Wikipedia

MovieCode

MovieCode (full title Source Code in TV and Films) is a website revealing the meanings of computer program source code depicted in film, established in January 2014.

Source Code in TV and Films
Type of site
Geek
OwnerJohn Graham-Cumming
URLmoviecode.tumblr.com[1][2]
LaunchedJanuary 3, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-01-03)[3]
Current statusOnline

It runs via microblogging site Tumblr, with its owner accepting examples submitted by readers. Its contents include examples of code and their origins and/or meanings.

History edit

The site was launched on 3 January 2014 via microblogging service Tumblr.[4][5][6] It was conceived by programmer and writer John Graham-Cumming[7] to address questions around what the source code seen in films actually does.[5][8]

Graham-Cumming was inspired to create the blog by Neill Blomkamp's 2013 film Elysium, which uses an extract from an Intel manual.[6][9][10] He posted a comparison image related to the film on Twitter, which prompted more than 500 retweets. He then created the blog.[11] The site's full title of Source Code in TV and Films[3][7] is sometimes shortened to MovieCode,[12][13] that being the Tumblr subdomain.

A companion website, Behind The Screens, covers some of the entries on MovieCode in great detail in the form of short videos.

Features edit

 
Terminator HUD with 6502 assembly language[5]

The site's intention is to connect screenshots to specific extracts of original code.[6] The author accepts examples submitted by readers for future publication.[1][2]

Reception edit

The site was reported by the BBC as having received more than 10,000 hits 10 days after its launch.[3]

The German edition of Engadget was noted for its web site's HTML code being used in Duane Clark's 2011 TV series XIII,[4][12] while it was noted elsewhere that movie code is frequently taken from web sites, including Wikipedia[5][14] and a Canadian bank.[10][14]

It was noted that instead of using "random code" (which is often the case) sometimes more appropriate code is used.[7] Some cited examples are James Cameron's 1984 film The Terminator (using assembly language for the 1975[15] MOS 6502 microprocessor),[5] Eric Kripke's 2012 TV series Revolution (using code from Jordan Mechner's 1989 video game Prince of Persia)[12][16] and David Fincher's[9] 2011 film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (using MySQL).[7]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Movie code tumblr cracks the sources of code found in TV, film". Slate. Culture Blog. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b Harris, Aisha (7 January 2014). "Que veulent dire les codes informatiques que l'on voit dans les films?". Slate. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Kleinman, Zoe (13 January 2014). "Computer programmer cracks secrets of films' dodgy code". BBC News. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b Weiss, Franziska (4 January 2014). "Quelltext in TV und Film und was er wirklich beschreibt". Engadget. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e Chan, Casey (5 January 2014). "What All The Fancy Code In Movie Computer Sequences Actually Mean". Gizmodo. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Cereloz, Axel (9 January 2014). "Le code présenté dans les films a-t-il réellement un sens ?". presse-citron.net. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d Johnson, Phil (8 January 2014). "The sources of all that code you see in TV and movies". ITworld. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Links: January 2014". Waxy.org. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  9. ^ a b Gani, Aisha (10 January 2014). "Computer code in films: hidden meanings or irrelevant nonsense?". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  10. ^ a b Sparkes, Matthew (13 January 2014). "Movie code reveals Iron Man was made of Lego". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  11. ^ Marvin, Rob (13 January 2014). "Programmer debunks source code shown in TV and movies". SD Times Blog. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  12. ^ a b c Love, Dylan (10 January 2014). "Here's Proof That The Computer Code Used In Movies Is Mostly Nonsense". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  13. ^ Greer, Danny (13 January 2014). "MovieCode is a Fun Archive for Film Buffs and Programmers Alike". The Beat. Premiumbeat. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  14. ^ a b Miller, Jennifer (7 January 2014). "What The Code Used In Computer Scenes In Movies Actually Means". Fast Company. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  15. ^ "3rd Generation Microprocessor" (PDF). Microcomputer Digest. 2 (2). Cupertino, CA: Microcomputer Associates: 1–3. August 1975.
  16. ^ Crockett, Rebecca (8 January 2014). "Doctor Who Among TV & Movies To Use Fake Computer Code On Screen". Kasterborous. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
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