A Visual Revolution

To shoot bullet time, the crew ringed the set with dozens of still cameras firing in sequence, then stitched the frames so the action could hang in the air while the view spun around it. No off-the-shelf rig could do it, so they built their own.

Color carried meaning too. Scenes inside the matrix glow sickly green, like old code on a screen; the real world turns cold blue. To stage the fights, the Wachowskis hired Hong Kong master Yuen Woo-ping, putting wire-fu in front of Hollywood audiences for the first time.