Mac Spotting

[mectojic]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned School of Rock (2003) yet. A movie about thinking different and harnessing a classroom of rich kids' creative energy, the Macs are very prominent and used a lot in the film, in many practical ways.
There is a shot of kids using a 17-inch iMac G4 hooked up to a security camera, to make sure no teacher catches them practicing their rock band. Note the 3rd party speakers, anyone know what they are?

Another shot shows another iMac G4 (15"?) in a kid's bedroom (running early OS X) – presumably his family is rich.

Another kid has a beautiful TiBook. Wish all TiBooks were in that good condition!

But the TiBook isn't just for show. It gets used later for screen mirroring, and then the kid uses it to control the light show for the band performance. Some shots in the film show that it's running OS 9.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Note the 3rd party speakers, anyone know what they are

JBL Creatures - I had some, the woofer unit was like a Darth Vader helmet

 

[B S Magnet]

From the pilot of the 1996–99 series Millennium: a production-masked Mac (the black electrical tape covering the brand and model number) running probably running some iteration of System 7.5 — likely a Power Mac 7100 or 7500, given the time period and form factor:

Because the series I’m viewing is from DVD, the resolution limits better details than this (576p).

Update!

Despite obscuring the menubar, the HDD indicates it’s a Power Macintosh 7100/80 AV!

 

[TheShortTimer]

From the pilot of the 1996–99 series Millennium: a production-masked Mac (the black electrical tape covering the brand and model number) running probably running some iteration of System 7.5 — likely a Power Mac 7100 or 7500, given the time period and form factor:

For years I noticed the usage of black tape to conceal brand name and model number information in many U.S. TV productions. This was before I understood that it was done to avoid potential accusations of product placement or endorsements where no such arrangements had been made.

Sony TVs and monitors regularly had their brand logos removed - and their absence was quite noticeable during close up shots.

As an aside, would you recommend Millennium to the uninitiated such as myself?

 

[B S Magnet]

As an aside, would you recommend Millennium to the uninitiated such as myself?

Did you like the X-Files — in particular, the first six seasons shot in Vancouver (and that rainy, temperate aesthetic which makes Vancouver its own character)? If yes to both, then I think you might enjoy it.

It was where I first saw Lance Henrikssen in a show, and he very quickly became one of my favourite actors. You’ll also recognize some other faces in the series who went on to bigger productions.

Unlike the X-Files, which gained traction in extraterrestrial and shadowy character plots, Millennium focusses more on cases which overlap with the occult, vis–à-vis killer profiling by the lead character, an ex-FBI agent (Henrikssen). It does exist within the X-Files universe, as the two tie in later.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Did you like the X-Files — in particular, the first six seasons shot in Vancouver (and that rainy, temperate aesthetic which makes Vancouver its own character)?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that - and always soundtracked with late 90s synth pads

 

[B S Magnet]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that - and always soundtracked with late 90s synth pads

I remember being at a sci-fi discussion on the use of cities in sci-fi stories (Blade Runner, Neuromancer, and so on).

I asked the panelists whether cities-as-character, rather than just cities as authorial setting, could be recognized as invaluable for screen-presented stories. I didn’t mention Los Angeles, given its ubiquity in TV and cinema, but I specifically cited Vancouver in The X-Files and also Fringe as a case example in which the city, standing in for many other cities, becomes itself a tacit character which enriches the mood of the production and, in the former’s case, is lost when the set is moved elsewhere.

I have an especial soft spot for Vancouver- and Toronto-set series and films. There are certain, ineffable qualities of each city which contribute to the production (bolstering the idea that yes, cities can be characters or even passive “actors”). It often brings me a bit of frisson.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I specifically cited Vancouver in The X-Files and also Fringe as a case example in which the city, standing in for many other cities, becomes itself a tacit character which enriches the mood of the production and, in the former’s case, is lost when the set is moved elsewhere.

My take is somewhat less cerebral and less focused on the city. As a 70s kid, my eyes were wide open to the cultural boom in all things "unexplained." I'd read and watch everything about ufos, ghosts, myths, ESP, Sasquatch etc, culminating in the tv show, Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World (where every blurred, grainy photo of "something" was synchronised with the stab of an analogue polysynth chord.)

My lasting memory (perhaps false) was that a lot of "encounters" seemed to happen (at least on that side on the Atlantic) under grey, overcast skies and often in lonely, arboreal locations - so when X-Files came along, not only was it a checklist of all the stuff I'd consumed as a kid but often took place in the exact environment I'd half remembered.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Did you like the X-Files — in particular, the first six seasons shot in Vancouver (and that rainy, temperate aesthetic which makes Vancouver its own character)? If yes to both, then I think you might enjoy it.

It was where I first saw Lance Henrikssen in a show, and he very quickly became one of my favourite actors. You’ll also recognize some other faces in the series who went on to bigger productions.

Unlike the X-Files, which gained traction in extraterrestrial and shadowy character plots, Millennium focusses more on cases which overlap with the occult, vis–à-vis killer profiling by the lead character, an ex-FBI agent (Henrikssen). It does exist within the X-Files universe, as the two tie in later.

I wasn't an avid viewer of the show - especially to even recognise that it was shot in Vancouver but I did enjoy the episodes that I watched. In general, I'm nearly always willing to check out material that's beyond my preferences or usual territory - because how else do you broaden your horizons?

 

[B S Magnet]

I wasn't an avid viewer of the show - especially to even recognise that it was shot in Vancouver but I did enjoy the episodes that I watched. In general, I'm nearly always willing to check out material that's beyond my preferences or usual territory - because how else do you broaden your horizons?

I’ve long had an eye for not only spotting Canadian productions which aired in the U.S. (where I was raised), but there’s also a particular timbre or je ne sais quoi about Canadian-produced/filmed television and film — especially so Vancouver — which departs aesthetically from productions working out of Southern California and New York City.

In the later ’80s (e.g., The Twilight Zone series of ’85 and 21 Jump Street) and early ’90s (e.g., The Outer Limits series of the ’90s or Stargate: SG1), the Vancouver “tell” was a slightly less-polished, slightly more minimalist presentation of working with smaller budgets. All of the examples here were filmed in Vancouver. In time, “Hollywood of the North(west)” started to hold its own.

Over time of watching these television series, one can get to know the architectural traits of houses and municipal built form as distinctly Vancouver: the detached, well-to-do neighbourhood houses with the white-picket fences in a Vancouver-set series frequently reveals architectural design elements which were prevalent in mail-order catalogue blueprints sold in the 1910s and 1920s by the Hudson Bay Company and Eaton’s, to land buyers in a new city neighbourhood who wanted their own home (the closest analogue in the U.S. would have been Sears Roebuck & Co. doing the same down there for mostly new, western cities). Blueprint buyers might not have been able afford a certified architect, but they could afford to buy the retail blueprints and have a builder locally assemble their home to spec. (This was the predecessor to post-WWII suburban homes being designed and built by one local builder, per subdivision.)

Also, Vancouver has a telltale city laneway in which hydro/power lines, whose posts are timber, arch over the laneway at right angles and carries the power lines out of sight from the main arterials. One can see this in productions as varied as Continuum, Dark Angel, Travelers, Dead Like Me, The Man in the High Castle, and Fringe.

When I finally visited Vancouver in person years later, it was trippy to walk and turn a corner and feel as if you’d seen the view before — in a manner of speaking, you already had!

 

[B S Magnet]

Also, Vancouver has a telltale city laneway in which hydro/power lines, whose posts are timber, arch over the laneway at right angles and carries the power lines out of sight from the main arterials. One can see this in productions as varied as Continuum, Dark Angel, Travelers, Dead Like Me, The Man in the High Castle, and Fringe.

Here’s but one example of the hydro line configuration unique to Vancouver, from a screen cap in an episode of Millennium:

EDIT to add: and a better view of another Van City laneway:

 

[Royksöpp]

And Just like That is filled with Apple Products.

13 inch M1 MacBook Pro seen in multiple episodes.

Not a Mac, but still cool to see an iPad and Magic Keyboard.

2019 16 Inch MacBook Pro.

Carrie is using a 2012 non retina MacBook Pro in 2021. 😲🤯

M1 iMac

I also saw several Pro XDR displays. This is the one time it was in focus.

 

[B S Magnet]

The just-departed Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch’s go-to composer for Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive, amongst many more, from a 2005 photo at his home studio:

Photographer: Nancy Wegard​

His Apple Cinema Display (my guess is the 20-inch variant) and a USB Pro Keyboard from 2000–2002, catch one’s eyes immediately. A more patient eye also keys in on his Power Mac G5, its front panel having at least one USB device plugged in.

EDIT: I think I overlooked his matching black USB Pro Mouse. Whoops.

May his memory be a blessing.

 

[B S Magnet]

From the pilot of the 1996–99 series Millennium: a production-masked Mac (the black electrical tape covering the brand and model number) running probably running some iteration of System 7.5 — likely a Power Mac 7100 or 7500, given the time period and form factor:


View attachment 2122734View attachment 2122733

Because the series I’m viewing is from DVD, the resolution limits better details than this (576p).

Update!

Despite obscuring the menubar, the HDD indicates it’s a Power Macintosh 7100/80 AV!

View attachment 2122746

More Millennium fun:

Above, a close-up of someone typing on an Apple M1242 Adjustable Keyboard.

Less exciting, but worthy of a mention, is a person typing on the much-maligned M2980 AppleDesign keyboard.

Next, from another X-Files spin-off, The Lone Gunmen, a brief view of a Pismo PowerBook G3.

And a Power Mac(intosh) G4 — could it be a Yikes!? — on a shelf in the background, next to an Apple Studio Display (unsure if 15- or 17-inch). This was filmed maybe a year and change after the first G4s went on sale.

Why do I go out on a limb here and say it could possibly be a Yikes! model and not a Sawtooth or a Gigabit model? The power button!

On Sawtooth and later models, even when powered down, the power buttons were relatively lighter (and more transparent) in appearance and were also different in tactile/visual texture (i.e., not shiny), to allow the bright white LED shine to through whilst awake or pulsing whilst asleep. The Yikes! variant, meanwhile, which was the first Mac I owned, had a different power button which was distinctively flat and polished (it was the same material as the rest of the graphite plastic surrounding it). It was notably darker when powered down, and when on, they let through less light whenever the green or amber LED was illuminated.

Change my mind.

I could be snarky and add how it must have been a Yikes! model, which is maybe why they’d already shelved it as a prop.

Adding on another shot of probably the same prop from a later episode:

 

[mectojic]

Change my mind.

You are right that the Yikes had a different power button to the other Graphite G4s- but it was the same type of power button as the B&W (i.e. inverted, like the tray-loader iMacs)- should have more of a white/grey appearance than the photo there.

I think the one in your photo is a Sawtooth.

 

[B S Magnet]

You are right that the Yikes had a different power button to the other Graphite G4s- but it was the same type of power button as the B&W (i.e. inverted, like the tray-loader iMacs)- should have more of a white/grey appearance than the photo there.

I think the one in your photo is a Sawtooth.

Hrm. At the very least, I stand corrected on one part: the Sawtooth apparently did use green and amber, but the amber pulsated in sleep whereas it did not in the Yikes! variant.

A photo of a Sawtooth power light illuminated shows the glow from the whole of the button, and the power symbol is white. As I remember it, the button texture was not glossy, but more translucent:

Photo of a Yikes! (powered off), and the power icon is cut out clear to let through backlight (they were known to appear dimmer than the Sawtooth, because the majority of the button was opaque). As you noted correctly, it is lighter grey (undoubtedly a carryover from the B&W G3, on which they appeared practically silver), but it also had a more glossy finish. Maybe not quite as glossy as the graphite acrylic around it, but glossier than its Sawtooth successor:

Also noteworthy: the reset buttons are not labelled in white on the Yikes! as they were on Sawtooth models.

In the above screencap from The Lone Gunmen, there is off-camera side-illumination from a light source, giving the front panel glossy face a lighter appearance than around the power and reset buttons. I’m still on team Yikes! for this one, as I’d expect some semblance of the white power icon labelling to show up as slightly brighter pixels where they’d be.

Back to you.

 

[mectojic]

I’m still on team Yikes! for this one, as I’d expect some semblance of the white power icon labelling to show up as slightly brighter pixels where they’d be.

Back to you.

Ok, I have a 'nail in the coffin' haha- the Studio Display next to it. Just from a logical perspective, there's no way you could use a Studio/Cinema Display with a Yikes, at least back then. Why? The Yikes G4 had no DVI nor ADC, only VGA - it had no AGP slot, and Apple didn't sell PCI cards for the Yikes with DVI.

There's a reason Apple only sold the original DVI Cinema Display with the top-end G4- only the Sawtooth had the Radeon card with a DVI port (and for that matter, only from December onwards). I owned an early Sawtooth/350 with only VGA on the card.

If it's a later 15 or 17 inch Studio Display, then they were only sold with ADC. That would mean the G4 is a Gigabit model or DA. But judging from the photo, I think it fits the proportions of the 22-inch cinema display.

you're welcome

 

[B S Magnet]

Ok, I have a 'nail in the coffin' haha- the Studio Display next to it. Just from a logical perspective, there's no way you could use a Studio/Cinema Display with a Yikes, at least back then. Why? The Yikes G4 had no DVI nor ADC, only VGA - it had no AGP slot, and Apple didn't sell PCI cards for the Yikes with DVI.

There's a reason Apple only sold the original DVI Cinema Display with the top-end G4- only the Sawtooth had the Radeon card with a DVI port (and for that matter, only from December onwards). I owned an early Sawtooth/350 with only VGA on the card.

If it's a later 15 or 17 inch Studio Display, then they were only sold with ADC. That would mean the G4 is a Gigabit model or DA. But judging from the photo, I think it fits the proportions of the 22-inch cinema display.

you're welcome

Counterpoint: they’re all set props. All connectivity rules go out the window.

More seriously: this shot, filmed sometime between October 2000 and January 2001 (the short-lived, 13-episode series pilot aired 4 March 2001), came about well before the 20-inch ACD existed (and, apparently, before the 17-inch Studio Display, as well). Back then, the only displays in existence with the acrylic case and prop leg design were the 22-inch Cinema model and the 15-inch Studio model.

I own a later 20-inch ACD, and its height, when leaned against a G3/G4 tower, is at least as tall (and just a bit short of a taller, G5 tower, which is a hair taller than 20in). The height of the 22-inch model is about 19 inches, according to Everymac (18.9in); the height of a G3/G4 case (with the handles) is 17in (same source). The height dimensions for the 15-inch Studio Display (also Everymac) is about 16in (15.89in) — shorter than its 22-inch Cinema Display big sibling and an inch less tall than the G3/G4 case.

The screen cap is likely a 15-inch Studio Display, shelved as a prop alongside a Yikes! G4.

Your turn.

 

[mectojic]

Counterpoint: they’re all set props. All connectivity rules go out the window.

More seriously: this shot, filmed sometime between October 2000 and January 2001 (the short-lived, 13-episode series pilot aired 4 March 2001), came about well before the 20-inch ACD existed (and, apparently, before the 17-inch Studio Display, as well). Back then, the only displays in existence with the acrylic case and prop leg design were the 22-inch Cinema model and the 15-inch Studio model.

I own a later 20-inch ACD, and its height, when leaned against a G3/G4 tower, is at least as tall (and just a bit short of a taller, G5 tower, which is a hair taller than 20in). The height of the 22-inch model is about 19 inches, according to Everymac (18.9in); the height of a G3/G4 case (with the handles) is 17in (same source). The height dimensions for the 15-inch Studio Display (also Everymac) is about 16in (15.89in) — shorter than its 22-inch Cinema Display big sibling and an inch less tall than the G3/G4 case.

The screen cap is likely a 15-inch Studio Display, shelved as a prop alongside a Yikes! G4.

Your turn.

This is quite funny. Thanks for clarifying that it's from late 2000. My money is now on a Gigabit Ethernet model. I know "continuity" is a joke in film, but like I said, you couldn't buy the 22-inch Studio Display separate to the G4 back then. Also I just noticed wedged between the display and G4 is a Pro Keyboard M7803, which again points to it being a Gigabit.

So back in mid-2000, only the 15 and 22 acrylic displays existed. In fact, I think you couldn't buy the 15-inch separate to a Gigabit or Cube purchase then anyway, because the 15 was ADC, so unsupported on everything except those two new Macs. (and no ADC-DVI adapter existed yet.)

So I just ask, why would a film studio buy the whole package with a G4 Gigabit, only to toss the Gigabit and put in a Yikes? To troll us?

I still think from the lighting it's a Sawtooth/Gigabit. I do have a couple of them, and in different lighting conditions they certainly could achieve that tone. I might even consider recreating that photo for lols. As for the cinema display, I'd need to check the dimensions of my 22-inch again.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Next, from another X-Files spin-off, The Lone Gunmen, a brief view of a Pismo PowerBook G3.

More from the Gunmen in the other thread....

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/powerpc-macs-in-tv-shows-and-movies.1985302/post-23180575

 

[B S Magnet]

This is quite funny. Thanks for clarifying that it's from late 2000. My money is now on a Gigabit Ethernet model. I know "continuity" is a joke in film, but like I said, you couldn't buy the 22-inch Studio Display separate to the G4 back then. Also I just noticed wedged between the display and G4 is a Pro Keyboard M7803, which again points to it being a Gigabit.

For this series, I haven’t seen the G4 in use (it‘s appeared, so far, in two different episodes, as background fill). If you watched the X-Files, you might already know these are three conspiracy theorists who write and publish their newspaper from a secret basement hideout rife with gear and files and other junk.

So back in mid-2000, only the 15 and 22 acrylic displays existed. In fact, I think you couldn't buy the 15-inch separate to a Gigabit or Cube purchase then anyway, because the 15 was ADC, so unsupported on everything except those two new Macs. (and no ADC-DVI adapter existed yet.)

So I just ask, why would a film studio buy the whole package with a G4 Gigabit, only to toss the Gigabit and put in a Yikes? To troll us?

No idea, but it isn’t to troll, as there was no one on set, in 2000, thinking, “In 22 years or so, we’re going to send a scant handful of Apple enthusiasts into a tizzy over having Apple stuff in shots.” ::long pause, looks at other set designers in the room:: “LET’S DO THIS.”

I still think from the lighting it's a Sawtooth/Gigabit. I do have a couple of them, and in different lighting conditions they certainly could achieve that tone. I might even consider recreating that photo for lols. As for the cinema display, I'd need to check the dimensions of my 22-inch again.

It could be. As I noted earlier, I’m not 100 per cent on board with it being a Yikes!, but I’m leaning heavily on side with it. You may yet persuade me to Team Sawtooth-or-later, or I’ll get to a later episode as I watch the series which shows a much better shot of the set prop.

Incidentally, the pilot for The Lone Gunmen, airing 4 March 2001, presented a plot which would never have been permitted to air, much less be filmed, had the series been arranged a year later than when it had. In fact, if you watch it now, if knowing nothing about the episode, I think your jaw might drop.

 

[B S Magnet]

More from the Gunmen in the other thread....

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/powerpc-macs-in-tv-shows-and-movies.1985302/post-23180575

I always forget there was another thread!

 

[TheShortTimer]

Counterpoint: they’re all set props. All connectivity rules go out the window.

The amount of films and TV series' that I've watched through the decades where it's blatantly obvious that the computers and associated equipment aren't even connected to each other and plugged into the mains. From Knight Rider to ER to Oz to John Wick.

Incidentally, the pilot for The Lone Gunmen, airing 4 March 2001, presented a plot which would never have been permitted to air, much less be filmed, had the series been arranged a year later than when it had. In fact, if you watch it now, if knowing nothing about the episode, I think your jaw might drop.

Without even ever watching it, I'd wager that it's probably the same reason why it's doubtful there'll ever be a film (or TV) adaptation of Stephen King's (as Richard Bachman) The Running Man which is faithful to the novel's ending. (Not produced by Hollywood anyway.) I've purposefully refrained from sharing any links so that it's up to individuals to seek out the info themselves and take on the responsibility for spoilers.

I always forget there was another thread!

Ah but the difference is that this thread covers Mac sightings beyond PPC machines and the realm of film and TV.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Incidentally, the pilot for The Lone Gunmen, airing 4 March 2001, presented a plot which would never have been permitted to air, much less be filmed, had the series been arranged a year later than when it had. In fact, if you watch it now, if knowing nothing about the episode, I think your jaw might drop.

Indeed. Quite amazing there was little media reflection of the coincidence.

I'm sure there was some potential skullduggery suggested at one point about where the writer got his idea from but then didn't want to talk about it ever again...

 

[B S Magnet]

Indeed. Quite amazing there was little media reflection of the coincidence.

I'm sure there was some potential skullduggery suggested at one point about where the writer got his idea from but then didn't want to talk about it ever again...

On the DVD collection, there’s a special which interviews the producers, writers, and actors, as they discuss each episode. The writer (or producer, can’t recall at the moment) expressed horror that morning, fearing his story plot had some influence, only to be assured later on that this wasn’t the case. He added he hadn’t seen the episode after it aired until just before the DVD special interview.

Still. What a burden to carry.