Sneakers’ ‘black box’ project
Sneakers’ ‘black box’ project

Sneakers’ ‘black box’ project

Panasonic KX-T1450 EasaPhone AutoLogic answering machine - Dave TavresI recently picked up a Panasonic model KX-T1450 EasaPhone AutoLogic answering machine to try to re-create the ‘black box’ from Sneakers.

As a geek, I loved this movie when it first came out. As a freedom-loving adult, when the hero Edward Snowden outted the NSA for spying on Americans, I immediately thought of this black box from Sneakers. So, now, I’m going to see if I can get the pieces together to build my own black box from the movie.

Sneakers’ ‘black box’ project - opening - Dave TavresSneakers’ ‘black box’ project - opened box - Dave TavresSneakers’ ‘black box’ project - CPU - Dave TavresSneakers’ ‘black box’ project - Pinouts - Dave TavresSneakers’ ‘black box’ project - long cable - Dave TavresSneakers’ ‘black box’ project - detail - Dave Tavres

More to come…


After looking at the machine in person, it was modified by the prop-makers to make the box ‘taller’ (deeper inside).

Looking at the image below, there’s a ‘spacer’ about 1.5 inches tall that the cover is attached to, via small hinges and screws – which is not how the original machine is hinged.Tall grey spacer - DaveTavres.com

I’m going to 3D print the gray spacer to get the look right. I’ve also guessed that the wires are just single strands of a gray IDE ribbon cable.