Movie Barcodes have been around for a bit of time now. The idea is squeezing the entirety of a film into a barcode, each frame being a thin slice. It’s not only a cool effect but a rather useful tool to study as a filmmaker and movie watcher. Especially when it comes to animated films colors are of utmost importance. Detailed scripts are created documenting the color of every aspect of each frame. Color not only gives us vibrant characters and environments to look at but also helps convey emotion through the overall color grade and lighting of a scene.

Below are barcodes for Pixar’s films.

​Look at Finding Nemo vs. Ratatouille: Do you see the difference in the bright sea colors of one film as opposed to the richer earth tones of the other?

Stuff to note:

the overall color scheme

when a particular segment takes place

the emotional journey through the film

There is a myriad of ways to take in a movie barcode and use it as an alternate means of studying a particular film. Take your time absorbing Pixar’s repertoire then search online for other barcodes.