Production design
What 1995 Japanese cyberpunk film had a strong influence on The Matrix?
The Matrix
In the film, the code that comprises the Matrix itself is frequently represented as downward-flowing green characters. This code utilizes a custom typeface designed by Simon Whiteley, which includes mirror images of half-width kana characters and Western Latin letters and numerals. The color green reflects the green tint commonly used on early monochrome computer monitors. Lynne Cartwright, the Visual Effects Supervisor at Animal Logic, supervised the creation of the film's opening title sequence, as well as the general look of the Matrix code throughout the film, in collaboration with Lindsey Fleay and Justen Marshall. The portrayal resembles the opening credits of the 1995 Japanese cyberpunk film, "Ghost in the Shell", which had a strong influence on the "Matrix" series (see below). It was also used in the subsequent films, on the related website, and in the game "", and its drop-down effect is reflected in the design of some posters for the "Matrix" series. The code received the Runner-up Award in the 1999 Jesse Garson Award for In-film typography or opening credit sequence. "The Matrix"s production designer, Owen Paterson, used methods to distinguish the "real world" and the Matrix in a pervasive way. The production design team generally placed a bias towards the Matrix code's distinctive green color in scenes set within the simulation, whereas there is an emphasis on the color blue during scenes set in the "real world". In addition, the Matrix scenes' sets were slightly more decayed, monolithic, and grid-like, to convey the cold, logical and artificial nature of that environment. For the "real world", the actors' hair was less styled, their clothing had more textile content, and the cinematographers used longer lenses to soften the backgrounds and emphasize the actors. The "Nebuchadnezzar" was designed to have a patched-up look, instead of clean, cold and sterile space ship interior sets as used on films like "Star Trek". The wires were made visible to show the ship's working internals, and each composition was carefully designed to convey the ship as "a marriage between Man and Machine". For the scene when Neo wakes up in the pod connected to the Matrix, the pod was constructed to look dirty, used, and sinister. During the testing of a breathing mechanism in the pod, the tester went into hypothermia in under eight minutes, so the pod had to be heated. Kym Barrett, costume designer, said that she defined the characters and their environment by their costume. For example, Reeves' office costume was designed for Thomas Anderson to look uncomfortable, disheveled, and out of place. Barrett sometimes used three types of fabric for each costume, and also had to consider acting practicality. The actors needed to perform martial art actions in their costume, hang upside-down without people seeing up their dress, or work the wires when strapped to the harnesses. For Trinity, Barrett experimented with how each fabric absorbs and reflects different types of light, and was eventually able to make Trinity's costume mercury-like and oil-slick to suit the character. For the Agents, their costume was designed to create a secret service, undercover look, resembling the film "JFK". The sunglasses, a staple to the film's aesthetics, were commissioned for the film to designer Richard Walker from sunglass maker Blinde Design.