Building a Scene in Maya

Stop-Motion Character Animation

         This assignment was lots of fun. I really enjoyed it. The first thing I did before I started this assignment was think an idea and prop I would use. I wanted something different but fun so I went and bought myself and little lego football player. It was perfect because it had joints that I could move around to make a perfect animation. The second thing I did to create this animation was fix my staging. I wanted something that I did not have to move around a lot so my coffee table was the perfect scene. Then I created a rough story board how I wanted the animation to play out. After that I was all set up to take shots and I didn't forget lighting too. Well here is the final work home you enjoy it as much as I did and thank you professor for making this assignment.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

1.      Introduction

a.       Introduce how films today use special effects in animation and live-action films.

b.      Thesis: In the films Twister and The Wizard of Oz, tornados are created using special visual effects to make the audience feel like there is an actual real life tornado in the shot.

2.      Twister

a.       In the film “Twister” Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.

b.      ILM creates tornados in this film using a marriage of CG animation and compositing.

c.      Color levels are all consistent and the match-movie work is extraordinary.

3.      The Wizard of Oz

a.       In “The Wizard of Oz” Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.

b.      The tornado is a thirty-five foot long muslin sock, inspired by those wind socks they have (or had) at airports. 

c.       Cloth with wind and dirt thrown on to it.

d.      This film was made in 1938, so special effects were nothing like they are today. It’s incredibly well done for it’s time.

4.      Conclusion

a.       Without using these amazing special effects the film would not have the same impact on its audience.

b.      These special effects in these films were very successful in their time and created believable tornados.  

My first two term paper scores were both above 80; I will not be writing a third term paper.

My first two term paper scores were both above 80; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction.

One of the most important aspects of being an adult is being able to distinguish between fact or fiction, between science and make-believe. Adults use this component when watching films. Films today can be so scientifically correct but they also can be so imaginative. Most action packed and sci-fi films do not follow the rules of physics because they want to show better and exciting visuals to their audience. So are we saying real life physics and science are boring? No, but flying space ships, magic, and digital dimensions are a lot cooler. One of the biggest laws of physics these films break is Conservation of energy, which states that energy can’t be created or destroyed. In the films “Flubber”, “The Matrix”, and “Space Jam”, the physics law Conservation of Energy is pushed beyond its limitations to show the audience a more enticing visual.

“Flubber” is a 1997 Sci-Fi Comedy about Philip Brainard, an absent-minded professor, who has invented “flubber”, a rubber-like super-bouncy substance. This green goop has enough energy to send anything soaring through the air. In one scene of “Flubber” the professor is performing an experiment on his “flubber” with various types of balls. He has added “flubber” to hand cream and is rubbing the balls with the cream. Once coated he lets these balls go and each at different sizes and weights go crazy and bounce at great heights and speeds. Now this can’t really happen in real life, why? The balls have no energy at all, only when you apply your own energy do the balls bounce. So according to the law Conservation of energy “flubber” can’t do this, for energy can only be converted from one form into another.  If you left a ball in the air just by raising it with you arms, you have transferred potential energy. Potential energy is energy stored for later use, and for this example it would be into the ball. When you eventually drop the ball it will not bounce back higher than the position you let it go from. This happens because the potential energy you gave it was converted into kinetic energy. Kinetic Energy is the energy of motion, which in this case, the ball used to bounce back up. But, some of the kinetic energy was converted into friction. Friction is the energy of two substances rubbing together. In this case the ball was rubbing together with the air molecules and the ball hitting the floor. So the ball’s rebound bounce is almost and high but not as quite high as the starting position.

“The Matrix” is a 1999 Action Sci-Fi film about a computer hacker named Neo, who learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. Humans are no longer the dominant species anymore; machines have over thrown them. “The Matrix” is one of my favorite Sci-Fi films and it’s a great film overall. Lots of things in this movie don’t apply to the laws of science or physics especially inside the Matrix itself, but we can forgive that, because it’s meant to be a computer simulation. In terms of breaking the law of Conservation of Energy “The Matrix” just does that. The film has the idea that humans are kept alive as a sort of electricity generator. This brings a whole new meaning to the term “battery farming”. This practice is fundamentally impossible since the humans would need more energy to create this extra energy. For example, it is like saying you will power your car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running some form of electricity generator from the wheels.  There is a scene in the film that pretty much shows all that I have explained. Neo is taking from the simulation he has been living his whole life and is taken into the real world that he did not know existed. He finds himself in some sort of incubator that has been keeping him alive all this time. This incubator is how the machines take his energy and make it into their own.

“Space Jam” is a 1996 Animation Comedy about how Michael Jordan agrees to help the Looney Toons play a basketball game vs. alien slavers to determine their freedom. As this is an animated laws of physics are broken a lot, but not too much where the film does not look realistic. This film is special because it combines animated film and real-life film into one amazing picture. Towards the end of this film we find Michael Jordan needing to make the winning shot, he is the only one that can save them all. In this scene we see Michael making his way to the basket, but he does this by take a huge leap that turns into this giant flying jump. Not only is his jump so high and long, his arm stretches like rubber to reach the final lengths to the basket. He makes the winning basket by stretching his human arms and taking a giant flying leap. Michael Jordan is an amazing athlete, but even the best would not be able to perform this stunt. For a person to jump that high and stretch his arm like rubber is physically impossible. This also does not follow the law of Conservation of Energy. No one can produce that much energy for a jump from such a small leap. No way, no how.

These films would not be the same if they followed the physics rule of Conservation of Energy. They would not have the comedy like “Flubber”, or the action like “The Matrix”, or the climatic moments like “Space Jam” has. These films intentionally break the laws of physics for their audience enjoyment. Breaking this law provides better visuals that exaggerate the stories in a more fun and entertaining way. It is one of the main reasons why these films are so memorable. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

1.      Introduction

a.       Introduce how films today don’t follow the rules of physics and introduce the physics law conservation of energy

b.      Thesis: In the films Flubber, The Matrix, and Space Jam, the physics law Conservation of Energy is pushed beyond it’s limitations to show the audience a more enticing visual.

2.      Flubber

a.       Professor Philip Brainard, an absent-minded professor, has invented “flubber”, a rubber- like super-bouncy substance.

b.      Flubber cannot give other object energy

3.      The Matrix

a.       Neo, a computer hacker, learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

b.      The film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as a sort of electricity generator.

c.       Fundamentally impossible.

d.      They will need more energy to survive then produce.

4.      Space Jame

a.       Michael Jordan agrees to help the Looney Toons play a basketball game vs. alien slavers to determine their freedom.

b.      Michael Jordan jumps great heights and stretches at incredible lengths

c.       Michael Jordan is a human being and this is physically impossible.

5.      Conclusion

a.       Laws of physics are intentionally broken

b.      To break the laws of physics provides the audience better visuals that exaggerate the story in a more fun and entertaining way. 

Reverse Video Reference

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Extra Credit GDC

I am very lucky right now because I'm currently working in San Francisco for GSN Games. My company paid for any employee who wanted to participate with the conference so I was very fortunate and was able to go to GDC for free! How awesome was this thing! I was able to view the expo where all the new cool gaming stuff was and I was also able to listen in to speakers from the gaming world. I'm so lucky I was able to go and will never forget it.

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

This assignment was pretty awesome. I had a lot of fun planning and getting ideas for the film. But I have to say filming it was hard. If you did something different with the scene you had to shoot all over again. I first started this project with figuring out what I wanted to drop. I wanted something creative and that had not been done before. I have a tiny tea set and thought that was perfect. Then I made a story board, planed out my shots and timing. Then I shot whatever reference I could. Then we went to real shooting. I got set up made sure my lighting was good and went to work. That I think took the longest because I wanted just right and if anything changed in the background or something like that I had to start from the beginning again. So glad I had a trusty tripod and tape. Those both did wonders for me in helping me with my set. Overall I really liked this assignment so thank you professor for thinking of it. Hope you like it. Thank you. :)

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

        Films have captivated the eyes of audiences around the world for several years and still do every single day. What makes these films so captivating are the visuals they produce. Sight is one of the strongest senses in the body. Seeing something can strike great emotion and interest. That is why animated films are so successful. You're able to push the boundaries in physics unlike anything imaginable in live-action films. In the film by Sony Animated Pictures “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”, real world physics are pushed beyond its limits to show an audience a dramatize visual for an entertaining story.

        “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” picks up where it left off from the first film about Flint Lockwood, a nerdy inventor with big compassionate dreams. Flint had thought to have save the world, including his home island, and destroyed his invention the FLDSMDFR; a machine that rearranged water molecules to create different weather conditions of food. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is creating foodimals (food+animals). This great invention is now rearranging water molecules to create living creatures. The machine was not only creating living creatures it also changed the entire climate of the island so that life it creates can survive on the island.

        Now lets talk about this machine and how it works. The actual name for this invention is “Flint Lockwood Diatomic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator”, for short it is FLDSMDFR. According to Flint the basic concept for this machine is that it would gather water molecules and rearrange them using microwave radiation to create foodimals of the machines choice. Flint calls this principle, “hydro genetic mutation”, which is actually just a made up term. The machine self activates now and is pretty much running on a mind of it’s own. In the film, Flint finds the machine connected to big fat vines in a water pool inside a mountain. 

        When the machine creates a foodimal it slowly makes its way out of these vines that are connected to it, as if it gave birth to a foodimal. Once the foodimal is out it is perceived to be an infant foodimal and finds it way to that certain parent foodimal. This machine not only creates one types of foodimal species its creates many. For instances, there are tacodiles (tacos+crocodiles), shrimpanzees (shrimp+chimpanzees), hippotatomuses (potatoe+hippopotamuses), cheesespiders (cheeseburgers+spiders), and so many more foodimals. This machine is now the life support for these foodimals on this island. Its true that plants and vines can create life but not the way this film demonstrates. Once Flint finally finds his invention it is snatch from its habitat by Chester V, an inventor Flint looked up to his whole life. Now crushed with the realization of the evil man Chester V really is, Flint now must get the invention back to bring back the life to the island of foodimals.

        In this action packed film lots of characters are moving, being thrown, falling, and other extreme moments. When animating a film with so much movement you must follow and break the rules of inertia. The Law of Inertia states: An object moves with constant, uniform motion until acted on by an unbalanced force. Most of the film actually applies this principle, but for a more noticeable and dramatic visual the creators of this film decided not to follow the rules. For example, there is a scene where Flint has made it to Live Corp, Chester V’s company, and he is put in an elevator with fellow scientists, so many that everyone in the elevator is touching bodies. This elevator then travels at incredibly high speeds up and down loops around the building and then just shoots the scientist out when they arrive at their desks. Flint lands at his desk and stops and is unharmed. Now according to the Law of Inertia this is not possible. Flint would have been severely hurt if he was going at such high speed towards something that was not in motion and he most likely would have died! Well he did not and the reason he didn’t is because it is visually appealing to audience that Flint can survive an ordeal like this. In another moment of this film where the laws of inertia are broken, “Chicken” Brent is thrown into the air and lands without the applied principle. “Chicken” Brent is attacked by a cheesespider and is thrown high in the air and lands on Earl the Police man, however Earl does not move an inch as if nothing even hit him. When you see Flint running into a mailbox while running away from a stampede, Flint reacts and falls like he should and the mailbox moves with his force of impact. In this instance Flint and the mailbox follow the rules of inertia.  It seems when the creators break the Law of Inertia they are trying to portray humor in visual aspects.

        Not only are the Laws of Inertia broken, but also this film displays exaggerated paths of action. The path of action is the trajectory traced out by a moving object or character. Many scenes in this film do not correspond to real life physics dealing with paths of actions. For example, Earl the policeman seems to move so quick, doing backflips in the air, moving to one positions to another, without ever needing to stabilize at some point. The paths of action he makes does not make any sense with real life physics. Also, the way Chester V moves throughout the film with his whole body moving like rubber does not apply to human physics.  Real life people’s movements do not follow those paths of action. Yet, there are moments in the film where the characters follow the correct path of action. There is a scene where a group of characters are on a car boat and are flowing with the current of a giant coconut river/waterfall. That path of action seemed to be correct because it was believable and looked right. Many of the paths of action that didn’t follow the principle still flowed with the film because movements in this film are very exaggerated.

        When I first heard about this film I was skeptical, I was not sure it would be good as the first film. I am so glad I saw it. This film was just as good as the first film and maybe even better. The story line was creative and the visuals were amazing. In the end Flint saves the day again, he defeats Chester V, saves his friends, and returns the FLDSMDFR to its rightful place, and the island of foodimal’s ecosystem was back to normal. Overall we see that this film intentionally breaks these laws of physics to portray a more dramatize visual to entertain an audience. Breaking the laws of physics provides an exaggerated story in a more fun and entertaining way. With the power of sight the audience can break away from real world physics to spark their imagination to a world Sony Pictures has created.