Act One Add the subtitle here STUDYING ‘THE MATRIX’

What’s it all about? – Basic plot A computer hacker, Thomas Anderson (Neo) always felt that there is something wrong with the present world but doesn't know what it is. A mysterious figure, known only as Morpheus, offers him the simple but unbelievable truth - that Neo and everybody else is actually living in a dream world created by a race of Machines (Artificial Intelligence) who has taken over the entire planet. Now Neo finds himself caught right in the middle of a futuristic war between what's left of the humankind and the merciless Machines. He is prophesied to be The One, the very person who will the save the world.

What is ‘The Matrix’? In the future (sometime near 2199), a war was being waged between the Machines and the humans, similar to the one in The Terminator films. Since all other natural resources were depleted at the time, the Machines relied on the sun's ever- abundant energy to survive. To win the war, humans used an unknown technology to turn all the waters of the planet into scorching clouds that will block the sun's energy, weakening the Machines. The machines then found an alternative way to acquire an energy source that will be as abundant as the sun ever was - humans. Since the human body generates a certain amount of bioelectricity and body heat when alive, using a form of fusion to amplify this, the Machines have found all the energy it needs.

What is ‘The Matrix’? But the main condition is that humans needed to be alive to get this energy. So if we are alive, then we are conscious. If we are conscious, then we will know what the Machines are doing to us---turning us into Eveready batteries. The Machines needed something to distract us while we "keep going, and going, and going" like what a good battery is supposed to do.

What is ‘The Matrix’? "You've been living in a dream world, Neo..." - Morpheus The Machines then built a very advanced "computer-generated dream world" (The Matrix) that will pose as reality for the humankind. What we thought as normal, everyday existence is actually just a dream where everyone of us are having the same kind. The Matrix is a "neural-interactive simulation" of reality, an illusionary "world" built to keep us under direct control by the Machines.

How does the Matrix work? "It is the world that has been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth." - Morpheus In this dream world, you go on living a normal life, oblivious to the fact it isn't really happening. You are actually being grown inside a coffin-like container filled with liquefied dead organic waste, that is being fed to you intravenously. The dreams that you experience are the result of a direct connection to the Matrix. The Matrix sends these dreams as electrical signals to your brain via a large metallic main cable plugged into the back of your head at the lower occipital area. There are also several smaller cables attached to different parts of the human body that probably collects the bioelectrical/biothermal energy from the skin, muscles and organs needed by the machines.

Agents of the Matrix Inside the Matrix, they are everyone...and they are no one." "They are the gatekeepers. They guard all the doors and hold all the keys..." - Morpheus

Agents of the Matrix These Secret Service-type Agents are actually known to be "sentient programs" designed to eliminate any form of threat that may hamper normal operations within the Matrix. They usually move faster and stronger than a normal human being. They can fight very well, shoot guns very fast, and can jump higher and longer than anyone else. They have the ability to move from one body to another. If the body they have possessed is killed, they just transfer to another at their bidding. If you kill an agent, you're not actually killing him but the body he is using. The only human body they cannot possess are the ones not directly connected to Matrix anymore, such as Morpheus' rebel group that broadcast their pirate signal and hack into the Matrix from a hovercraft ship (the Nebuchadnezzar).

The Nebuchadnezzar? This is the hovercraft ship that Morpheus' rebel group uses as transporation in the real world. Every other rebel group also uses this type of ship. It is also where the rebels spend most of their lives fighting the Machines. It has a cockpit, as well as a main deck that also contains the "Core"- an area with a sophisticated computer system that they use to hack into the Matrix.

The Crew This rebel group is lead by Morpheus. Consists of 2 females (Trinity and Switch) and 5 males (Cypher, Tank, Dozer, Apoc and Mouse). Tank and Dozer stays behind to operate the ship or the Core whenever the others enter the Matrix since they are the only ones that are naturally-born humans.

The City of Zion "The last human city...", as Tank said. It is known to be located underground near the Earth's core, its location kept strictly secret so the Machines will not be able to find it. Zion is known to have a large mainframe computer that each captain of every rebel ship send their access codes to. These access codes are the only way for Zion to communicate outside to the rebels without having their location compromised or traced by the Machines.

The Core The Core is an area inside the ship where the rebels send their pirate signal to hack and enter into the Matrix. It includes a sophisticated computer system with several keyboards and monitors being controlled by the operator, Tank and his brother Dozer. In front of this computer system, a set of 6 reversely-inclined chairs, that circle each other, are located. This is where Morpheus and his group sit and lie back while each of their minds is being uploaded into the Matrix.

The Construct A place similar to the computer-generated dream world of the Matrix, only smaller. A sort of loading program where Morpheus and his group can get anything they need. This is where they usually train to fight in simulations, and get clothes or ammunition before entering the Matrix.

The Oracle An Oracle is someone who can foretell the future. They usually serve as guides on what may or may not occur in the future. In the film, Morpheus and his group goes to an Oracle every once in a while for consultation.

The One "You are the One, Neo..." - Morpheus Legend has it that he was the only person born inside the Matrix that has the innate ability to change anything and everything he wanted. In other words, he can remake or control the environment created by the Matrix. He was also responsible for releasing the first of the enslaved humans from the Matrix thus creating the first rebellion against the Machines. When he died, the Oracle prophesied his reincarnation to save humanity again, this time for good. Morpheus thinks that he has reincarnated in the form of Neo.

The Sentinels These are free-floating, octopus-like machines ("Squiddies") that have only one primary objective: search out the rebellion and destroy them. They can penetrate any metallic structure, such as a rebel hovercraft ship, using a powerful laser beam. They can only be defeated by using an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) that destroys any electronic device within a blast radius.

Telephones (land line/hard line) within the Matrix These serve as entrance/exit points for the rebels whenever they are inside the Matrix. Cellular phones are not used as entrance/exit points (they're not land/hard lines) but can be used to communicate to the outside world (ie to Tank).

Bullet Time Bullet time is a new visual fx technique used in films wherein the camera acts like a speeding bullet. This technique has been used in some music videos and in the film Enemy of the State. The effect is hold the image still while the camera revolves around the image. In "The Matrix" the following scenes used the "bullet time" camera technique:

Bullet Time When Trinity jump-kicked a police officer trying to arrest her (180-degree panning). When Neo tried to dodge the agent's bullets on a building roof-top (360-degree panning). The mere fact that we see Neo moving while he dodges the bullets means he is as fast as the bullets that are trying to hit him. When Morpheus was being shot by Agent Smith while escaping towards the helicopter (180- degree panning).

TEACHING POINTS 1. Colour can be used in a number of different ways in film. 2. Saturated colour is when the colours of the things being filmed are intense and vivid, drawing a lot of attention to themselves. They can be used to suggest liveliness in characters but also a garish and inhospitable environment.

TEACHING POINTS 3. Desaturated colour is when the colours of the things being filmed are muted, dull and pale. These do not grab our attention, and might suggest a lack of energy, or a draining of vitality. 4. Different colours used might have different associations. There are colours which are considered warm, such as red, orange or yellow; there are also colours which are thought of as cold, such as blue, green and violet.

Task 1 You are now going to view a colour slide show. For each colour write down words/moods/feelings that you associate with that colour – this is known as connotation.

Backdrops: - These are full sized backdrops, just scale them up! - Can be Copy-Pasted out of Templates for use anywhere!