I Hardly Knew 'Er

January 26, 2011 2:52 PM

Using pioneering animation techniques to create a look never seen on film before, this 10-minute award-winning film tells the true legend of history's most challenging cipher....The film contains 16 hidden messages that reveal the larger story at play. Eight are fairly easy and require only a close eye. Six are moderately difficult using various encryption methods. Two are extremely difficult and will require a genius mind to decrypt.

The Thomas Beale Cipher, by Andrew S Allan, 2010


(HINT: By "genius mind" I think he means you.)

posted by louche mustachio (14 comments total)

Note for the future: shaky cam isn't required, but if you insist, I reserve the right to throw up on you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:55 PM on January 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

I missed a link - Pretend this is where it says history's most challenging cipher.



(I didn't think it was that shaky, and I'm notoriously pukety. YMMV I guess - the space is flat and defined with patterns, so that could be why I may have missed that.


Seriously, though, I ralphed three times beta testing a video game.)
posted by louche mustachio at 3:03 PM on January 26, 2011

There are some odd links on the website as well, wrapped around numbers-in-circle graphics with the class=easterEgg.
posted by SpaceBass at 3:09 PM on January 26, 2011

Ooh neat. I came across a vimeo link to this earlier but didn't know it had hidden messages in it (haven't watched yet - at work).
posted by juv3nal at 3:29 PM on January 26, 2011

Kryptos
Cracking the Courtyard Crypto
posted by clavdivs at 3:31 PM on January 26, 2011

The Vimeo link, if you prefer it.
posted by louche mustachio at 3:36 PM on January 26, 2011

I was really hoping the "genius mind" link would go to those new Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:38 PM on January 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Strangely enough, I discovered in preview I had to enter "acme=no" so it wouldn't.
posted by louche mustachio at 3:51 PM on January 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Reminds me - in premise - of the absolutely stonking Ruiz film, hypothesis of the stolen painting.
posted by smoke at 4:08 PM on January 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

This always reminds me of the RUN magazine with the Beale ciphers in a huge Commodore BASIC type-in program.
posted by scrowdid at 4:18 PM on January 26, 2011

YT pulled this video due to a copyright claim. :(
posted by DU at 5:36 AM on January 28, 2011

Errr...and why was this linked to YT in the first place? His film is linked to Vimeo on his site.
posted by DU at 5:39 AM on January 28, 2011

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Andrew Allen.
posted by Gordafarin at 9:32 AM on January 28, 2011

Sorry, it was the first place I saw it. The film is available on his Vimeo channel (which I linked in the comments) and on his website.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:35 AM on February 6, 2011