Abstract

The following findings are the result of analysing two versions of how mental imagery is produced. We were required to read a pre-assigned book, Neuromancer, and consider the mental map that the story invokes and what we believed to be true and not true, or real and not real. After doing so we were required to watch a pre-assigned film,

The Matrix, and report on the mental images that were invoked from that and similar elements that appeared in the both. Unfortunately the book only became available late in the assigned time to complete the task so the film was watch first. This however did not impair my analysis as I found the two very similar but also very different. I was able to make multiple connections between Neuromancer and The Matrix’s mental and visual imagery. It is obvious which elements of the book influenced Andy and Larry Wachowski when making their film. Some of these elements including the legendary bullet-time effect made The Matrix the huge hit it is today.

Summary: Neuromancer

Set around the talented computer hacker and ex console cowboy, Henry Dorsett Case, in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City, Japan. Having his nervous system damaged recently by a Russian mycotoxin as punishment after being caught stealing from his employer, the suicidal, drug addicted Case desperately searches the ‘black c

linics’ for a miracle cure. Saved by a cybernetic street samurai Molly Millions, Case is offered a cure in exchange for his services as a hacker by her employer, Armitage. This comes at a price though as he soon finds out that Armitage has placed sacs of the same Russian mycotoxin in his blood vessels in order to get him to complete his work on time. After completing their first job of stealing a ROM module containing the saved consciousness of cyber-cowboy McCoy Pauly, Molly and Case begin looking into Armitages past, which leads them to powerful artificial intelligence named Wintermute. Wintermute later r

ecruits the team to help him complete its goal of merging with its other half, Neuromancer. The team succeed in doing so after Case uses an icebreaking program to penetrate his target, the password is acquired and the lock opened. Allowing Wintermute to unite with Neuromancer.

Summary: The Matrix

Set in 1999, Thomas A Anderson leads a double

life as an average computer programmer by day, but at night goes by the computer hacking alias Neo. He seeks the truth about reality and sits at his computer waiting for a sign or a signal from something or someone. These answers come when Morpheus, a renowned computer hacker sort after by the authorities, finally contacts him. It is here that Neo finds out the truth to be far beyond his imagination as Morpheus sheds light on all the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long. He explains to him that all life on Earth, or as he knows it, is just an elaborate computer program, or matrix, created by a cyber-intelligence for the purpose of keeping them occupied as their body energy is ‘farmed’ to sustain the matrix’s campaign of complete control in the real world. With the weight of ‘being the one’ on his shoulders, Neo joins, Trinity and Morpheus in the struggle to over

throw the matrix and regain control. During this struggle the audience witnesses Neo’s transformation and growth in character on his journey to believing.

Tools Used: The Matrix

One of the main aspects that made the Matrix such a huge success in the industry is the special effects used to help portray the true magnitude of possibilites and nature of the matrix. Only three minutes into the film, the audience is shown a sample of the quality of visual imagery in store for them with the opening scene of Trinity and the famous 360° mid flight action shot.

Throughout the film, a combination of music, unique sets, choreography, cinematography, and visual effects guarantee an excellent mental image and understanding of the world being described. Many of these scenes incorporate a technique referred to as ‘bullet-time’. This visual effect is used to create a time distortion for the audience and allows the viewers to experience the enhanced abilities of the characters that would be otherwise too fast to follow. Not only does the audience get to stop it before it happens and look at it but they get walk around it and see it from a million different points of view This bullet-time effect is often combined with a dramatic pause in the audio that also heightens the visual experience. An example of this is as Neo enters the lobby and is asked whether or not he is caring any metallic objects, when Trinity shoots the agent on the roof (as seen below), and in the railway station fight between Neo and Agent Smith.

Rooftop scene.

Railway Station scene.

Real Vs Not Real: The Matrix

The whole movie revolves around what is real and not real, as Neo explores the extremities of the ‘real world’ and the matrix. When toiling with the truth of reality Neo is first introduced to the unreal when the agents ‘bug’ him. This life like bug is the first sign that the real world is in fact not real. Neo is later informed that the real world as he knows it is actually a computer matrix. Naturally this concept that the real is not real takes a while to sink in for Neo but as it does he begins to see, as quoted in the end scene, that the matrix is a “world where anything is possible.” When Neo initiates his training soon after being reborn into the real world, he progresses through a number of computer simulations. After being uploaded with countless combat techniques including Jujitsu and Kung Fu, Morpheus begins his task of freeing Neo’s mind by challenging him in a sparing simulation and later the ‘jump’ test. Here we start to see Neo’s first signs of believing and opening up his imagination to the possibilities of the matrix. Where the unreal becomes real. Morpheus says numerous things to stimulate Neo’s learning process like, “… similar to the program of the matrix, it has the same basic rules, rules like gravity. What you must learn is that these rules are no different to those rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent, others can be broken.”, and “Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscle in this place ... you think that’s air your breathing?” When it is time he is taken to the Oracle where a child demonstrates the endless possibilities in the matrix, as the unreal is made real with the bending of a spoon. This example is later used to inspire himself when he mutters, “There is no spoon” as he comes up against the agents in the final scenes. When returning to the matrix to rescue Morpheus, the audience witnesses a huge transformation in Neo’s abilities as he starts to bend the rules of the matrix and make the unreal happen from dodging bullets, to coming back to life and then being able to stop bullets.

Conclusion

After analysing the two materials ive come to the conclusion that there are three main connections between Neuromancer and The Matrix. These connections are very similar due to the Wachowski brother’s interpretation of the book and it is interesting how they slightly vary but with that bring different mental imagery.

I would firstly like to discuss the connections made between the characters Molly and the Matrix characters. Although it is written that Molly does not move like the Matrix characters she does have the same dress code. Gibson wrote on page 34, “She wore tight black gloveleather jeans and a bulky black jacket cut from some matte fabric that seemed to absorb light.” This is almost an exact description of Trinity and the others. When reading that, the Trinity character was whom I imagined and visa versa. You will also notice that in the film all the characters are wearing reflective glasses similar to that of Molly’s only hers are implanted. “She shook her head. He realized that the glasses were surgically inset, sealing her sockets. The silver lenses seemed to grow from smooth pale skin above her cheekbones, framed by dark hair cut in a rough shag.” (Gibson, pg34). This cyborg character that Gibson portrays makes Trinity almost cybernetic too when watching the film. Along with the similar apparel, the clash of the not real becoming real when Trinity ‘dials’ in and requests a download of a new helicopter piloting skill base is very characteristic of a cyborg. The only difference is that Molly’s skill base pre-existing due to the cybernetic enhancements and cannot be taught on the spot.

Bullet-time. First used in the cult vampire film, Blade, the year before but made famous in the Matrix and its following films. This futuristic visual effect slows the camera speed right down to allow the audience to witness the scene from all angles and observe every element being displayed that would normally be too quick to see. Used in almost every action scene in the Matrix this technique skyrocketed the film industries action standards. The famous rooftop scene where Neo dodges bullets for the first time has gone down in history as one of the best action scenes of all time, as seen below.

A decade prior to this, Gibson envisioned a similar effect when writing about Case’s observations of Molly as he witnessed her abilities being unleashed upon the occupants of Straylight. The effect was like tape run at half speed, a slow, deliberate dance choreographed to the killer instinct and years of training. She seemed to take the three of them in at a glance: the boy poised on the pool's high board, the girl grinning ove her wineglass, and the corpse of Ashpool, his left socket gaping black and corrupt above his welcoming smile. He wore his maroon robe. His teeth were very white. The boy dove. Slender, brown, his form perfect. The grenade left her hand before his hands could cut the water.” (Gibson, pg.278).

Another similar feature between The Matrix and Neuromancer is the large role that martial arts play on the stories. Soon after being re born into the ‘real’ world, Neo undergoes a series of training programs, including extensive martial arts. As previously discussed, by means of instruction and philosophical exploration, Morpheus furthers Neos skills to the point where he believes he is the one and has the ability to do anything in the matrix as it is just a computer system like any other. With rules to bend and others to break. Although Gibson does not have Molly go through a similar transformation as she already possesses all the expertise, self belief and street-smarts Neo does not she is also an ultimate fighter. The way Gibson writes the fight seens is very similar to the way The Matrix action scenes play out. "It was a performance. It was like the culmination of a lifetime's observation of martial arts tapes, cheap ones, the kind Case had grown up on. For a few seconds, he knew, she was every badass hero, Sony Mao in the old Shaw videos, Mickey Chiba, the whole lineage back to Lee and Eastwood. She was walking it the way she talked it." (Gibson, pg.277-278).