A Brief History of Movie Special Effects

The Matrix — Bullet Time
More than just an ode to the hacker culture of the 1990s, The Matrix was a stunning advancement in digital visual effects. Developed in the early 1900s by Austrian clergyman and physicist August Musger, slow motion has been used in film to accentuate everything from dramatic leaps to heroic game-winning moments in sports — it's even been used to capture the very, um, lively running style of TV lifeguards. With a single series of gunshots, The Matrix was able to turn previous slow-motion effects into carnival tricks. Called bullet time, the film's effect used the slowed, rotating action of the camera to show characters evading bullets.

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