Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

Red/Cyan

Red/Cyan

Green/Magenta

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

Original Photo:


Maya Copy:

Building a Scene in Maya

"DT"

Term Paper 3 Outline: Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

For the Third Term Paper I will be comparing the collapsing bridge scenes in the movies Final Destination 3 and Monsters vs Aliens. 

Final Destination 3: 

- Cause: weak foundation and sheer coincidence

- Practical effects and VFX mixed together

- The way it breaks apart compared to real bridges 

- Bridge's cables holds up a section

- Cables also break under the weight of the bridge
- Bridge sways believably 

Monsters vs. Aliens:

- Cause: Giant Alien Robot

- 3D Animation

- Constant motion of the bridge should have caused it to collapse further

- Weight being pushed to one side of the bridge should have cause it to collapse

- Bridge sways believably

Conclusion: 

Some aspects of both films are correct in terms of the bridges breaking apart, I will compare the differences in both to a real life bridge collapsing and show what they got wrong and what they got right! 

Stop Motion Character Animation

This is our stop motion animation! It is about a little octopus who lost his hat in the wind and chases it but a bigger octopus takes it. The little octopus is sad but the big octopus comes back to return the little octopus his hat back!

Leslie animated little octopus, Michelle animated hat, and I animated the big octopus and was in charge of cinematography! We all made the set and it was filmed in Leslie's apartment!

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

            Newton’s Third Law of motion states that: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when two objects interact with each other if one object inflicts a certain amount of force onto an object it will react with the same amount of force back to the first object. This law gets broken in countless amounts of forms of entertainment. From video games to film and television from animation to live action, there are countless examples of misuse of Newton’s Third Law.

            A double jump mechanic has been implemented in video games for a very long time. Most commonly found in platformer games, where you are a character who gets from point A to point B by solving jumping puzzles. A lot of old 16 bit video games used this mechanic, double jump, by being able to access higher platforms to create more difficult and challenging puzzles. In the examples below from Mega Man Revolution and super Mario Bros. 2 we see the characters performing a double jump.

            The first jump is obviously viable however at about the apex of the first jump the characters would jump again on thin air. Now according to Newton’s Law every action follows an equal opposite reaction. There is no way to push air because it isn’t a solid platform for us to exert force on. There are however some video games that give an explanation for the double, for example a “magical” platform builds around your foot for you to exert energy for a second jump. This is just a fictional reason for the double jump but there is no real world way anyone can jump twice in the air. Classical uses of floating on air have been used in games as well as live action films.

            “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was a film released in 2000 and directed by Ang Lee. A good example of old mystical martial arts and a lot of old martial arts story has shown a lot of floating in the air and jumping on air. A lot of the reasoning behind this comes from “training” and their clothing creates air for the fighters to propel themselves. This gives the illusion of flight and control over their surroundings, which speaks metaphorically and spiritually. Through out the film there are clear examples of this but in the clip below it is the most prominent.

            The constant jumping, “flying”, and balancing on bamboo branches all go against Newton’s third law. Similar to double jumping these characters from the film seem like they are doggie paddling through the air to stay afloat. Again with the same sense of double jumping for them to propel into the air they would definitely need to be waving about 100x faster than they are in the film.

            Other than flying around and “jumping” on air, “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” has loads of fight scenes involving various types of weapons. The main weapon, the Green Dragon, is extremely powerful. In this fight scene below there are good examples of action/reaction when the green dragon gets hit with a lot of force the force is being exerted on the wielder. There are some parts where I believe the sword should have been shattered or at least get dull. Of course part of the story is that it is an ancient sword and in the film they make it out to be extremely flexible. Regardless, the force exerted seems too strong for the reactions in this particular fight scene.

            Fight scenes are a good example for any misuse of Newton’s Third Law. It is common to find the rules being broken in these particular scenes because it makes it more entertaining. My next medium is Anime, Japanese animation, because of the enormous amounts of exaggerated fight scenes. As creative as it is, there are many digressions from real world physics. The example below is from a fairly new anime called “One Punch Man” where as the title says, is about a superhero that can kill things in one punch. The example below, however not a fight sequence shows an example of the force behind a single punch. The delayed reaction to the force of the punch is nonexistent. Along with that if the force of the hero’s punch was able to blow up the monster that force should have been exerted back to him probably pushing the ground below him. Lots of anime show a delayed reaction to punches and kicks and sometimes they show the reaction, much like in old television shows that can be forgiven with slow motion. 

            Using slow motion and other visual techniques help with suspending disbelief with physics. These effects hinder all the information needed to make a real assumption about what is going on. If the punch or kick seems slower it seems like there is much more force behind it. With more force behind it the action and reaction seem to be more believable in the eyes of the viewer. It also is a method used to push the entertainment factor and sometimes serves to help tell the story metaphorically.

            Newton’s third law does get broken all the time through out all entertainment mediums. Along with visual techniques to help make things more believable, this gives the audience a better form of entertainment. Sometimes the explanation for certain events help with telling the story or backstory; there may be some history between the powers given to some characters. Video games, Film, and Anime all exploit these real world rules because they are not real worlds. Those rules were meant to be broken for the purpose of entertainment. Even if there are moments where it is completely unbelievable understanding the physics behind it is also important to help create an explanation so that the audience is not removed from the experience as well.

Term Paper Outline: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Introduction:

• -       Introduce Newton’s Third Law of Motion: Action/Reaction.
• -       Thesis: The following 3 examples have demonstrated incorrect use of Newton’s Third Law.

Body:

Double Jump in Video games

• -       A lot of old arcade games demonstrate a double jump where a character magically jumps in the air a 2^nd time.
• -       Video games sometimes come up with a reason for the 2^nd jump but it is highly impossible.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

• -       The film constantly demonstrates examples of jumping in the air.
• -       A lot of fight shows examples of weapons resisting more force than physically possible.

Anime

• -       Examples of delayed physical reactions.
• -       Examples of jumping multiple times in the air.
•  

Conclusion:

• -       All these mediums broke the rules in favor of entertainment.
• -       Even by trying to explain certain anomalies those explanations are still purely fiction.

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

I had the badminton racket being balanced off screen leaning to show the netting. I shot straight down on to the floor and started animating. I pictured the birdie falling into screen and going off with a couple frames of it going off I was hoping to achieve a bouncing birdie in the air. I took individual photos of each frame.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

            When watching any movie, an audience member wants to be transported from the real world to the universe within the film. As a spectator watching this world we need to be entertained, relate to characters, and believe the world that has been shown to us. The film’s universe can take place in our world, a world where explosions do not blow out our ears, or an animated cartoon world; it has to feel believable. An audience should feel immersed in this world and should not question the characters, relationships, and especially the physics. However, in the animated world there are fewer restrictions that must be followed under the rules of believability.

            Walt Disney Studio’s Tangled is a story based on the fairytale Rapunzel. A story of a girl with extremely long hair locked away in a tower. With Disney’s twist on the story of course it did well but in an animation medium how do you take advantage of the length of Rapunzel’s hair? Not only was her hair defying laws of physics a lot of animation tricks were breaking some rules in return of entertainment as well. This essay will discuss some of those moments in the film that break some rules of our world and how it was fit into the world of Disney’s Tangled.

            Starting with the beginning of the film Rapunzel is trapped in a tower and to get her mother up and down the tower she uses her hair as a rope. Her mom hangs on to the hair and Rapunzel pulls on the end to raise her up. Most people would not believe that a person is able to stand and have their weight propelled into the air is impossible. The filmmaker’s say that Rapunzel’s hair is 70 feet long, now the hair in the film from the beginning is used as a rope and has many rope like features. So showing the features and functions of Rapunzel’s hair in the beginning establishes to us that its “rope like”. Having Rapunzel pull Mother Gothel up by her “rope” makes perfect sense at a logistical standpoint. However, assuming Mother Gothel is about 100lbs ( 45kg ) and if we are on earth gravity is -10m/s^2, about 500 newtons of force is required from Rapunzel’s end to pull Mother Gothel up the tower! Not knowing the height of the tower is difficult but to be able to apply a force of 500 newtons seems improbable.

            Jumping ahead in the story Rapunzel escapes her tower is being lead to town by Flynn Rider. At this moment in the story Flynn is being chased by the royal guard and by association Rapunzel runs away from them as well. They come up on a gorge and to get from the cliff to the floor Rapunzel throws her hair to attach to a water system and leaps into the air swinging from her hair. First of all it seems highly unlikely that Rapunzel can throw her hair with any type of accuracy with air resistance, gravity, and that her strands of hair are not stuck together so each one will have hit different pockets of air and will fall at different times, as well as knocking into each other. Again, treating Rapunzel’s hair like rope we can apply tension again to Rapunzel’s hair holding her own weight up swinging.

            In the same scene Rapunzel tosses her hair to Flynn so that he can also swing across the gorge. Flynn is a pretty fit guy if he is around 150lbs with out any tension from Rapunzel standing on the ground, Flynn’s weight being swung would launch her from the cliff she’s on and causing her to fall down. In this world tension still exists and is shown through out the film its just a matter of how it is utilized. Of course not all the aspects of tension are present but what is important about it is shown and emphasized.

            Lots of aspects in this film are emphasized for entertainment and storytelling. With that an exaggeration in action/reaction can be found in various scenes in the film. Throughout the film a frying pan is used as a weapon and hits several people in the face. With Newton’s Law if a force is applied onto an object it will accelerate. In this case, the force of the frying pan is being applied onto a guards face and his face stays in one place showing the reaction. In our world, if someone got hit with a frying pan they would fly back and follow the force of frying pan hitting. For what happens in the movie to be possible the guard’s head would have to have almost five times the mass of his body. This happens throughout the film and happens for a reason. We show the expression on the people that have been hit and it is a moment for entertainment.

            Couple times through out the film Flynn ends up on a plank and gets propelled in the air with weight being dropped on the other end like a seesaw. With the reaction and speed that Flynn flies there would need to be about ten times more weight applied onto the other end. With the action someone simply stomps on a plank of wood and springs Flynn into the air at an unexpected speed. The action/reaction does not match up in terms of physics but the unexpected speed of the reaction helps with the comedic timing. With animation a lot of things get pushed aside for entertainment including gravity.

            In an early scene from the movie the palace guards and Maximus the valiant horse are chasing Flynn. The guards fall behind and Maximus is left chasing Flynn. They struggle on the side of a cliff trying to achieve the satchel and unfortunately they fall off. Now they are clearly seen falling at the same rate. As per gravity laws, however, when we see Maximus land, safely I might add, he is still searching for Flynn. A few moments pass and we see Flynn ahead of where Maximus landed and hiding behind rocks. There is no possible way that Flynn landed before Maximus with enough time to get up and run a few feet ahead to hide behind a rock.

            The hang time in this film is also extended in certain parts. Near the end of the film Flynn escapes a prison with some help. He gets flung from a board again, the same way in an earlier scene however we see him get flung a great amount of distance and stay in the air maintaining the same position and finally landing perfectly safe onto Maximus. With the amount of speed Flynn had leaving the board, he would come hurling down the same amount of speed. Landing on Maximus perfectly would kill him; there was no force slowing his acceleration and in the scene he seems to be gaining speed as he lands. In the same prison escape we see some guards get pummeled by a bigger person and their helmets magically stays in place of where they got hit regardless of the bodies being propelled forward. The helmets hang there and spin and then drop.

            This film breaks a lot of physics in our world but with such successful storytelling and world building; the breaks in our rules can be excused. Most films excuse real physics for storytelling and entertainment. I believe it is how things get established and how it works within the film itself can make all the difference and to take me to a new world that I believe can truly exist.

All clips provided belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios. 

All clips provided from Walt Disney's Tangled. 

Term Paper Outline: Tangled

Introduction:

- Introduce Walt Disney Animation Studios "Tangled"
- Thesis: The movie pushes the laws of physics beyond real life.

Body:

Tension
- Rapunzel uses her hair to swing across a gorge.
- Flynn hangs on Rapunzel's hair.
- Mother Gothel propels down Rapunzel's hair.

Exaggerated Action and Reaction
- Flynn escapes the prison and is rushed propelled from the floor to the top of the wall and lands safely on Maximus.
- Anybody hit with a frying pan has a lasting impression.
- During "I've got a dream" song Flynn again is being flung from the floor board.

Gravity
 - The hang time through out the film seems to be prolonged, when Rapunzel jumps and swings from her hair.
- Maximus and Flynn fall from a cliff and completely fine and Flynn was somehow able to land long before Maximus to hide from him.
- When items are tossed into the air they hang, for example during the prison escape the guards lose their helmets and the helmets hang.
- Maximus jumping over buildings.

Conclusion
- The physics laws are intentionally broken.
- By breaking the rules they serve the purpose of clarification, entertainment, and is shown throughout the film so that we know this is a different world based on our own.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Homework: Shooting Video Reference

Mini-Portfolio

My name is Danny Trang and I am an Animation/Illustration student in my graduating year with an emphasis in story! I started SJSU in Fall of 2010 and knew I wanted to do something in related to art/drawing. I never would have imagined the AI program and Shrunkenhead man club would lead me to falling in love with film and art! Ever since starting this new passion of mine I have not stopped learning and pushing everything I do creatively. Below are some images I painted myself and as well as a video clip of my final project for my storyboarding class! 

The First Post...

This is a test post for what will be a blog for a class called Physics of Animation!!

Here is a image depicting my knowledge of physics...