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Keanu Reeves's iconic scene in the 1999 film, The Matrix, has been copied countless times.
The clip shows Reeve's character Neo skilfully dodging a bullet while the camera pans around him in slow motion.
Up until now, this 'Bullet Time' cinematic effect has been the preserve of Hollywood blockbusters – but that could be about to change.
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Columbia University researcher Yan Wang has created an app, dubbed CamSwarm, which allows anyone to generate the same effect on their smartphone. The app requires a local Wi-Fi connection and a couple of different phones. Pictured are stills of Bullet Time videos generated by CamSwarm
Columbia University researcher Yan Wang has created an app, dubbed CamSwarm, which allows anyone to generate the same effect on their smartpho ne.
The app requires a local Wi-Fi connection and a couple of different phones, with one designated as the lead.
In Hollywood, the technique requires expensive cameras grouped together in a small space to allow for changes in camera angle.
It is then possible to change the point of view by changing from one camera angle to the next, even when the action has stopped moving.
Columbia University researcher Yan Wang has created an app, dubbed CamSwarm, which allows anyone to generate the same effect on their smartphone
The app requires a local Wi-Fi connection and a couple of different phones, with one designated as the lead. The lead smartphone generates a QR code to tell the other phones to join the group
WHAT IS BULLET TIME?Bullet Time is also known as frozen time, the big freeze, dead time, flow motion, or time slice.
It is a special and visual effect that refe rs to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speeds, such as slow motion and time-lapse photography.
It is used in films, adverts and video games.
Bullet Time slows the images down but also changes the camera angle by moving around the scene changing the audience's point of view.
This isn't possible with traditional cameras because the cameras would have move round a scene at the same speed at which the event is taking place. This makes it impossible.
The term 'bullet time' is a registered trademark of Warner Bros who first used it in March 2005 in the video game The Matrix Online.
It was also used to promote the 1999 The Matrix film.
The CamSwarm app does the same thing by coordinating image capture among a group of phones linked together on a Wi-Fi network.
The lead smartphone generates a QR code to tell the other phones to join the group, according to a report in MIT Technology Review.
Each camera focuses on a common target and records footage from its unique angle. A video from them all is then streamed to a server.
Within the app, users are shown their own footage along with the footage from cameras next to them to help them adjust their spacing.
The app also includes built in gyroscopes and digital compass to help determine direction and changes in orientation.
CamSwarm is also then able to replay all the footage, allowing the user to choose which sequences of camera angles to use.
In initial trials of 20 people, the team found the ideal group size was four, and setup time only took a minute.
Wang tested the app wit h the iPhone, but says it's currently not ready to take to the marketplace.
Once it does, however, it could transform your smartphone videos into Matrix-worthy action shots.
Pictured is a conventional high-tech camera array to capture Bullet Time footage for a car commercial
Source: Record Matrix-style action on your PHONE: Group photography app lets anyone film 'Bullet Time' footage
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