Matrix Hack

By far the most realistic Hollywood depiction of a crack (not hack, as that means something else ) was in the Matrix Reloaded where a known vulnerability (SSH1 CRC32) is used to gain root access to a server. All this was done in a terminal session using NMap, a real life port scanner. Contast that to Hackers, where every computer has a 3D window manager and computer geeks are rollerblading hotties.

Using ye old pause button, I managed to get a text mockup of several of the screens from the scene. This will be the basic text, with the windows rendered in a funky Matrix Green on a black background.




Try not to be overwhelmed... A big black background...





The text pasted into the Text tool box. Using Lucidia Console, 20Pts, color #80dcbc ...




First I discard the text information on the text layer. This turns it into a bunch of pixels we can cut and paste. Then I make new layers for each terminal window (four in all) and cut 'n paste the chunks of the text to them.



Now I'll make a new layer under the text for the window border. I select the area of the border and click 'Edit -> Stroke Selection'. A 2 pixel border should do it... After the borders are done, I delete the mocked up borders from the layer with the text ('asm layer' here).



The image after all the borders are done... Finished, but kinda boring. Maybe making it look like it's displayed on an old monitor...




Under 'Filters -> Distorts -> Video' I applied both wide-striped and then striped to give it that old-school crusty monitor look.




After applying the 'Filters -> Distorts -> Polor Coords' filter... funky, but I didn't end up using it...



After creating a new layer, I added some noise to it. 'Filters -> Noise -> Hurl' resulted in this mess. Maybe a little too much noise so...




'Filters -> Blur -> Blur' applied to the noise layer. Then the layer mode is set to 'Lighten Only' with about 20% opacity... Now it's starting to look like a half dead monitor.



Next a bit of distortion to mimic the curvature of a monitor. 'Filters -> Distorts -> IWarp' will do the job. Deform mode is set to 'Grow', radius to 100 and amount to 0.15. A single click slightly off center makes a nice, subtle bubble.




Last up is making the text glow a bit... 'Filters -> Artistic -> Softglow' is applied with defaults. Then 'Filters -> Distorts -> Value Propagate' is applied with mode of 'More White' and default values.




The finished image...





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