Digital rain animation medium letters shine

Digital rain, or Matrix code, is the visual effect of vertically falling

computer code Computer code may refer to: *Source code *Machine code *Bytecode Bytecode (also called portable code or p-code) is a form of instruction set designed for efficient execution by a software interpreter. Unlike human-readable source code, byte ...

popularised by the 1999 film ''The Matrix''. The code is a way of representing the activity of the

simulated reality A simulated reality is an approximation of reality created in a simulation, usually in a set of circumstances in which something is engineered to appear real when it is not. Most concepts invoking a simulated reality relate to some form of compu ...

environment of the

Matrix Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to: Science and mathematics * Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions * Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form * Matrix (biology), the m ...

on screen by kinetic typography. All four ''Matrix'' movies, as well as episodes of the spin-off ''

The Animatrix is a 2003 adult animated science fiction anthology film produced by the Wachowskis. The anime compiles nine animated short films, detailing the backstory of ''The Matrix'' film series, in addition to providing side stories that expand the uni ...

'', open with the code. It is a characteristic mark of the franchise, similar to the opening crawl featured in the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' franchise.

Background

In the film, the code that comprises the Matrix itself is frequently represented as downward-flowing green characters. This code uses a custom typeface designed by Simon Whiteley, which includes mirror images of

half-width kana are katakana characters displayed compressed at half their normal width (a 1:2 aspect ratio), instead of the usual square (1:1) aspect ratio. For example, the usual (full-width) form of the katakana ''ka'' is カ while the half-width form is ｶ. ...

characters and Western

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

letters and

numerals A numeral is a figure (symbol), word, or group of figures (symbols) or words denoting a number. It may refer to: * Numeral system used in mathematics * Numeral (linguistics), a part of speech denoting numbers (e.g. ''one'' and ''first'' in English ...

. In a 2017 interview at CNET, he attributed the design to his wife, who comes from Japan, and added, "I like to tell everybody that The Matrix's code is made out of Japanese

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

recipes"; this has been debunked by several people including some well known Japanese influencers. The effect resembles that of older generation

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...

displays of monochrome

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or ...

escent computer monitors. One predecessor of the digital rain exists in a "code-scene" of the movie '' Meteo'', a Hungarian experimental-pop culture movie from 1990. The 1995

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

film ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'', a strong influence on ''The Matrix'',

Joel Silver Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer. Life and career Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School ...

, interviewed in "Scrolls to Screen: A Brief History of Anime" featurette on ''

'' DVD.Joel Silver, interviewed in "Making ''The Matrix''" featurette on ''The Matrix'' DVD. features opening credits similar to the digital rain. No official version of the code's

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

actually used in the ''Matrix'' trilogy and in the website for the game '' Path of Neo'' has been released. Several imitations have been made, mostly in the form of

screensaver A screensaver (or screen saver) is a computer program that blanks the display screen or fills it with moving images or patterns when the computer has been idle for a designated time. The original purpose of screensavers was to prevent phosphor s ...

Cultural impact

Dutch musician

Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer, best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...

named a track "Digital Rain", in honour of the movie, on his 2010 album ''

Victims of the Modern Age ''Victims of the Modern Age'' is the second studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive metal project/ supergroup Star One, released on the recording label Inside Out in the US on 25 October 2010 and in Europe on 1 November 2010. The a ...

'' by his band

Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...

. The effect also inspired the creation of many unofficial ''Matrix'' screensavers, including the "GL Matrix" mode in XScreenSaver, and in the cmatrix program for

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...

systems.

References

External links

Example implementation of the Matrix digital rain in Rust

Examples of Matrix digital rain implementations on Rosetta Code

Creator of The Matrix code reveals its mysterious origins
{{The Matrix Film and television opening sequences Screensavers Digital rain

Background

Cultural impact

See also

References

External links