What dates movie technology?
I was watching the all-time worst movie ever made Plan 9 from Outer Space the other night and it got me to thinking, why does media representation of technology look oldfashioned so fast?
It's not the clothing really. Barbarella's wardrobe, specifically the stuff on Jane Fonda, still looks hip and vaguely futuristic.
It's not weapons. Star Trek's phasers look a little cheesy, but not bad enough to make you groan.
Sometimes it's the monsters/aliens, but there are plenty of movies that either don't have them or don't show them.
I think that it's the monitors. When you see the blipping of an oscilloscope or an old red LED panel, it immediately dates the movie. Movies like Minority Report were done more cleverly by inventing brand new kinds of computer interfaces (remember the hand-waving search system?)
If you are visually showing the future, don't tip your hand by displaying your past.
Posted on July 07, 2006
