Colorful Movie Barcodes

Aladdin (1992)

For a few years, MovieBarcode has been compressing each frame of entire films into pixel-wide, chronological bars, creating a unique color palette barcode for each movie. Color is used in film to set moods, evoke particular feelings, or to intensify plot and characters. While examining the barcodes of familiar movies, particular colors may stand out, or remind you of specific scenes or characters that you’re drawn to. MovieBarcodes allow a film lover an opportunity to view movies from a macro, bird’s eye view. It’s as close as you can get to seeing the entirety of a movie all in one glance.

West side story (1961)

The person behind MovieBarcode wishes to remain anonymous, but told wired.co.uk that movies are chosen based on runtime and the quality of the outcome and that the biggest challenge is “[s]taying within the concept and not getting carried away by technical possibilities, some of which are planned to be published in a not too distant, not too busy future.” If you’re curious if a particular film has been compressed, or you just want to peruse titles, you can find an index of all the films that have been compressed here. If you like these, be sure to check out Redbubble, where some of the MovieBarcode prints are available for purchase.

Toy Story (1995)

12 years Slave (2013)