"AM"
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction
Films have, since their inception, been designed to take their audience to different cultures, unusual lands, and other worlds. A film must keep their believability, even when it is trying to distort the audience’s understanding of the physical universe. That is why as an audience member, one must be able to distinguish between fact and fiction in films. To create these other worlds, many films will choose to ignore the various physical laws. Occasionally, a film misuses or misunderstands a physical law. But more often or not, this ignoring of the physical laws is done in order to be able to create fantasy, humor, action, and new worlds. Ignoring these laws can be effective in science fiction and fantasy films, as well as, within real world films. One law that is often bent or ignored in films is the law of gravity. The law of gravity states that every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force directed along the line of centers for the two objects that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the separation between the two objects. In layman’s terms: any two objects in the universe exert gravitational attraction to each other. Three films that intentionally ignore or change the law of gravity are “Shaolin Soccer”, “The Castle of Cagliostro”, and “The Matrix”.
“Shaolin Soccer” is a live-action martial arts comedy directed by Stephen Chow that takes place in modern Hong Kong. In the film, the main character wants everyone to learn martial arts. He believes knowing martial arts will improve everyone’s daily life. After realizing his natural talent in soccer, he contacts his five brothers. He decides that he can preach the word of martial arts by demonstrating its use in professional soccer. He convinces his brothers to join his team and use their own various kinds of martial arts skills while they play soccer. All of the brothers have their own specific supernatural talents in martial arts, and each of the techniques defying the physical laws. The scene that demonstrates the ignoring of the law of gravity is when the six brothers are playing their first soccer game. The rival team is playing dirty and tries to defeat the brothers by attacking them with tools. The brothers are losing. Suddenly, the brothers are able to tap into a Zen-like state and re-realize their martial arts talents. They all begin to attack the soccer ball with different techniques. One technique in particular, briefly ignores the law of gravity. The character Light Weight, the obese brother, begins running to intercept the soccer ball. The ball is flying straight into the air. As Light Weight runs forward, he begins to fly off of the ground. With each step he rises higher into the air, until he comes in contact with the soccer ball, about one hundred feet up. He, then, performs a flip in the air, and kicks the ball back to the ground. This completely defies the law of gravity. No one, regardless of their size would be able to propel him or herself one hundred feet into the air by running. Even if there were a lot of momentum propelling the person forward, they would be unable to jump that high into the air. It’s unlikely that the soccer ball could even get kicked up that high. But it is definitely impossible for a person to rise that high unless the law of gravity is temporarily ignored. Gravity would keep Light Weight from jumping up more than a couple feet. He also would be unable to run forward and up like he is running up invisible stairs. Both Light Weight and the soccer ball would be pulled downward, and neither would ever be able to reach such extreme heights with running or a hard kick. The filmmakers decided to ignore the law of gravity, to make the scene more comical and to show that the characters’ martial arts had a supernatural quality to them.
“The Castle of Cagliostro” is a Miyazaki animated adventure/heist film. It takes place in a castle in modern Europe. The main character, Lupin the III, is attempting to uncover a counterfeiting ring. He also tries to win the heart of a kidnapped girl. Although the film is animated, it takes place in the real world. It follows all the laws of physics. And could just as easily be a live-action film as an animated one. That is until one particular scene where the laws of gravity are briefly ignored. The character, Lupin the III is climbing on the castle’s roof. The kidnapped girl is being hidden away in a tall and inaccessible tower. After fighting against gravity to climb to the top of the roof, Lupin sits down and takes out a small rocket with a rope attached. He intends to shoot the rocket over to the inaccessible tower and then swing across. He ends up dropping the rocket. It slides down the roof and Lupin chases after it. As gravity pulls him down, he begins to run. When he reaches the edge, because he has built up so much momentum, he jumps. He ends up jumping high into the air and landing a hundred or so feet away on the tip of another tower. Immediately, he jumps again and lands, once again, a few hundred feet away on the side of the inaccessible tower. As soon as he makes contact with this tower, he begins to be dragged down by gravity. The moment where the law of gravity is ignored is brief. It only occurs in the two long jumps. But both jumps are impossible. While Lupin gained some momentum running down the roof, he would not have gained enough to jump that high or that far. He would have been pulled down by gravity. In the film, however, the gravitational pull is lessened and he is able to almost float to the two other towers. The film purposely ignored the law of gravity in order for the main character to reach his destination in a comical and unusual way.
“The Matrix” is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by the Wachowski Brothers. The main characters live inside a computer-generated world that looks very much like the real world of the twentieth century. Not until the main character, Neo, encounters the character Morpheus, does the film show change to a gritty dark lonely world. Neo is told he is “The One” who will eventually defeat the Matrix. To do this, he must train within the Matrix and literally bend the physical laws to his will. On scene in particular demonstrates the film’s ignoring of the law of gravity. In this scene, Neo is fighting against an agent. Throughout the whole fight, the laws of physics are ignored. After awhile, Neo falls onto the subway tracks. The agent clings to Neo’s back. Neo suddenly jumps straight into the air, like a frog, and smashes the agent in the ceiling hard enough to crack the concrete. Then he lands gently in a crouched position. And right before the train comes, Neo back flips about twenty feet into the air and back onto the subway platform. Even if Neo capable of jumping up with another man, of similar weight to his own, on his back, he would be unable to jump up to the ceiling. He also would not be able to jump up with enough force to cause the agent to smash the ceiling. And after the jump, if Neo were able to generate the force of that jump, he would not be able to land gently. He would be pulled down by gravity. He also would be unable to jump up and back into the flip. It is certainly possible for someone to jump and do a back flip. However, gravity would not allow them to jump so high. The film chooses to ignore the laws of gravity, because the universe of the Matrix is supposed to be fabricated. Neo knows this he is able to bend and break the law physical laws and uses that knowledge to his advantage. “The Matrix” is unusual, compared to the previously discussed films, because the characters are fully aware that they are ignoring the law of gravity. They are doing it on purpose.
All three movies, at some point ignore the law of gravity. Even the most realistic of films will occasionally ignore a physical law in order to heighten a scene or enhance a character. And each of the three films ignored the law of gravity in a different way and with a different purpose. “Shaolin Soccer” ignored the law of gravity to make the martial arts techniques unique and supernatural. “The Castle of Cagliostro” ignored the law in order to create a humorous and surprising way for the character to access a difficult location. And “The Matrix” ignored the law in order to give its characters power in their fabricated world. It is important for viewers to understand the difference between fact and fiction. Once one understands that, they can appreciate the reasons behind the changes or intentional ignoring of the physical laws within films.
“Shaolin Soccer” is a live-action martial arts comedy directed by Stephen Chow that takes place in modern Hong Kong. In the film, the main character wants everyone to learn martial arts. He believes knowing martial arts will improve everyone’s daily life. After realizing his natural talent in soccer, he contacts his five brothers. He decides that he can preach the word of martial arts by demonstrating its use in professional soccer. He convinces his brothers to join his team and use their own various kinds of martial arts skills while they play soccer. All of the brothers have their own specific supernatural talents in martial arts, and each of the techniques defying the physical laws. The scene that demonstrates the ignoring of the law of gravity is when the six brothers are playing their first soccer game. The rival team is playing dirty and tries to defeat the brothers by attacking them with tools. The brothers are losing. Suddenly, the brothers are able to tap into a Zen-like state and re-realize their martial arts talents. They all begin to attack the soccer ball with different techniques. One technique in particular, briefly ignores the law of gravity. The character Light Weight, the obese brother, begins running to intercept the soccer ball. The ball is flying straight into the air. As Light Weight runs forward, he begins to fly off of the ground. With each step he rises higher into the air, until he comes in contact with the soccer ball, about one hundred feet up. He, then, performs a flip in the air, and kicks the ball back to the ground. This completely defies the law of gravity. No one, regardless of their size would be able to propel him or herself one hundred feet into the air by running. Even if there were a lot of momentum propelling the person forward, they would be unable to jump that high into the air. It’s unlikely that the soccer ball could even get kicked up that high. But it is definitely impossible for a person to rise that high unless the law of gravity is temporarily ignored. Gravity would keep Light Weight from jumping up more than a couple feet. He also would be unable to run forward and up like he is running up invisible stairs. Both Light Weight and the soccer ball would be pulled downward, and neither would ever be able to reach such extreme heights with running or a hard kick. The filmmakers decided to ignore the law of gravity, to make the scene more comical and to show that the characters’ martial arts had a supernatural quality to them.
“The Castle of Cagliostro” is a Miyazaki animated adventure/heist film. It takes place in a castle in modern Europe. The main character, Lupin the III, is attempting to uncover a counterfeiting ring. He also tries to win the heart of a kidnapped girl. Although the film is animated, it takes place in the real world. It follows all the laws of physics. And could just as easily be a live-action film as an animated one. That is until one particular scene where the laws of gravity are briefly ignored. The character, Lupin the III is climbing on the castle’s roof. The kidnapped girl is being hidden away in a tall and inaccessible tower. After fighting against gravity to climb to the top of the roof, Lupin sits down and takes out a small rocket with a rope attached. He intends to shoot the rocket over to the inaccessible tower and then swing across. He ends up dropping the rocket. It slides down the roof and Lupin chases after it. As gravity pulls him down, he begins to run. When he reaches the edge, because he has built up so much momentum, he jumps. He ends up jumping high into the air and landing a hundred or so feet away on the tip of another tower. Immediately, he jumps again and lands, once again, a few hundred feet away on the side of the inaccessible tower. As soon as he makes contact with this tower, he begins to be dragged down by gravity. The moment where the law of gravity is ignored is brief. It only occurs in the two long jumps. But both jumps are impossible. While Lupin gained some momentum running down the roof, he would not have gained enough to jump that high or that far. He would have been pulled down by gravity. In the film, however, the gravitational pull is lessened and he is able to almost float to the two other towers. The film purposely ignored the law of gravity in order for the main character to reach his destination in a comical and unusual way.
“The Matrix” is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by the Wachowski Brothers. The main characters live inside a computer-generated world that looks very much like the real world of the twentieth century. Not until the main character, Neo, encounters the character Morpheus, does the film show change to a gritty dark lonely world. Neo is told he is “The One” who will eventually defeat the Matrix. To do this, he must train within the Matrix and literally bend the physical laws to his will. On scene in particular demonstrates the film’s ignoring of the law of gravity. In this scene, Neo is fighting against an agent. Throughout the whole fight, the laws of physics are ignored. After awhile, Neo falls onto the subway tracks. The agent clings to Neo’s back. Neo suddenly jumps straight into the air, like a frog, and smashes the agent in the ceiling hard enough to crack the concrete. Then he lands gently in a crouched position. And right before the train comes, Neo back flips about twenty feet into the air and back onto the subway platform. Even if Neo capable of jumping up with another man, of similar weight to his own, on his back, he would be unable to jump up to the ceiling. He also would not be able to jump up with enough force to cause the agent to smash the ceiling. And after the jump, if Neo were able to generate the force of that jump, he would not be able to land gently. He would be pulled down by gravity. He also would be unable to jump up and back into the flip. It is certainly possible for someone to jump and do a back flip. However, gravity would not allow them to jump so high. The film chooses to ignore the laws of gravity, because the universe of the Matrix is supposed to be fabricated. Neo knows this he is able to bend and break the law physical laws and uses that knowledge to his advantage. “The Matrix” is unusual, compared to the previously discussed films, because the characters are fully aware that they are ignoring the law of gravity. They are doing it on purpose.
All three movies, at some point ignore the law of gravity. Even the most realistic of films will occasionally ignore a physical law in order to heighten a scene or enhance a character. And each of the three films ignored the law of gravity in a different way and with a different purpose. “Shaolin Soccer” ignored the law of gravity to make the martial arts techniques unique and supernatural. “The Castle of Cagliostro” ignored the law in order to create a humorous and surprising way for the character to access a difficult location. And “The Matrix” ignored the law in order to give its characters power in their fabricated world. It is important for viewers to understand the difference between fact and fiction. Once one understands that, they can appreciate the reasons behind the changes or intentional ignoring of the physical laws within films.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Outline for the Second Term Paper
Intro:
· The importance of distinguishing fact and fiction in a movie
· Why movies often choose to ignore various physical laws
· The Law of Gravity
· Thesis
Shaolin Soccer:
· Brief description of movie: live-action, modern real world, soccer movie
· Description of the scene: running off the ground, into the air
· Why the rule was ignored
The Castle of Cagliostro:
· Brief description of movie: animated, modern real world, adventure/thief movie
· Description of the scene: jumping across rooftops
· Why the rule was ignored
Matrix:
· Brief description of movie: live-action, post-apocalyptic/CPU world, sci-fi movie
· Description of the scene: jumping off a skyscraper
· Why the rule was ignored
Conclusion:
· Summary of previous material
· Analysis of the movies’ choices
· Restate Thesis
· The importance of distinguishing fact and fiction in a movie
· Why movies often choose to ignore various physical laws
· The Law of Gravity
· Thesis
Shaolin Soccer:
· Brief description of movie: live-action, modern real world, soccer movie
· Description of the scene: running off the ground, into the air
· Why the rule was ignored
The Castle of Cagliostro:
· Brief description of movie: animated, modern real world, adventure/thief movie
· Description of the scene: jumping across rooftops
· Why the rule was ignored
Matrix:
· Brief description of movie: live-action, post-apocalyptic/CPU world, sci-fi movie
· Description of the scene: jumping off a skyscraper
· Why the rule was ignored
Conclusion:
· Summary of previous material
· Analysis of the movies’ choices
· Restate Thesis
Monday, April 5, 2010
Stop-Motion Character Animation
I recommend clicking the video to view it on the YouTube site, otherwise the right side is cut off.
I started the project by trying to find two figures that had a lot of articulation. I ended up choosing a Godzilla and Captain Kirk figurine. The figurines were both about the same size, so I decided to have them have a battle. Godzilla and Kirk both move like they're stop motion anyway, so I figured I could make the movements look pretty natural. I storyboarded out the whole battle first, then I started photographing them. I knew there would be a lot of frames for the fight and that it would take awhile, but I really underestimated the amount of time the whole thing would actually take. Kirk fell down a lot and I had to use a ton of tape. For the end, I couldn't decide who should win, so I tried to figure out a movie both Godzilla and Kirk could agree on. I figured "King Kong" has a big monster that Godzilla would like and it also had a pretty girl Kirk would like. It also has some beautiful stop motion. After I finished taking all the pictures, I edited it together and added sound.
I started the project by trying to find two figures that had a lot of articulation. I ended up choosing a Godzilla and Captain Kirk figurine. The figurines were both about the same size, so I decided to have them have a battle. Godzilla and Kirk both move like they're stop motion anyway, so I figured I could make the movements look pretty natural. I storyboarded out the whole battle first, then I started photographing them. I knew there would be a lot of frames for the fight and that it would take awhile, but I really underestimated the amount of time the whole thing would actually take. Kirk fell down a lot and I had to use a ton of tape. For the end, I couldn't decide who should win, so I tried to figure out a movie both Godzilla and Kirk could agree on. I figured "King Kong" has a big monster that Godzilla would like and it also had a pretty girl Kirk would like. It also has some beautiful stop motion. After I finished taking all the pictures, I edited it together and added sound.
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