Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

Lighting a Scene in Maya

Key Light

Fill Light

Rim Light

All Three Lights

Building a Scene in Maya

HG

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

 

                What makes a blockbuster hit is not always if the actions within the movie are scientifically correct, but sometimes if what should be scientifically correct is exaggerated. Sometimes what may not be plausible in real life could be a memorable scene or part of a movie to a certain viewer, for example, the act of a falling object or organic matter. The act of a falling object must fall down with the act of gravity. In result, a falling object must hit contact with the ground causing some sort of collision. A collision is an interaction between two objects that have made contact with each other.  As in any interaction, a collision results in a force being applied to the two colliding objects. The laws of falling are broken in three different films: The Covenant, Practical Magic, and Underworld. These unrealistic scenes of falling are used in movies for an entertainment pleaser and for the thrill of their particular scenes.

                The 2006 movie, The Covenant, is a supernatural thriller directed by Renny Harlin and written by J.S. Cardone. The movie is about four young students at a elite private school who are descendants of the original families who settled in Ipswitch Colony in the 1600s. They are bound by their sacred ancestry and special powers. These four students are so close that they call each other brothers. In the beginning of the movie there is a party scene within the neighboring woods. The cops break-up the party and result into a chase scene between a cop car and the four brothers. Driving in a Hummer they gain speed as they are chased through the woods avoiding several trees in and around the road. The two vehicles soon drive out from the trees to a plain of land that is flat with dirt. A bank of fog engulfs both cars. The camera zooms in on the speed of the hummer which rises to 100mph and rising. The cops realize that there is a cliff up ahead and try to stop the Hummer before they drive over. The four boys know what they are getting there selves into and use their powers to combine them before driving off the cliff. The shot shows that the Hummer drives off the cliff with much speed and arches downward. The cops stop and look over the cliff for the car, but there is no sign of it. With the boy’s powers they lifted the Hummer up and over the cop car and suddenly falls and drops to the ground behind the cop car with much force. The hummer has two bounces then they drive away leaving the cops in shock. In reality the cars windows would have cracked and or shattered with the impact the car had with the ground. With the amount of speed gained by falling and the force it had making contact with the ground had very little reaction other then the bounces. 

                                                The 1988 movie, Practical Magic, is a American family-fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. At the end of the movie the holiday is Halloween. The Owen’s family has a tradition on this particular holiday where they dress in typical witch attire consisting of a black dress and a black witch hat. The women of this family jump off the roof of their house and float to the ground using black umbrellas. This scene is very unrealistic. This could never happen in real life because the weight of the person and the force after jumping off the roof the umbrella would not be able to support the weight of a human being to glide them down to the ground safely. This scene was used to amplify the witchcraft storyline, but in the real world if a person did this they would break a bone or inflict some sort of injury.   

             

            In 2003 film, Underworld, Selene, a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a werewolf who longs for the war to end. In the opening scene, Selene is shown at the top of a gothic style building looking down at the city below. After her monologue she steps off the building and falls straight down to the stone ground below. Her impact to the ground was soft with a slight quick bounce to stand straight on her legs and walk away comfortably. With the speed gained in the air as she is falling to the ground plus factoring in the distance from the top of the building to the ground she would not be standing. Selene lands in a squat position, but if this happened in real life the balance on her feet and the stress on her knees as they bend to help soften the land would not result the same in the movie. Because she is a supernatural being in this movie she is fine and walks away with no side effects from the fall.

            Is it realistic or not? A viewer may or may not ask this when watching a movie because they may be entranced into the movie or simply bored. Movies are here as a form of escapism to another world or maybe a situation you wish you could be in. Sometimes the scientific realism can make or break a movie or better yet enhance a movie to immerse oneself in. All three movies that were discussed have flaws in the laws of falling, but all became great movies and forms of entertainment.  

               

               

Outline for the Second Term Paper

I.                    Intro – The laws of falling and how they are broken in three different movies: The Covenant, Practical Magic, and Underworld. The unrealistic sense of falling is used in movies for an entertainment pleaser.

II.                  Body

A.      The Covenant

1.      The scene towards the beginning of the movie when the “brothers” are being chased by the cops through the woods. They come upon a cliff in which there Hummer drives over into the fog. Magically it flies up and then falls behind the cop vehicles with little damage or sound.

B.      Practical Magic

1.      At the end of the movie the Aunts, Sisters, and Daughters at their home on Halloween all jump off the roof holding a black umbrella and slowly floating safely down to the ground.  

C.      Underworld

1.      At the beginning of the movie Kate jumps off the top of tall building and lands in a bent over position with no force on her knees or other joints of her body when impacting the stone ground. No affect is on her.

III.                Conclusion

Stop-Motion Character Animation

                                                                Piggy Love </3
           
                                   

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

The laws of physics in the real world are grounded with unbroken rules. In the animation world laws of physics are bended and broken. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel experiences two different worlds when following her heart. Daily actions and reactions are exaggerated to make the film more enjoyable to the audience. Laws that are broken in this memorable Disney movie are: gravity under water, gravity on land, and size plus weight.

                On the surface or under water gravity still exists. Water is much heavier then air, for example, a cubic foot of air weighs 1/12lbs where a cubic foot of sea water weighs 64lbs. Just as air has weight and exerts pressure on all sides of an object in the atmosphere, water exerts pressure around any object immersed in it. We can push water out of the way because its weight is distributed on all sides and the molecules can be easily moved.  Water pressure, like air pressure, is a function of weight; the deeper one goes the greater the surrounding water pressure. The main character Ariel lives in the depths of the vast ocean, but the laws of physics don’t always apply throughout the movie. For instance, Ariel’s stylized hair, with bangs, stay in perfect shape at certain times when she swims around. Hair is almost weightless under water moving behind as one swims forward.

                After Ariel and Flounder visit Scuttle above water, Ariel realizes she has missed the concert she was supposed to sing in and franticly swims back home. Her tail is stiff, but the end part of her fin moves. The speed in which she is swimming does not add up with her movements. Just like when humans bend their knees some when kicking water to swim forward Ariel’s tail would follow the same laws of physics when swimming as she is part human. Her tail bends at the area where knees would be located. During the song, Under the Sea, Sebastian pops a bubble with a large fish inside. The fish falls at a high speed landing as if a bowling ball hit the ground. A fish does not weigh the same as a bowling ball and it would not physically fall straight down in real life underwater.

                During the song, Kiss the Girl, Eric and Ariel are in a wooden row boat floating as a few dozen fish circle the boat under water which causes the row boat to spin. The weight of the fish would not be able to push the wooden row boat in circles floating along the surface of the lake. The force created by the fish might ripple the surface of the water, but it would not be enough to move the boat at the speed it was spinning in the movie. Being an animated and fiction movie the scenes with broken laws of physics are ok because it makes the movie enjoyable and different to its audience.

                Just as there are laws for under the water there are laws of gravity on the surface. The famous scene when Ariel is on the rock singing, as wave’s crash behind her, show cases the power of unrealistic wind. There is no other sign of huge gusts of wind during this scene which keeps Ariel’s whole body of hair afloat for many minutes. In reality the body of her hair would fall back down to her back while a few wisps of hair might fly within whatever wind is near.  There would be some signs of wind as wind does reside along the shore near a huge body of water. Another example of the laws of gravity being broken is when the French cook is preparing dinner and using a butcher’s knife he chops off the head of a fish with much force. The head fly’s several feet from where he is covering much distance. The force of the knife coming down and hitting the wooden cutting board would not cause the fish head to fly several feet from its starting point. In any case the fish head would jump then fall a few inches away with the swing and force of the French cooks arm coming down on the fish.   

                During Eric and Ariel’s horse buggy ride they come upon a cliff in the road and the horse pulling them carries the couple and buggy to the other side with no effort or strain. In real life this would not be possible. With the distance if the two cliffs and the speed that the horse and buggy was traveling would cause the passengers and horse to go over crashing to the ground. When the horse is in mid air the buggy, containing the weight of two people would weigh the horse down falling below the horse’s core of gravity. In the movie Ariel and Eric make it to the other side of the cliff with inches to spare continuing on with their date.

                In the laws of physics size and weight play a big role depending on how it falls, moves, or floats. In The little Mermaid, the opening concert Sebastian composes the show, but as he does his job of waving the music stick about he stays frozen in mid water not sinking or floating up. In real life when an object is floating in mid water it will float to the surface if oxygen resides within it. If the oxygen is depleted from the object it will then sink to the ocean floor. Unless limbs are propelling to keep him afloat Sebastian would not be able to float in mid water. Not even his composing with the wave of his claws would allow him to do that. Another example of size and weight laws being broken is when Sebastian follows Ariel to her grotto and gets stuck in the rock door. He uses the leverage of seaweed to pull him forward to get free without ripping the seaweed out of the sandy floor bottom. With the weight of Sebastian, a crab, and the weight of the seaweed he would have ripped out or torn the seaweed. In the movie the seaweed stretches as he pulls himself forward causing his bottom half of his body to stretch as well then finalizing in a pop landing a few feet from the door. During the song, Under the Sea, Sebastian and several starfish ride on bubbles as they float to the surface. This cannot be possible as the weight of a crab is heavier than a bubble. The bubble would have popped touching any kind of solid object. With the magic of animation the laws of physics are broken within the song to make it theatrical.

                 When Ariel becomes human under water, Sebastian and Flounder puller her up to the surface as she does not know how to swim with legs. Being so deep under water as they are Ariel would have lost the oxygen within her lungs causing her to sink. The weight of her body would be too heavy for a fish and a crab to pull her all the way to the surface and then to land. The element of size and weight is played out in this scene, but the laws of physics are twisted to make it a heroic scene of Ariel’s friends.

 Towards the end of the movie Flounder has to drag Ariel, who is staying afloat on a wine barrel, towards the ship that is several miles away from shore.  With the weight of the hollow wine barrel and of Ariel would be extremely heavy for a little fish, Flounder, to pull forward towards the ship with rope. The size of Flounder compared to the barrel and Ariel is noticeable to the eye and sticks out like a sore thumb in the movie. Even someone who doesn’t know much about physics would understand that it would not be possible for a little fish to pull a human along in the water.

      

            The laws of physics are broken several times in this movie to give a more pleasing effect to its young audience. The rule breaking causes the enhancement of the fantasy played throughout this Disney film. Even though the laws of physics are being broken the messages and heartfelt story warms the soul making this Disney film a treasured favorite and classic.  

Outline

I.                    Introduction - Ariel experiences two different worlds when following her heart in The Little Mermaid.  Daily actions and reactions are exaggerated to make the film more enjoyable to the audience.

II.                  Body

A.      Gravity Under Water

1.       After Ariel and Flounder visit Scuttle above water Ariel realizes she has missed the concert and franticly swims back. Her tail is stiff and the end part of her fin moves. The speed in which she is swimming does not add up with her movements.

2.       Ariel’s stylized hair with bangs stay in perfect shape under water as she moves about.  

3.       During the song, Under the Sea, Sebastian pops a bubble with a large fish inside. The fish falls at a high speed landing as if a bowling ball hit the ground.  

4.       During the song, Kiss the Girl, Eric and Ariel are in a wooden row boat floating as a few dozen fish circle the boat under water which causes the row boat to spin.

B.      Gravity on Land

1.       The famous scene when Ariel is on the rock singing as waves crash behind her show cases the power of unrealistic wind. There is no other sign of huge gusts of wind during this scene which keeps Ariel’s whole body of hair afloat for many minutes.

2.       When the French cook is preparing dinner he chops off the head of a fish with much force. The head fly’s several feet from where he was.

3.       During Eric and Ariel’s horse buggy ride they come upon a cliff in the road and the horse pulling them carries the couple and buggy to the other side with no effort or strain.

C.      Size and Weight

1.       During the opening concert Sebastian composes the show, but as he does his job of waving the music stick about he says frozen in mid water not sinking or floating up.

2.       When Sebastian follows Ariel to her grotto he gets stuck in the rock door. He uses the leverage of seaweed and pulls on that to get free without ripping the seaweed out of the sandy floor bottom.

3.       During the song, Under the Sea, Sebastian and several starfish ride on bubbles as they float to the surface.

4.       When Ariel becomes human under water, Sebastian and Flounder puller her up to the surface as she does not know how to swim with legs.

5.       Towards the end of the movie Flounder has to drag Ariel, who is staying afloat on a wine barrel, towards the ship that is several miles away from shore.  

III.                Conclusion – The laws of physics are broken several times in this movie to give a more pleasing effect to its young audience. The rule breaking causes the enhancement of the fantasy played throughout this Disney film.

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

I made this stop motion clip by snapping a series of pictures and placing them together in quick time. I used a cut out of a paper spider and used tape to move it down the wall. As the spider falls I crumpled and folded the paper to make the squash and stretch to the fall then bounce.

Video analysis of path of action

(Reference Video - 5 Jumps)

Tracker video analysis of falling

Video Reference

                                                            30 Seconds Per Frame

Mini-Portfolio

* These are both my work. First is figure drawing and the second is my Magical Forest from 113B.

 My major is Animation/Illustration. This is the starting of my third year at SJSU and I am pretty glad to have chosen this school to pursue animation. I have taken all the pre requisites for the major along with other art classes like basic drawing and fundamentals at a junior college I attended in Livermore, Las Positas. Last semester and staring this semester I am taking Maya and I am truly enjoying it. I'm always learning something new when I use Maya. I have taken basic science classes to fulfill my GE, but that is it. This semester I am taking: Maya (modeling), SciFi/Fantasy Literature, RTVF 181 (Part 2 of Film), and of course Physics of Animation. Once I finish my degree here at SJSU my goal is to one day end up working for Pixar. I am sure that is a lot of people's dreams, but I am going to make this happen somehow. I want to become an animator or producer, but I am leaning towards animator.


The Little Mermaid!! My all time FAVORITE movie. :)
Part of Your World (Youtube.com)


* This is a video of my Personality Walk Reference.

The First Post

This is my first blog post ever! How exciting! Yay!