how Hollywood movies deal with code

[Jessica Sant]

http://www.drivl.com/posts/view/494

We read this at the office today and couldn't stop laughing and coming up with other examples of how Hollywood movies always make code and hacking look SO silly on the big screen.

[David O'Meara]

When I opened your thread, my computer went 'beep'.
Please remove the code in your post on the line starting with 'http' etc

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

When Jurassic Park came out, I was working in an SGI shop. We had a really good laugh.

Thanks, J. Great article!

[David O'Meara]

If I had to add one, I'd say the way movies treat HTML = BASIC = C = Perl etc

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

I sent a link to a friend of mine who immediately came back with three more:

1. No Real Software. You never see a honest-to-God, OTS piece of software in the movies or TV. It's all graphical BS. No Windows, no UNIX, no Office apps. You'd think with the way they plant products in movies and TV nowadays that they could at least use real software.

2. Too Cute Email/Chat Programs... the ones with screen-wide password boxes and size 96 font.

3. Database Reports on Crack... the ones that have all the info on the bad guy complete with 3D rotating rendered head shot.

[Sameer Jamal]

And they always seems to work in AS400.

[Jim Yingst]

And the passwords people use are laughably insecure, and always guessable. I mean, I know that crappy passwords are all too common in the real world too. But I don't think I've ever seen a character use a password that looked, say, random in any sense of the word. No matter how smart or computer-savvy a character is supposed to be, they always choose a date or name relating to a loved one.

[Dave Lenton]

The link doesn't seem to be working for me, so I haven't read the article. I'm sure it must mention how computer programmes in films always beep whenever any button is pressed. Why? Do the producers think that it wouldn't be computery enough otherwise?

Surely the most ridiculous computer film moment was in Independence Day when they managed to get their Mac to talk to the alien computer.

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

What you guys are saying is nothing in front of CAPTAIN VIJAYKANTH.

If you want to die of laughing , then see the following link.
It's in Tamil language, so have someone who knows tamil while watching for translation.

Captain Vijaykanth
;-)

[Ud Naik]

Adding to the list of gripes about Hollywood movie computer technology:

1) The movie-picture-zoom technology: A shot of the bad guy(s) is taken from what looks like far away. The guy then clicks and the main bad guy's face comes into focus, zooming in, without any loss of detail whatsoever.

2) Over simplified hacking commands: The 'hacker' uses commands that have names literally match their actions e.g. 'Send Blocking Signal' or 'Send Spike'. What's up with that?

[Jessica Sant]

the photographic enhancements bug me.

they take a 10pixel by 10pixel reflection from someone's eye and from that can enhance it to be able to read a license plate number.

[Bear Bibeault]

Originally posted by Jessica Sant:
the photographic enhancements bug me.

they take a 10pixel by 10pixel reflection from someone's eye and from that can enhance it to be able to read a license plate number.

Ah, you've been watching CSI!

[fred rosenberger]

Originally posted by Bear Bibeault:


Ah, you've been watching CSI!

"Las Vegas" is just as bad. they also start watching someone with their camersa, and say "go to infrared" and BAM!!! you now have the infra-red filter turned on... then they switch to UV or something, and use that to read the serial number off the gun in the guys holster.

[Joe Ess]

Hollywood is not in the business of depicting reality. I hit a curb with my car and had to get it towed. In the movies, Bo and Luke can leap tall buildings with their Charger and there's not so much as a scratch. Where can I get one of those neat revolvers that can fire 100's of shots without reloading? Not to mention behaving like someone in those romantic comedies can get one arrested!

[Angela Poynton]

My Boyfriend and I consider "Swordfish" with Hugh Jackman as John Travolta to be one our favourite comedies.

[Jeroen T Wenting]

Joe, those handguns (if they were to exist) would have a minor drawback: they'd be way too heavy to lift (not to mention the magazine would be taller than you ).

Read a piece sometime this year by a guy who actually calculated (roughly) how much weight Neo would have been carrying around were those weapons and ammo for real.
It was quite a bit, not only would have have been quite incapable of moving around with that weight, but the bulk would have prevented him from moving through such things like doors.

[Jim Yingst]

Well, Neo seems like a bad example, as the movies have a built-in explanation for that and many other "impossible" feats that are achieved. But yeah, the general point is valid for many other action movies. I suppose an action hero could always travel light by simply grabbing fresh guns & ammo off his opponents.

[Bear Bibeault]

Whirling mag-tapes. It's all about the whirling mag-tapes.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
I suppose an action hero could always travel light by simply grabbing fresh guns & ammo off his opponents.

That's what I've always been able to do. Depends on where you are. Some places, there are these nice, square, colorfully-labelled boxes full of shotgun shells, nails for your nailgun, plasma cells, etc. Often, when you kill a monster^H^H^H^H^H^H^H guy, ammo will just come flying off him, already packed in a nice backpack. Other places, you have to actually loot the corpses. C'est la vie.

[Jim Yingst]

Yeah, I remember a Christmas mod for Doom 2 back in the mid-90's, in which all the little ammo packs, etc appeared as brightly-colored wrapped Christmas gifts. And the demons were often dressed as elves, Santa, etc. Great fun. The one that really caught me off guard though was when I went outside and it was snowing, an effect I hadn't seen before. I thought, "cool" - unitl someone started shooting at me, and I couldn't see where they were, because all that frakking snow was in the way. It suddenly switched from being an amusing effect to a critical game element.

[Nicholas Jordan]

Originally posted by Jessica Sant:
... other examples of how Hollywood movies always make code and hacking look SO silly on the big screen.

Funny how significant cs issues sometimes are addressed in MD.

I was in a Hollywood movie as an extra. I went to the costume trailer, dressed exacly like 300 law in training except for a really good Indiana Jones hat.

It is remarkable that I was at least 100 pounds underweight from starvation consequent to the 87-92 economic (use your word here).

To buy $200 costume to work as an extra is remarkable given the situation.


Wardrobe answered the door went into a fit, said "We said something you would wear to a rifle range ! "

I asked them what they thought I should be wearing. They thought I should be wearing a totally black teenager's Ninja costume on a 100 degree Texas day. If you have not been there, it will not be imaginable how idiotic this is.

I feel that we as information workers have a duty and priviledge to conduct ongoing low-intensity information warfare to correct broadly held mistaken beliefs about computers.

The tight coupling between what the average user sees on the screen and their actions is generally not discoverable by the average user.

[that's the best edit I can come up with]
[ January 07, 2007: Message edited by: Nicholas Jordan ]

[Greg Charles]

I don't know enough about Nicholas to be sure if:

1. He doesn't have full command of the English language
2. He's joking, or
3. He's stoned

It's too bad because there seems to be a good story buried in there somewhere.

[Nicholas Jordan]

Originally posted by Greg Charles:
I don't know enough about Nicholas to be sure if:

1. He doesn't have full command of the English language
2. He's joking, or
3. He's stoned

It's too bad because there seems to be a good story buried in there somewhere.

1. I do get criticised for poor construction of sentences, often I just think so fast about so many possible constructions of some problem that I tend to skip words or try to put too many meanings in too few words. This largely comes from frustration at trying to deal with people who are stoned.

2. Often I try to cram both joking and truthful meanings into one phrase. I would say that another person who could really see into me would say that I am intense. I believe this intensity comes from burdens we all face. It is not unusual for some to resort to humor to try to manage or express difficult burdens.

3. Drugs failed me. I quit in 1977, taking about five years to really and totally cease.

I see things other people miss. I have discussed this with my Social Engineer, they are real. But he also provides exactly the same feedback.

[ Additional material: Sunday, January 07, 2007 ]

I note with interest in the last few days there was several lines a major broadcast, delivered in manner so as not to be perceptible to someone who is not paying attention - it is called going soft in "The Industry" as they call it - about data hidden on a disk so as not to show up in the directory structure.

It was replete with details.

You guys would very likely be amazed at how much impact a board like this can have.

Emphasise can.
[ January 07, 2007: Message edited by: Nicholas Jordan ]