)
Meat Beat Manifesto's "Helter Skelter '97" (1997)
Van Halen's "Without You" (1998)
Garbage's "Push it" (1998)
"Guilty Conscience"'s music video (from The Slim Shady LP) features Dr. Dre and Eminem speaking as good and evil consciences to three different men frozen in bullet time
Korn's "Freak On A Leash" (1998)
Webography
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_time
• http://www.timeslicefilms.com/#1
• http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4564&page=2
• http://www.debevec.org/Campanile/
• http://www.duckspool.com/duckspool/tutors/tim_macmillan/tim_macmillan_main.htm
• http://www.imdb.com/
• http://www.youtube.com/
• http://books.google.com/
