What I hate about Hollywood technology

Every week we get a new movie that has some fancy technology that isn't possible. Does people really believe that you can zoom infinitly into any picture, or make a digital camera with a radiotransmitter the size of a button? Add to my list if you want:

• You cannot zoom in on a face using a frame from a video recorded by a security cam. Normal security cams only record a frame each second so the tape will last longer.
• A GPS tracker needs to be atleast the size of your thumb, because of batteries, antenna and the technology involved. The same applies for a camera.
• When a computer searches a databas, it doesn't make a scrolling sound, it won't flash all the records on screen (because the search is much faster than the frame rate of your screen) and it wont show a flashing, red message accompanyed with a continous beeping sound when it has found/not found a record.
• you cannot zoom, crop or rotate parts of an image while only using the keyboard, at least not in 3 seconds.

Hollywood.

There, there's you explanation.

And as for the last one, what if you're using a program with customizable shortcuts? I've got all my apps to open using key combos, and use AutoIt to do tasks usually requiring the mouse.

Are you trying to tell me that all that stuff they do on 24 is impossible?

The_Xell, you are right, but what about all those movies where the hero is standing behind the computer expert and says something like "Zoom in on that reflection in the showroom window in the background" and you see a green rectangle select that part of the picture after the expert presses 5 buttons.

• The hero always sees the face in one frame of the movie. He can't zoom in, crop or rotate the image himself, but has to tell the computer expert what to do (step by step), because the expert never knows what to do.

The worst show I have seen is probably CSI Miami. There they have computer programs that can recognise shadows on a wall on a picture and find out where in the city the picture was taken.

One that pisses me off: Whenever the "pc expert" is looking for something they type like ONE frikking letter a second, with one finger at a time staring down at the keyboard "Daaah now where'd they put that "A" key?"
Also: whenever they're working on the computer the screen is set so bright that you can practically see what ever is on the screen reflected in a glow across their face... Um, I dont know about you, but if my screen did that, id be worried and probably blind by now.

Good points Natsia. The last one is in fact practicly inpossible, because the light from the screen is emitted in all directions, so the only thing you can get on your face is the general colour of the screen.

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Originally Posted by ihoss.com

The worst show I have seen is probably CSI Miami. There they have computer programs that can recognise shadows on a wall on a picture and find out where in the city the picture was taken.

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Someone told me about an episode where the guy was making a pot on a potters wheel and he was making a line around the pot with a sharp tool whilst talking, they 'scanned' the shape of the line and played the conversation back...

Ha ha ha, great one :D

though some technology in hollywood movies/series is really lame, you can't deny that some other is pretty imaginative and actually, inspiring.....everybody wants to see a working lightsaber (not sure that one can be done) a hologram of princess leia (which I think will happen a few years from now), all the stuff from minority report, and star trek....you see stuff in movies that seem impossible, and a couple years later it just happens.

Though in general, hollywood has to make the technology very visual, because it's entertainment, I enjoy it very much, as I don't expect it to be real.....only Jack Bauer is real :)

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you cannot zoom, crop or rotate parts of an image while only using the keyboard, at least not in 3 seconds.

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Within Photoshop, open the file, then hit CTRL (and) + (plus sign to zoom in) CTRL (and) - (minus sign to zoom out), CTRL + 0 (zero) to zoom to fit.

While zoomed in, use Spacebar to move the image around - this requires usage of a mouse though.

i once saw a show where someone took a picture with their cell phone. absurd!

My favorite is when they need to type in a password, they can usually get it in 3 tries or less, but the best part is that the password is types into a gigantic text box and all the letters are shown.

Not only that, but the password is something like "kitten"

These people have horrible security on their computers.

Gerbs, I think you could drag the image by simply clicking and then moving...

Indivision, don't ruin my thread!
Yasu, I obviusly have a single password that is the name of someone very close in my family.

I also love the visual computer viruses they have. A virus would graphicaly eat up all the files and then the screen would go black. If you delete a file that you have opened (in word or something) then it will disapear.

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Originally Posted by ihoss.com

Indivision, don't ruin my thread!

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:D ok ok

i couldnt think of any technologies that havent already been mentioned. but, it has bothered me that people get shot in the stomach and die in seconds when it would usually take a day.

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Originally Posted by ihoss.com

Gerbs, I think you could drag the image by simply clicking and then moving...

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You missed the point.

You can zoom in and out without using a mouse. You said it couldn't be done.

And I swear there's a way to CTRL+A and then use the up/down arrows to move it up and down as long as you have the move tool (V) selected.

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Originally Posted by robbmcaulay

Someone told me about an episode where the guy was making a pot on a potters wheel and he was making a line around the pot with a sharp tool whilst talking, they 'scanned' the shape of the line and played the conversation back...

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Actually that is possible. A few years back this was done to pottery found in Pompeii. They used a laser to read the grooves on ancient pottery created by the hands or tools of the potter. Speech was heard when they did this.


As for alot of the other stuff, being able to do multiple procedure tasks is doable with macros. the same as we do in Photoshop.
As far as doing mega zooms on video image, that is a bit far fetched. The resolution of "most" video is to low to see any detail in close, although there are some very interesting extrapolation programs that can enhance video stills way beyond what is available to the consumer. Some of the programs can take pixelized images(zoomed way in) and recreate a high resolution image using the pixel data as a map.

There are limitations to how much data you can get from low rez video footage though. Back in the 80's I "heard" something from someone about what the PTB could do with satellite imaging and laser technology, I thought it was a bunch of bunk until I saw something about in the mainstream 20 years later(being able to read newsprint on earth from space)I guess what I am getting at is; There is more hidden technology available to those in the know than you can imagine.
I agree alot of the things coming from Hollywood are a bunch of carp, but there is also a lot that is based on current scientific theory and practices.

3P

If Hollywood only used technology that we were familiar with then it would get pretty boring. I mean who really wants to sit and watch someone spend 3 hours digitally improving a photo when the same thing can be accomplished using a 15 second clip.

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Originally Posted by jasonsplace

If Hollywood only used technology that we were familiar with then it would get pretty boring. I mean who really wants to sit and watch someone spend 3 hours digitally improving a photo when the same thing can be accomplished using a 15 second clip.

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now introducing...

Photoshop : The Movie

Just like real life... but with better layer masks.

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Originally Posted by gerbick

now introducing...

Photoshop : The Movie

Just like real life... but with better layer masks.

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I would go to the midnight premeir.

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Originally Posted by gerbick

now introducing...

Photoshop : The Movie

Just like real life... but with better layer masks.

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if jj abrams writes the script, i'm going!

revenge of the photoshoppers

Mac vs PC
Whoever wins we lose

All your Memory Cards are belong to us

When was the last time that hollywood got serious and only used existing technology?

MacGyver

Hackers was probably the worst for "technology" visuals. They had some high tech servers! Flying around like that looking for the "garbage" file. If the inside of servers looked like that I would become a hacker!

It was still a great movie though.

I get your point on using some technology that doesn't exist to increase the excitement, but it doesn't work anymore. When you see some prisoner/capture terrorist/spy driving away in a stolen car, whats the first thing that comes to mind? Yup, use the cameras along the highway to get a shot of his car. When they computer wizz comes up with that plan, I don't say "oh, thats a neat plan, I would never have thought of that". Instead I say "Duh, thats what everyone does". Then you get the image and you can't see the licence plate and guess what, they use some fancy algorithm to zoom in. Now thats original.

My point is that new technology isn't impressing me anymore. Infact, using old stuff in a new way is more impressive, and thats why shows like MacGyver were so popular. If people learn something new about something they have taken for granted their entire life, then that will impress them. A very good example is conspiracy theories, and that is the reason they are so popular. The DaVinci Code is a good movie not because it reveales information about a fictional character in the story, but because it reveals information about something we all know about.

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Originally Posted by robbmcaulay

Someone told me about an episode where the guy was making a pot on a potters wheel and he was making a line around the pot with a sharp tool whilst talking, they 'scanned' the shape of the line and played the conversation back...

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I think that was an x-files or something, the pot was supposed to have been made while jesus was talking.


I've always like the way all cars and planes explode whenever they hit anything.

That pot thing is obviously impossible, becasue the pot would harden during the baking (whatever you call it) and would expand and crack. Especially 2000 years would wear off the outer layers.

GPS transmitters are currently about the size of 1/2 inch diameter coin with a little wire hanging out. (I was at a conference and Intel had several of them and showed them moving as they walked around the stage). Said they cost about 8 bucks to make.

There was a quote on the "Worst client stories" about a woman who came into a photography studio and said that her husband had died and all she had was a picture of the side of his head and she needed the photographer to rotate it so she could get a frontal view. Lets just say the rest was about the fight the two people had when the photographer explained it wasn't possible and the woman said she had seen them do it on TV.

24 is the most ridiculous show when it comes to the technology they use.

I love it how when CTU get's a tip on a new suspect, within 3 seconds they have a full graphical powerpoint/flash presentation of the guy up on the big screen, complete with full stats, 3D special effects, and animated background.

Chloe can basically hack into ANY system within 3 seconds. I guess CTU has access to every schematic of every single building in Los Angeles. Oh sure, sometimes she has to break through a " 128 bit encrypted phoenix firewall" which takes an extra 2 seconds, but other than that, it's easy as pie to instantly transfer a video feed from a random warehouse to Chloe's desktop or Jack's 40 million dollar Palm Pilot.

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Originally Posted by Visionray

24 is the most ridiculous show when it comes to the technology they use.

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and yet it is the greatest show on TV. It shows what we wish could be accomplished with technology

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Originally Posted by Visionray

Oh sure, sometimes she has to break through a " 128 bit encrypted phoenix firewall" which takes an extra 2 seconds.

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If I remember right, you can't hack a Phoenix, it automatically erases the data if it's accessed :)

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and yet it is the greatest show on TV

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Is that a fact or an opinion?
It's a very good show, but the greatest?

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If I remember right, you can't hack a Phoenix, it automatically erases the data if it's accessed

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True, however through a secure tunnel in the 384 bit mainframe, Chloe can run a traceroute sub-channel algorithm thereby bypassing the main cryptovariable.

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Originally Posted by Visionray

Is that a fact or an opinion?
It's a very good show, but the greatest?

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My opinion is that it is the greatest current TV show. Maybe not the greatest of all time but defintely mine and many others current favorite.

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Originally Posted by Visionray

True, however through a secure tunnel in the 384 bit mainframe, Chloe can run a traceroute sub-channel algorithm thereby bypassing the main cryptovariable.

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and yet a crack ho can steal a i.d. card and shut the whole place down.

That damn pot,

I don't recall the x-files story. I do recall the CSI episode.

If the pot had been glazed then no likelyhood of retrieving an audiio signal
If the pot had been merely baked then an every slight likeyhood that the groove
would have been cut. ...It would have been good for one revolution though and only
if the potters wheel came to a dead stop after the revolution. So yes highly implausable.

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Originally Posted by gerbick

Within Photoshop, open the file, then hit CTRL (and) + (plus sign to zoom in) CTRL (and) - (minus sign to zoom out), CTRL + 0 (zero) to zoom to fit.

While zoomed in, use Spacebar to move the image around - this requires usage of a mouse though.

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I think he was referring to Blade Runner, fakest interpolation ever.

I never saw the CSI episode but the X-files one was about a wooden bowl, not a fired pot. A fired pieces contracts 7% btw, not expand. If it contracts evenly, it would probably just increase the pitch of the audio extracted.

Chloe has an immense amount of resources at her disposal and is a trained hacker instead of some amature geek. We may not actually have that kind of cross-referencing ability but most of it is at least possible. But since she failed to MAKE A FREAKIN' BACKUP OF THE RECORDING!, she (her character) lost a lot of respect.

Hmm, what bugs me:
People dont say out loud what they are typing into IM's.
I doubt you can blow up a PDA with a memory card.
The future will not see mylar replace paper, paper will go away.

The biggest annoyance is when a movie only shows progress in one area:
If we could download data to our brains, that would mean we've mapped the brain and just as well program ourselves to be genius.

And how the hell are you going to project CNN onto my bathroom mirror yet the newspaper still shows up my doorstep?

While there are some exceptional Sci-Fi movies out now, I have seen maybe 1 where the outside shot of the ship does not make a sub-woofer growling sound as it moves through a vacuum.

That pisses me off so much.

also, why do spaceship engineers, even way into the future, route all wires and steam-pipes along corridors? dont they realize that when the ship takes damage it will cause a lot of wires and sparks to obstruct the walk-ways?

Yet another thing I like about computers in movies: They all cause sparks to fly when they crash! All keyboards will overheat, crackle and smokeo while sparks fly in all directions and maybe the guy who used the computer got electricuted!

Another thing in movies is time; everyone has their watches set to exactly the same time, and everything is precise. When somebody knows that the bomb will go off in 12 hours, they can count down the seconds while they are working on it!