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Designing the Computer UIs In Movies

Posted by kdawson on from the film-over dept.

xandroid points out an NPR interview with Mark Coleran, who "...designs the fancy-but-fake graphics that flash across computers in the movies. He has worked on a laundry list of blockbusters: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Ultimatum, Children of Men, Mission Impossible III, and many more. He says a lot of the inspiration for computer screens comes from video games." The main point of these fake movie UIs is different than that of real UIs: to tell a story very quickly, not to reveal and enable function.

13 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Clever girl by paiute · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does he also make those fancy monitors that project what is on the screen out into the room and onto any passing dinosaur?

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    1. Re:Clever girl by Orange+Crush · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm not sure I understand what you're referring to . . .enhance.

    2. Re:Clever girl by DemonBeaver · · Score: 5, Funny

      You aren't Vin Diesel.

      Unless he's on slashdot. Are you reading this, Vin?

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    3. Re:Clever girl by Viadd · · Score: 3, Funny

      Uncrop.

    4. Re:Clever girl by antek9 · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, not you, not the bin weasel, he said Vin Diesel.

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    5. Re:Clever girl by fractoid · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm not sure I understand what you're referring to . . .enhance.

      Cordelia: Look! Right there, zoom in on that.
      Xander: It's a videotape.
      Cordelia: So? They do it on television all the time.
      Xander: Not with a regular VCR they don't.
      [...]
      Oz: What's that? Pause it.
      Xander: Guys! It's just a normal VCR. It doesn't... Oh wait, uh, it can do pause.

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  2. Hackers vs. Sneakers by CranberryKing · · Score: 3, Funny

    I imagine how tough if would be to make a scene interesting if they showed Kevin Mitnik typing into a korn shell.

  3. Re:People who think fake UIs are real. by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Yep, It's actually an in-joke for nerds like me"
    "What does it say?!"
    "It tells me when someone can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality."

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  4. Re:Story? by nedlohs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everything in a movie is just a "crutch" to keep the story going forward.

    Well for those movies that have stories. In some everything is a "crutch" to enable them to show off pretty CGI, and in others everything is a "crutch" to enable to show off various body parts of the cast.

  5. Re:This wouldn't be a problem except... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    My sister took a photo of a bald eagle with her cellphone. She mailed it to me and asked if I could "enhance it" for her.
    If she hadn't told me what it was I'd have had no idea what I was even looking at. Damn you CSI. Damn you.

  6. Jurassic xterms by nudicle · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a UNIX system! I know this!

  7. Re:This wouldn't be a problem except... by capnkr · · Score: 4, Funny

    You boned that one, pal. Any decent brother would have known what to do...

    You should have found a similar perspective eagle picture online, 'enhanced' it with GIMP/PS to make it as close as possible to what she shot, and send it back at a minimum 1024 res and high color, thereby perpetuating the myth that you are indeed a Computer God.

    Kids these days, can't see opportunity even when it's smacking 'em in the face...

    ;)

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  8. Re:"Narrative Causality"... by u38cg · · Score: 4, Funny

    I got Mrs u38cg to try that. Turns out it doesn't help you crack passwords much.

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