I, Robot (2004): Detective Del Spooner’s (Will Smith) Chicago Police Badge

Set in 2035 Chicago, Will Smith’s character displays this futuristic light-up badge & credentials / ID in the film.

Trailer screencap (2004):

IR Badge 1

HD screencap (circa 2012):

shot0003

The shot may have been cropped in editing or HD transfer. Additionally, the ‘scanning’ effect is different in the trailer than in the final film, In the HD screencap, one can notice a small wrinkle in the faux carbon fiber decal (vinyl?) on the lower left corner. Milling marks are visible on the badge. Additionally, the distinctive font used for “SPOONER” etc, is an older font developed by Apple for their earliest Macintosh computers in 1984, which would make it 51 years old at the time this movie takes place (20 years old at time of filming). It’s use here is, I suspect, a deliberate inside joke by a graphic designer, as the font is named “Chicago.”

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