Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

              A film with no grounding in reality is unconvincing and not relate able. As viewers when we see something in movies that is clearly not real, we instantly feel disengaged from the film and begin questioning the quality of the film that is being watched, instead of being engulfed in the experience. Therefore, film makers pay extra attention to the plausibility of these things occurring in the movie actually happening in real life. Part of the way film makers keep things believable is by paying attention to make sure that the laws of physics are handled similarly to how the real world's physics are handled. By paying attention to make sure that the physics is the same, the world will feel like earth and in that aspect relate able and acceptable to the viewer. However, in some films, especially animated films, film makers attempt to create worlds that are not like our own. In these cases they choose to break the laws of physics. However, the creators of these films must be very careful not to break the rules too much. Otherwise creating a horribly unconvincing film. There are 3 animated films in particular that break reality well enough while still creating at convincing and absorbing world. They all Break Newton's first law which states that an object in rest or in motion will continue in that state, unless acted upon by an external force. However the three films, Hotel Transylvania, Paperman and Kiki's delivery service, for the most part ground the audience in a world that is believable enough and mystical enough that these things don’t seem odd. We know these things could never happen in our world, however, the attention to newton's law makes the unbelievable and not real acceptable in the film's universe.

                 In the first example, Hotel Transylvania we see a variety of unreal phenomenon. We are thrown in a 3D cartoony world where monsters and human beings exist. So already we have a mix of a real and unreal just by looking at the bare minimum description. The world that has been created has room for error and allows for a break in how reality is. With monsters and non human creatures we automatically come to suspect things that wouldn't be true in reality to come true. A specific shot in particular that shows the break in the first law is when Mavis just arrived at the “human village” and she walks down a wall. In reality we are constantly being pulled down by gravity. That is the force that is constantly being applied to us, as well as the force in our legs keeping us upright against gravity. In this situation, we see a gravity shift similar to what happens as we walk along different points on the earths surface. We are constantly being pulled towards the center of the earth whether we are in San Jose, or in China, or somewhere in the north pole. The way Mavis changed orientation on that building is a similar situation. It is as if, that building had a gravitational force of its own, or Mavis designates her own gravitational pull. Whatever the case, this situation is unrealistic. However, the movie itself as well as common vampire lore gave this moment plausibility. Regardless of how unreal it is.

                Another example can be found in the Disney short film Paperman in the seen where our male protagonist is storming off and the paper airplanes he threw earlier begin to come to life and bounce after him. Up till this point the story and physics were very believable and plausible. There was nothing to insinuate that this story was going to be magical at all. It felt like an animation that took place in our world without Disney magic. This unrealistic act with the bobbing up and down airplanes felt out of place, especially at that point in the movie. The only way this phenomenon could occur is if there was a force to push the planes upward like the wind. The plane on the ground being undisturbed being its natural state and then wind being the outside force pushing it up. There were parts where they used the wind as justification for the actions of the airplanes, but in that particular scene there was no hint of wind. There were people walking by and also our main protagonist in that scene, and their clothes were undisturbed by this “wind” that was causing the planes to go up every now and then. Overall this was an odd turn of events in the story that truly felt unreal. However, it did create a means to reach the ending of the story.

                The final film that breaks Newton's first law is from Kiki's delivery service. It is the scene where Kiki is taking off from the ground and leaving her home at the beginning of the film. In this scene Kiki is using her “witches powers” to take off from the ground, as well as giving her broom “life” in order to create flight. For logical flight to occur there would need to be enough force to take her off into the air. Also there would need enough force to keep her in the air continuously and propel her forward. Because of her lack of wing span she can not use the wind to push herself up and maintain glide as a plane does. This movie heavily relies on magic and lore behind witches to create the plausibility of this event. However, like Hotel Transylvania, the environment and scenario had been set before hand to allow for that. There was an introduction for witches brewing potions and flying beforehand, there fore we were fully aware that it was going to occur. But we didn't know what it looked like till this point. The saving grace for physics when flight was involved in this movie is how inertia was dealt with. When Kiki's broom would change direction abruptly, Kiki would continue fly in the direction of the motion that the broom was previously going in. This simple addition added a layer of realism over her flight that brought it back to making it a little more realist and plausible.

                   Animated films are easily capable of creating worlds that are not real and follow laws that are not correct for reality, but in order to create a well received film, the physics and rules of the world must be similar to ours. If they are not similar, they should be given a reason for them to be broken. In the 3 films that were discussed previously, it is evident that Newton's first law has been broken, and if it wasn't broken, it was altered to fit the a non realistic situation. In Hotel Transylvania we found Mavis changing what objects she had gravity towards. In Paperman we found an unrealistic representation of ways paper airplanes could act whether the wind was involved in pushing them up or not. In Kiki's Delivery service we see “magic” to be the source of flight. All of these things are very non realistic. However in the case of Hotel Transylvania and Kiki's Delivery Service, the world presented is one of magic and allowance for these unrealistic things. These events served to make sure we knew it was a different world we were looking into. Unrealistic actions, if done correctly add as a way to make sure we know we are not in the realistic world. If done incorrectly, they create a wall between the audience and the film that makes the movie not enjoyable and not absorbing enough.

Outline of the Second Term Paper

Introduction
-Newton's first law:an object either is at rest or moves at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force.
Will also discuss inertia and force


-This law as well as the other laws of physics are present in all films in order to ground the viewer in reality. However, in order to break the viewer from the reality and create a world that is more magical than ours, films that break these laws are created.
-Films in particular that break the first law are
Hotel Transylvania
Paperman
Kiki's delivery service




Hotel Transylvania
-scene: Mavis leaves the castle and is in the human village. The specific scene I am referring to is the one where the Mavis is walking down the side of the building. As a vampire this is expected, however in our world this would be impossible.
-We in normal space do not move. W e on earth pushes us downwards towards the ground. For Mavis or anyone to walk upon the side of the building like that, they would need to have a force such as gravity pushing them against the side of the building. What they show us in the movie is incorrect to our standards of reality. However, it does break us away from reality into the world where hotel Transylvania exists.


Paperman
-Scene: airplanes moving in line from the alleyway bobbing up and down. This scene is successful in showing the “magic” of this situation. However it does not succeed in convincing the viewer that these are simply lifeless pieces of paper.
-For a piece of paper to be guided off the ground something mus push it off the ground, such as the wind. It begins by showing or trying to portray that the pieces of paper are being guided through the air by wind, however, the movements begin to feel too magical, too planned and too even to be as random as it could be if the wind was pushing these pieces of paper.
-This is especially true when they show the paper leaving the alley way towards our main male protagonist.
Semi effective for story telling, not so much for reality




Kiki's delivery service.
-Take off scene where kiki is beginning her journey
-take off is magical. Broom flight is not possible, review gravity from hotel transylvania.
-Also changes in direction seem to have almost a bounce to them, which can only occur if an opposite force occurs upon kiki and her broom.
-1 thing that ties us back into reality is the fact that there is followup inertia on kiki
similarly to a person on a bus. Bus stops. Person flys forward.


Conclusion

-conclude

Reverse Video Reference

I apologies for turning Courtney into a fighter at the end with my double jab instead of double point... lol

Stop Motion: Dropping Object

I had no clue what i was gonna do when i read the prompt for this assignment but after some thought on a simple story I came up with this. I planned out the animation by taping the wall at positions where the object would be to portray a well done fall. I then thought about how many frames it would take to get a 1/4th of the way down and then with that, i was able to adjust the rest of the drop. after filming I was in the scene and due to the lighting the wall had changed color because of my shadow. I used Photoshop to remove myself from each image. The hardest part was trying to find the right software to put it all together. I eventually just decided to use Quicktime and toss the images in order that way.  

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

from http://livlily.blogspot.hu/2012/09/ratatouille-2007-concept-art.html

Physics of Ratatouille

In the movie Ratatouille, the creators, Pixar Animation Studio, create an amazing animated world that pushes the boundaries of reality while still abiding by most of the normal laws that our world applies. In the story Our hero Remy is trying to find himself as a chef and escape the norms of being a rat. When he is separated from his family he finds Linguine and the chance that Remy had been looking for to become a chef has appeared. Throughout the film we find things that would not be realistic in our world that could only be explained by this film being animated. Some of these exaggerated things are the fact that, Remy is able to control Linguine with his hair, the way Linguine moves while he is being controlled is quite not normal to how a normal human being would move and also, the extraordinary rat capabilities that Remy has are pushed beyond the spectrum of how a normal rat would be able to achieve. Pixar has bent the rules of reality in order to create a convincing animated world of Ratatouille.

One of the reasons this movie defies the normal laws of how our world functions is how Remy is able to control Linguine's Body. Remy has unusually more control over how Linguine moves than he should have control over through Linguine's hair. With a simple pull of a tuft of hair Remy is able to command even the subtlest movements of Linguini’s hands and fingers. An example of this can be seen in the scene where Remy and Linguine are beginning to learn how to maneuver in duel-pilot state. The scene starts with a bit of trial and error and Remy only being able to control the broad actions that Linguine does. The trial and error begins with Remy trying to move Linguine around the room, lifting ingredients up to Remy only to squeeze too hard and squish the tomato, flipping pancakes out the window, whisking batter messily and then spilling spaghetti over a pot. He also fails to pour wine into a glass and then pours it to the brim with accuracy and then succeeds to mess it up once more by pouring the glass on himself as Remy tried to take a drink. The next action is the turning point where the duo begin to do things more skillfully. It begins with Linguine raising the knife he is about to cut onions with. In that moment the music stops. The knife is the focal point and the stakes are raised much higher than before. Then he cuts the onions carefully at first and then with ease, he splits and egg without making a mess, and then, they show them being amazing and finishing off with the successful quick and steady cutting and making of the soup that he needed to recreate. There was a learning curve, but with practice they began to build that skill and light touch and control that Remy has over Linguine's body. Beyond this point Remy becomes even better at controlling Linguine and even is able to control Linguine when he is unconscious. This control Remy has over Linguine is extremely unnatural and in our world it is impossible. Hair pulling does not have that effect in our world. It is painful, and often would shock us that someone is pulling our hair. It could also prevent movement with the shock, but having the control of moving a persons body parts is impossible when we get our hair pulled.

There is also an interesting way that Linguine moves when Remy is controlling him that differs from how Linguine or any character normally moves when they themselves have full control over themselves. In normal character animation, specifically when a character grabs something, it starts with eye line to the object, then movement of cog and shoulders into the grab, and then the hand proceeds into the grab. However, the way the Linguine moves when under Remy's control is that it is more directed to the body part that Remy wants to use and then everything follows afterward, without eye contact. The reason behind the lack of eye contact is because Linguine isn't the one controlling his motions. Linguine doesn't know he is doing it before it happens to him. Therefore he doesn't prep his actions by looking at the objective. The duo's movements are more direct. When the duo reach over and grab something, the hand moves and then the rest of the body overlaps to follow the momentum of the hand. This is another example of how the control Remy has over Linguine is very objective oriented. If he needs something, he thinks about shortest way to move Linguine in order to get the job done and then moves that part in particular closest to the object he wants. It is important to remember that he is still traveling in arcs with his movements, however, there is a lot more overlapping action whilst remy is controlling Linguine. because the rest of Linguine's body needs to keep up with Remy and his moment to moment actions. A perfect example of how Remy controls linguine's body parts in order of objective is during the scene where Linguine is unconscious and Remy is trying to lift him up. His first attempt was using the shoulders and lifting them in order to lift the body. However that would definitely not be able to do it. In the second attempt he realizes he needs the legs, and through the legs he body rolls up into position. He raised Linguine one part at a time, as apposed to things moving simultaneously in normal character animation.

Beyond the fact that Remy as well as all the other rats are being portrayed as anthropomorphic, the movie pushes the nimbleness and weight of rats as they react to the environment showing great exaggeration of their real life capabilities. Rats in reality are nimble and can move about quickly but, in the movie, there are scenes where Remy's movements in particular feel unrealistic for what a rat could actually do. They pushed the physics of how Remy is affected by gravity. A lot of examples come from the varying scenes when Skinner is chasing Remy. The simple way that Remy can effectively run away from the scooter means that he is running at a comparable speed to the scooter skinner is riding on for a prolonged period of time. Another example of extraordinary rat capabilities in the chase is when Remy is jumping from boat to boat. In the final boat jump, the length of the other boat in comparison to the boat Remy is on is extremely far from each other. Which is why they used the paper as a way for him to jump even farther. However, rats are on the heavier side of the rodent family, so if I was able to question where they made it so Remy wasn't as heavy as a normal rat, that would be the point. A rat's normal weight would not be able to be supported by the paper and be able to glide. In most scenes we feel Remy is a capable rat that can do normal rat like movements. These minor exaggerations are a good way to push into the level of animated film.

Ratatouille wouldn't have been as wonderful as a film if Pixar had not created a world that slightly bent the laws of reality. Remy was given more power over the environment around him in order to fulfill the goals and tasks he wanted to achieve. The first example was that Remy's control over Linguine was definitely unnatural due to the fact that hair could never control a human being the way it was portrayed in the film. Also, the way Linguine was controlled felt awkward to how normal human motion would be. Finally, Remy was capable of extraordinary jumps and run movements as a rat that would probably not be possible for a realistic rat to achieve. These are the sort of things we as an audience expect from animated films. We expect things to be unrealistic. However, what Pixar does really well with how they ground the viewer in reality, and bend reality within reason in order to give the audience a believable but magical experience. Without that this movie and other animated movies by Pixar would not be as successful.

Physics of Ratatouille, Outline.

I.Introduction:

A. Introduce Ratatouille by Pixar Animation Studio

B. 3D animated film

C. Ratatouille blends exagerated physics as well as exaggerated body mechanics together to create a stunning animated film that still feels believable yet treads the border of reality that an animated film should be treading.

II.Body Paragraphs

A.Hair controls over Linguinie's body.   

-Hair normally has no control over how your limbs move

-pulling hair does have a certain effect on causing pain and also preventing movement

-the particular control that Remy has over Linguinie is greatly exaggerated and is pushing the reality of the control it actually has over a person.

-Practicing hair control scene:beginning of hair control, learning to control, the control that Remy is learning to have when they are practicing.

-how they practice when Remy and Linguinie are learning how to be chefs

B.leading body parts of movement when Remy is controlling Linguinie is different.

-When Remy has control over Linguinie, the movement is not controlled the same way normal movement is.

-movement is either controlled directly from the body part Remy directly wants to use, or by the main cog that is attached to that limb. normal movement is usually depicted from line of sight, to head movement to shoulder and him and then the limb.

-In the kitchen when Linguinie is sleeping. how Remy picks him up.

-in the kitchen when Remy is trying to fix the dish that is supposed to be really gross

C. Nimbie and weight of rats vary depending on the scene and need.

-Remy’s movements throughout the movie is very nimble as are most rats, however, the movement depicted goes beyond what a realistic rat could accomplish.

-the jumps and runs throughout the movie feel clean and nimble.

-movements throughout the kitchen feel super

-chase scene with remy and chef Skinner, when Remy runs and jumps from boat to boat, he almost feels lighter and Even more nimble than even his extreme usual self.

-weight when jumping with paper.

-Remy’s control while he is running and jumping is extremely exaggerated and almost unnatural. Especially when he is holding the paper in his mouth and moving about with it. however it is played out believably when it keeps some of the natural tendencies that both Remy and the paper has.  

III.Conclusion:

A.The laws of physics that Ratatouille bends throughout the film creates a world that feels well animated but still holds the reality that allows the audience to still feel that this world is real.

B.Review hair control

C.Review the way Linguinie moves while Remy controls him.

D. Review Remy’s movements feeling exaggerated.

E. conclude.

Video Analysis of Path of Action