Are the black circles in Arrival just random shapes?

Are the black circles in Arrival just random shapes? - Top view of composition of round wooden plate with smooth surface and similar black metal spoons on beige surface

In Arrival, the heptapods have a specific written language that is based on black circles.

screenshot of heptapod glyphs

A single circle can be a word, a group of words or even a sentence. In the movie there are very complicated rules that structure this language.

But is there any real logic in the circles shown in the movie? In other words, did the filmmakers build the circles with specific rules or are they just random shapes?



Best Answer

The designs are very deliberate, and were intended to be circular from the outset.

Bringing the language to the screen was a joint effort between designer Patrice Vermette, science consultant Stephen Wolfram -- of Wolfram Alpha fame -- and his son Christopher Wolfram. All told, some 100 "unique logograms with embedded words and phrases, with mutable components" were crafted for the film.

More than that,

Throughout a series of tweets recently, writer/producer Eric Heisserer explained not only how the circular speech symbols came to be, but also the "bespoke logogram analytic code" that translated the language when the cameras were rolling. "In several shots in the film, the analytics you see are working in real-time to dissect a logogram," Heisserer writes. "Not canned CG."

Also, they used linguistics professor Jessica Coon as a consultant.

A couple of interesting articles to read:

https://www.wired.com/2016/11/arrivals-designers-crafted-mesmerizing-alien-alphabet/

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/14/dissecting-the-alien-language-in-arrival/




Pictures about "Are the black circles in Arrival just random shapes?"

Are the black circles in Arrival just random shapes? - Lunar Eclipse
Are the black circles in Arrival just random shapes? - Crop unrecognizable doctor with vision test device
Are the black circles in Arrival just random shapes? - Bokeh Photography



Is Heptapod a real language?

Heptapod is a Language \u2013 So Do You Translate it or Interpret it? To use the Heptapod language, particularly the written form known as Heptapod B, is to know the consequential (and seemingly inevitable) end result of your thought before you write or say anything.

What are the aliens in arrival?

On board, Banks and Donnelly make contact with two cephalopod-like, seven-limbed aliens, whom they call 'heptapods'; Donnelly nicknames them Abbott and Costello.

Is there a correlation between what a Heptapod says and what a Heptapod writes?

Scientist Ian: There's no correlation between what a heptapod (=alien) says and what a heptapod writes. Unlike all written human languages, their writing is semasiographic. It conveys meaning; it doesn't represent sound.

What is the meaning of the movie arrival?

Louise's visions of her daughter, Hannah, that have been shown throughout the film are revealed to not be memories from the past at all; instead, they're memories from the future. Hannah's father, it turns out, is \u2014 or will be \u2014 Ian.



Arrival Movie's Language: Talking in Circles




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Images: Karolina Grabowska, Sebastian Voortman, Anna Shvets, Achilles Kastanas