Rory Cochrane portrays Charles Freck in the film, which tells the darkly comedic but deeply tragic tale of drug use in the modern world. The story is illustrated by way of digital rotoscoping.

Digital rotoscoping is typically reserved for creating more life-like special effects and enhancing visuals in small segments of film.rnLinklater, however, decided to use it for a full-length feature film.

In “A Scanner Darkly,” Cochrane, playing Charles Freck, takes on a dreamy half-reality visage through digital rotoscoping.

Digital rotoscoping consists primarily of using animation software to repeatedly trace lines through a series of dots called splines, or mathematically defined curves connected by groups of points outlining an image.

A promotional poster for “A Scanner Darkly,” which opens nationwide on Friday. The film took six months to shoot, but the animation took more than a year.