And Three Point Lighting (Rim):
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Homework 12: Lighting a Scene in Maya
Here is some one point lighting (key):
Two Point (ambient):
And Three Point Lighting (Rim):
I kind of had to fake the rim lighting, because I talked to some animation students and they said that you couldn't do rim lighting against a hard edge. They suggested I bevel the corner, but it's a really complicated letter, and I didn't see how I could bevel it without getting things messed up. I hope this works.
And Three Point Lighting (Rim):
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
scene in maya
Had to retrace the whole thing in order to get the counterforms of the letters to be empty. D: Took forever!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
essay, complete
Newton's third law of motion states that for every action force, there is an equal reaction force in the opposite direction. This principle is often ignored, minimized, or exaggerated to both beneficent and deleterious effect in film. The three films Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Secret of Kells, and Loaf and Death are all examples of films where Newton's third law is used incorrectly, but successfully.
The fight between Scott Pilgrim and Matthew Patel blatantly breaks Newton's action-reaction principle several times. At the beginning of the fight, Matthew Patel jumps into the air, and moves forward at high speed. However, he does not bend low enough to where the force he exerts over the distance he travels before his feet leave the ground would be significant enough to reach the apex of his jump He has 13 inches of push height, and it takes 17frames to reach 2/3 the height of apex. This means his center of gravity would reach a height of 7.4 feet at the apex, but according to the relation of Matthew's height to the audience, his apex is at least 10 feet off the ground, three feet more than an already unrealistic height. As Matthew approaches, Scott raises his arm to block. Their impulses are completely different, yet at point of contact the forces seem to cancel out because as Matthew's punch reaches Scott's arm, neither of them has any reaction whatsoever. They meet and stop, much like what would happen in a video game. Matthew's high speed would give him a huge force that would require Scott to move backward in order to be realistic, but this does not happen. Furthermore, after Matthew is stopped, he doesn't begin to fall downward, but hangs in the air at the same height while Scott throws a punch towards his head. This time when the punch connects, Matthew is pushed back through the air, his body moving counterclockwise around his approximate center of gravity as if he were in a zero gravity situation. The effect of the force gravity exerts on Matthew's body is completely ignored while the effect of the force of Scott's punch finally begins to match what Newton described.
Until this point in the movie, the physics in the film has been normal, so when the laws of physics are broken unexpectedly in this scene, the scene becomes much more exciting, and the level of interest increases. The reason the audience accepts this scene is because the effect of only one force at a time is ignored or exaggerated. The rest of the physics follows what the audience generally expects to occur, which makes the change in normal physics seem intentional and not a mistake. Also, the physics matches the storyline. Until this point in the movie, the storyline has been fairly normal with little quirks here and there. At this scene, however, the driving force behind the momentum of the rest of the story is established, so extra emphasis from crazy physics fits in pretty well. The same way the characters in the scene are bewildered by the sudden presence of an adversary, the audience is pleasantly taken aback by the sudden change in the laws of physics.
The bending of the action/reaction principle in the scene from The Secret of Kells also enhances the story. in this scene, Brendan goes to retrieve a crystal from the monster Crom Cruach. The physics begin to break down as he enters Crom's lair. Aisling, a forest spirit, must lift up a huge stone to open the entrance, which allows the wind to push Brendan backwards through the structure. This makes sense so far, however, some unknown force drives Brendan backwards, even after Aisling has dropped the stone, effectively removing the source of the wind that pushed Brendan at first. At first, the camera angle makes it look like he is falling downward, but as Brendan reaches the end, he hits a wall and falls down onto the ground, revealing that he had been traveling horizontally instead of vertically. Next, the ground opens up into a giant chasm through which Brendan falls. Mid-fall, he mysteriously stops, as if he hit an invisible wall, yet his arms swing below his torso, which means this unseen force is unequally applied to different parts of his body. The sounds in this chasm are rich and clear, much like underwater, which would suggest a dense fluid. However, Brendan also seems to float as if he's in a zero gravity environment, since he spins around his center of gravity rather quickly, much like Matthew Patel did in Scott Pilgrim. This difference in momentum reached and the ability to push off makes it hard to tell just what kind of fluid he's in. He can't be in a gas environment because he is able to push off of seemingly nothing, like one would in water. However, in a fluid that Brendan could push off of to travel through, he would not be able to attain the speeds he reaches because the fluid would push on him as much as he pushed on it, significantly reducing his ability to gain momentum.
In this scene, the physics serves to create a sense of eeriness for Brendan's battle with Crom Cruach. The physics is constantly defying the audience's expectations, such as when Brendan seems to be falling, yet is revealed to be traveling horizontally. Then, the chasm where Brandon's movements have a strange floating, flying, swimming sensation further reinforces the eerie feeling since it should not be possible for a human to float in mid-air unless gravity was somehow removed. That said, the audience still accepts these strange forces and reactions because of the nature of the monster encountered. Since the creature is fantastical, it is easier for the audience to justify the strange physics since that makes the setting seem more otherworldly.
"Loaf and Death" with Wallace and Grommit also benefits from less realistic action-reaction forces. Here, a woman is riding downhill on her bicycle, but her brakes don't work. Seeing her distress as her speed begins to mount, Wallace attempts to rescue her. He gets on the outside of his car while Grommit drives alongside the bicycle, and jumps onto the front of the bike. This would be all well and good, except for the fact that he is hanging from the front of the car, and simply scrunches his shoulders downward in anticipation for the leap, and then somehow magically is propelled sideways. It seems as if he lets go and is carried over in an arc to the bike. We can't see his torso and legs since the front of the car obscures them, but his body should at the very least scrunch down sideways significantly (which he does not do) if he is going to have enough space for his legs to apply a big enough force to allow him to leap sideways. When he lands, the bike does not dip under his weight. Wallace merely alights softly onto the bike, not affecting it at all. The bike should also act like a first class lever with the fulcrum on the front wheel, the effort arm on the handle bars, and the load arm being the back end of the bike. His weight and force should be enough to lift the other end of the bike off the ground at least a little bit, although a shorter effort arm and the woman's center of gravity being a bit farther from the fulcrum on the load arm works against him. Afterwards, they hit a low brick wall, which does not dent the wheel at all upon impact, even though they are traveling pretty quickly and have the mass of two heavy people working to make a considerable force on the wheel.
In the case of Wallace and Grommit, the fact that there are unequal action/reaction forces is of less consequence because its aim is to be funny. When doing comedy, the less realistic a scene is, the easier it is to laugh at it, especially in dangerous situations such as this one. When the action and reaction forces are not equal, we don't fear for the safety of the characters as much as in a more realistic depiction of physical forces, because we know that even if they fall, they won't be hurt as significantly. This is important, because althoughThis is especially important in a film aimed at children, who have a lower tolerance for fearful situations.
In conclusion, these three films use Newton's third law of motion inaccurately, but the motion is used to enhance the scene for the audience. In the case of Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the sudden change in physics gives a jolt of excitement which matches the storyline. Similarly in the Secret of Kells, the strange interaction between the character and the environment intentionally increases the sense of unease during a critical moment in the story, whereas in "Loaf and Death," the lack of reaction eases tension on the audience, allowing them to laugh at what would otherwise be a dangerous situation. Each breaks the third law of motion slightly differently, but all to the benefit of each film.
The fight between Scott Pilgrim and Matthew Patel blatantly breaks Newton's action-reaction principle several times. At the beginning of the fight, Matthew Patel jumps into the air, and moves forward at high speed. However, he does not bend low enough to where the force he exerts over the distance he travels before his feet leave the ground would be significant enough to reach the apex of his jump He has 13 inches of push height, and it takes 17frames to reach 2/3 the height of apex. This means his center of gravity would reach a height of 7.4 feet at the apex, but according to the relation of Matthew's height to the audience, his apex is at least 10 feet off the ground, three feet more than an already unrealistic height. As Matthew approaches, Scott raises his arm to block. Their impulses are completely different, yet at point of contact the forces seem to cancel out because as Matthew's punch reaches Scott's arm, neither of them has any reaction whatsoever. They meet and stop, much like what would happen in a video game. Matthew's high speed would give him a huge force that would require Scott to move backward in order to be realistic, but this does not happen. Furthermore, after Matthew is stopped, he doesn't begin to fall downward, but hangs in the air at the same height while Scott throws a punch towards his head. This time when the punch connects, Matthew is pushed back through the air, his body moving counterclockwise around his approximate center of gravity as if he were in a zero gravity situation. The effect of the force gravity exerts on Matthew's body is completely ignored while the effect of the force of Scott's punch finally begins to match what Newton described.
Until this point in the movie, the physics in the film has been normal, so when the laws of physics are broken unexpectedly in this scene, the scene becomes much more exciting, and the level of interest increases. The reason the audience accepts this scene is because the effect of only one force at a time is ignored or exaggerated. The rest of the physics follows what the audience generally expects to occur, which makes the change in normal physics seem intentional and not a mistake. Also, the physics matches the storyline. Until this point in the movie, the storyline has been fairly normal with little quirks here and there. At this scene, however, the driving force behind the momentum of the rest of the story is established, so extra emphasis from crazy physics fits in pretty well. The same way the characters in the scene are bewildered by the sudden presence of an adversary, the audience is pleasantly taken aback by the sudden change in the laws of physics.
The bending of the action/reaction principle in the scene from The Secret of Kells also enhances the story. in this scene, Brendan goes to retrieve a crystal from the monster Crom Cruach. The physics begin to break down as he enters Crom's lair. Aisling, a forest spirit, must lift up a huge stone to open the entrance, which allows the wind to push Brendan backwards through the structure. This makes sense so far, however, some unknown force drives Brendan backwards, even after Aisling has dropped the stone, effectively removing the source of the wind that pushed Brendan at first. At first, the camera angle makes it look like he is falling downward, but as Brendan reaches the end, he hits a wall and falls down onto the ground, revealing that he had been traveling horizontally instead of vertically. Next, the ground opens up into a giant chasm through which Brendan falls. Mid-fall, he mysteriously stops, as if he hit an invisible wall, yet his arms swing below his torso, which means this unseen force is unequally applied to different parts of his body. The sounds in this chasm are rich and clear, much like underwater, which would suggest a dense fluid. However, Brendan also seems to float as if he's in a zero gravity environment, since he spins around his center of gravity rather quickly, much like Matthew Patel did in Scott Pilgrim. This difference in momentum reached and the ability to push off makes it hard to tell just what kind of fluid he's in. He can't be in a gas environment because he is able to push off of seemingly nothing, like one would in water. However, in a fluid that Brendan could push off of to travel through, he would not be able to attain the speeds he reaches because the fluid would push on him as much as he pushed on it, significantly reducing his ability to gain momentum.
In this scene, the physics serves to create a sense of eeriness for Brendan's battle with Crom Cruach. The physics is constantly defying the audience's expectations, such as when Brendan seems to be falling, yet is revealed to be traveling horizontally. Then, the chasm where Brandon's movements have a strange floating, flying, swimming sensation further reinforces the eerie feeling since it should not be possible for a human to float in mid-air unless gravity was somehow removed. That said, the audience still accepts these strange forces and reactions because of the nature of the monster encountered. Since the creature is fantastical, it is easier for the audience to justify the strange physics since that makes the setting seem more otherworldly.
"Loaf and Death" with Wallace and Grommit also benefits from less realistic action-reaction forces. Here, a woman is riding downhill on her bicycle, but her brakes don't work. Seeing her distress as her speed begins to mount, Wallace attempts to rescue her. He gets on the outside of his car while Grommit drives alongside the bicycle, and jumps onto the front of the bike. This would be all well and good, except for the fact that he is hanging from the front of the car, and simply scrunches his shoulders downward in anticipation for the leap, and then somehow magically is propelled sideways. It seems as if he lets go and is carried over in an arc to the bike. We can't see his torso and legs since the front of the car obscures them, but his body should at the very least scrunch down sideways significantly (which he does not do) if he is going to have enough space for his legs to apply a big enough force to allow him to leap sideways. When he lands, the bike does not dip under his weight. Wallace merely alights softly onto the bike, not affecting it at all. The bike should also act like a first class lever with the fulcrum on the front wheel, the effort arm on the handle bars, and the load arm being the back end of the bike. His weight and force should be enough to lift the other end of the bike off the ground at least a little bit, although a shorter effort arm and the woman's center of gravity being a bit farther from the fulcrum on the load arm works against him. Afterwards, they hit a low brick wall, which does not dent the wheel at all upon impact, even though they are traveling pretty quickly and have the mass of two heavy people working to make a considerable force on the wheel.
In the case of Wallace and Grommit, the fact that there are unequal action/reaction forces is of less consequence because its aim is to be funny. When doing comedy, the less realistic a scene is, the easier it is to laugh at it, especially in dangerous situations such as this one. When the action and reaction forces are not equal, we don't fear for the safety of the characters as much as in a more realistic depiction of physical forces, because we know that even if they fall, they won't be hurt as significantly. This is important, because althoughThis is especially important in a film aimed at children, who have a lower tolerance for fearful situations.
In conclusion, these three films use Newton's third law of motion inaccurately, but the motion is used to enhance the scene for the audience. In the case of Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the sudden change in physics gives a jolt of excitement which matches the storyline. Similarly in the Secret of Kells, the strange interaction between the character and the environment intentionally increases the sense of unease during a critical moment in the story, whereas in "Loaf and Death," the lack of reaction eases tension on the audience, allowing them to laugh at what would otherwise be a dangerous situation. Each breaks the third law of motion slightly differently, but all to the benefit of each film.
essay, incomplete
This is what I have at exactly 8:00am, will post a complete version very very shortly.
The fight between Scott Pilgrim and Matthew Patel blatantly breaks Newton's action-reaction principle several times. At the beginning of the fight, Matthew Patel jumps into the air, and moves forward at high speed. However, he does not bend low enough to where the force he exerts over the distance he travels before his feet leave the ground would be significant enough to reach the apex of his jump arc. ACCORDING TO X FRAMES PER SECOND, that would put him at X SPEED at point of contact. As Matthew approaches, Scott raises his arm to block. Their impulses are completely different, yet at point of contact the forces seem to cancel out because as Matthew's punch reaches Scott's arm, neither of them has any reaction whatsoever. They meet and stop, much like what would happen in a video game. Matthew's high speed would give him a huge force that would require Scott to move backward in order to be realistic, but this does not happen. Furthermore, after Matthew is stopped, he doesn't begin to fall downward, but hangs in the air at the same height while Scott throws a punch towards his head. This time when the punch connects, Matthew is pushed back through the air, his body moving counterclockwise around his approximate center of gravity as if he were in a zero gravity situation. The effect of the force gravity exerts on Matthew's body is completely ignored while the effect of the force of Scott's punch finally begins to match what Newton described.
Until this point in the movie, the physics in the film has been normal, so when the laws of physics are broken unexpectedly in this scene, the scene becomes much more exciting, and the level of interest increases. The reason the audience accepts this scene is because the effect of only one force at a time is ignored or exaggerated. The rest of the physics follows what the audience generally expects to occur, which makes the change in normal physics seem intentional and not a mistake. Also, the physics matches the storyline. Until this point in the movie, the storyline has been fairly normal with little quirks here and there. At this scene, however, the driving force behind the momentum of the rest of the story is established, so extra emphasis from crazy physics fits in pretty well.
The second scene is from the Secret of Kells, when Brendan goes to retrieve a crystal from the monster Crom Cruach. The physics begin to break down as he enters Crom's lair. Aisling, a forest spirit, must lift up a huge stone to open the entrance, which allows the wind to push Brendan backwards through the structure. This makes sense so far, however, some unknown force drives Brendan backwards, even after Aisling has dropped the stone, effectively removing the source of the wind that pushed Brendan at first. At first, the camera angle makes it look like he is falling downward, but as Brendan reaches the end, he hits a wall and falls down onto the ground, revealing that he had been traveling horizontally instead of vertically. Next, the ground opens up into a giant chasm through which Brendan falls. Mid-fall, he mysteriously stops, as if he hit an invisible wall, yet his arms swing below his torso, which means this unseen force is unequally applied to different parts of his body. The sounds in this chasm are rich and clear, much like underwater, which would suggest a dense fluid. However, Brendan also seems to float as if he's in a zero gravity environment, since he spins around his center of gravity rather quickly. This difference in momentum reached and the ability to push off makes it hard to tell just what kind of fluid he's in. He can't be in a gas environment because he is able to push off of seemingly nothing, like one would in water. However, in a fluid that Brendan could push off of to travel through, he would not be able to attain the speeds he reaches because the fluid would push on him as much as he pushed on it, significantly reducing his ability to gain momentum.
In this scene, the physics serves to create a sense of eeriness for Brendan's battle with Crom Cruach. The physics is constantly defying the audience's expectations, such as when Brendan seems to be falling, yet is revealed to be traveling horizontally. Then, the chasm where Brandon's movements have a strange floating, flying, swimming sensation further reinforces the eerie feeling since it should not be possible for a human to float in mid-air unless gravity was somehow removed. That said, the audience still accepts these strange forces and reactions because of the nature of the monster encountered. Since the creature is fantastical, it is easier for the audience to justify the strange physics.
The third scene is from "Loaf and Death" with Wallace and Grommit. Here, a woman is riding downhill on her bicycle, but her brakes don't work. Seeing her distress, Wallace attempts to rescue her. He gets on the outside of his car while Grommit drives alongside the bicycle, and jumps onto the front of the bike. This would be all well and good, except for the fact that he is hanging from the front of the car, and simply scrunches his shoulders downward in anticipation for the leap, and then somehow magically is propelled sideways. It seems as if he lets go and is carried over in an arc to the bike. We can't see his torso and legs since the front of the car obscures them, but his body should at the very least scrunch down sideways significantly if he is going to have enough space for his legs to apply a big enough force to allow him to leap sideways. When he lands, the bike does not dip under his weight. Wallace merely alights softly onto the bike, not affecting it at all. The bike should also act like a first class lever with the fulcrum on the front wheel, the effort arm on the handle bars, and the load arm being the back end of the bike. His weight and force should be enough to lift the other end of the bike off the ground at least a little bit, although a shorter effort arm and the woman's center of gravity being a bit farther from the fulcrum on the load arm works against him. Afterwards, they hit a low brick wall, which does not dent the wheel at all upon impact, even though they are traveling pretty quickly and have the mass of two heavy people affecting the force on the wheel.
The fight between Scott Pilgrim and Matthew Patel blatantly breaks Newton's action-reaction principle several times. At the beginning of the fight, Matthew Patel jumps into the air, and moves forward at high speed. However, he does not bend low enough to where the force he exerts over the distance he travels before his feet leave the ground would be significant enough to reach the apex of his jump arc. ACCORDING TO X FRAMES PER SECOND, that would put him at X SPEED at point of contact. As Matthew approaches, Scott raises his arm to block. Their impulses are completely different, yet at point of contact the forces seem to cancel out because as Matthew's punch reaches Scott's arm, neither of them has any reaction whatsoever. They meet and stop, much like what would happen in a video game. Matthew's high speed would give him a huge force that would require Scott to move backward in order to be realistic, but this does not happen. Furthermore, after Matthew is stopped, he doesn't begin to fall downward, but hangs in the air at the same height while Scott throws a punch towards his head. This time when the punch connects, Matthew is pushed back through the air, his body moving counterclockwise around his approximate center of gravity as if he were in a zero gravity situation. The effect of the force gravity exerts on Matthew's body is completely ignored while the effect of the force of Scott's punch finally begins to match what Newton described.
Until this point in the movie, the physics in the film has been normal, so when the laws of physics are broken unexpectedly in this scene, the scene becomes much more exciting, and the level of interest increases. The reason the audience accepts this scene is because the effect of only one force at a time is ignored or exaggerated. The rest of the physics follows what the audience generally expects to occur, which makes the change in normal physics seem intentional and not a mistake. Also, the physics matches the storyline. Until this point in the movie, the storyline has been fairly normal with little quirks here and there. At this scene, however, the driving force behind the momentum of the rest of the story is established, so extra emphasis from crazy physics fits in pretty well.
The second scene is from the Secret of Kells, when Brendan goes to retrieve a crystal from the monster Crom Cruach. The physics begin to break down as he enters Crom's lair. Aisling, a forest spirit, must lift up a huge stone to open the entrance, which allows the wind to push Brendan backwards through the structure. This makes sense so far, however, some unknown force drives Brendan backwards, even after Aisling has dropped the stone, effectively removing the source of the wind that pushed Brendan at first. At first, the camera angle makes it look like he is falling downward, but as Brendan reaches the end, he hits a wall and falls down onto the ground, revealing that he had been traveling horizontally instead of vertically. Next, the ground opens up into a giant chasm through which Brendan falls. Mid-fall, he mysteriously stops, as if he hit an invisible wall, yet his arms swing below his torso, which means this unseen force is unequally applied to different parts of his body. The sounds in this chasm are rich and clear, much like underwater, which would suggest a dense fluid. However, Brendan also seems to float as if he's in a zero gravity environment, since he spins around his center of gravity rather quickly. This difference in momentum reached and the ability to push off makes it hard to tell just what kind of fluid he's in. He can't be in a gas environment because he is able to push off of seemingly nothing, like one would in water. However, in a fluid that Brendan could push off of to travel through, he would not be able to attain the speeds he reaches because the fluid would push on him as much as he pushed on it, significantly reducing his ability to gain momentum.
In this scene, the physics serves to create a sense of eeriness for Brendan's battle with Crom Cruach. The physics is constantly defying the audience's expectations, such as when Brendan seems to be falling, yet is revealed to be traveling horizontally. Then, the chasm where Brandon's movements have a strange floating, flying, swimming sensation further reinforces the eerie feeling since it should not be possible for a human to float in mid-air unless gravity was somehow removed. That said, the audience still accepts these strange forces and reactions because of the nature of the monster encountered. Since the creature is fantastical, it is easier for the audience to justify the strange physics.
The third scene is from "Loaf and Death" with Wallace and Grommit. Here, a woman is riding downhill on her bicycle, but her brakes don't work. Seeing her distress, Wallace attempts to rescue her. He gets on the outside of his car while Grommit drives alongside the bicycle, and jumps onto the front of the bike. This would be all well and good, except for the fact that he is hanging from the front of the car, and simply scrunches his shoulders downward in anticipation for the leap, and then somehow magically is propelled sideways. It seems as if he lets go and is carried over in an arc to the bike. We can't see his torso and legs since the front of the car obscures them, but his body should at the very least scrunch down sideways significantly if he is going to have enough space for his legs to apply a big enough force to allow him to leap sideways. When he lands, the bike does not dip under his weight. Wallace merely alights softly onto the bike, not affecting it at all. The bike should also act like a first class lever with the fulcrum on the front wheel, the effort arm on the handle bars, and the load arm being the back end of the bike. His weight and force should be enough to lift the other end of the bike off the ground at least a little bit, although a shorter effort arm and the woman's center of gravity being a bit farther from the fulcrum on the load arm works against him. Afterwards, they hit a low brick wall, which does not dent the wheel at all upon impact, even though they are traveling pretty quickly and have the mass of two heavy people affecting the force on the wheel.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Character animation
I posed the mannequin on the floor, and took the pictures from a fixed height. I didn't have a tripod, so the background moves more than it should, but I took it into photoshop and made sure that the mannequin was fixed in place and also made it into a .gif
Friday, October 29, 2010
just for fun
A friend sent me this video the other day, and it turns the timing and spacing of movement into visual art. Seemed really compelling.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Homework 8
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
This one had a lot of little actions to remember and was hard for me to figure out. :(
Clip 2
Clip 3
This one had a lot of little actions to remember and was hard for me to figure out. :(
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Midterm assignment
I will add pictures later. :D
The Princess Bride is a fantasy film about a young girl named Buttercup, her engagement to Prince Humperdinck and eventual kidnapping. Her childhood love, Westley, rescues her from her kidnappers and later the prince who is determined to marry her for his own gains. It breaks several of the laws of physics, usually for comedic effect. It pokes fun at fairy tale conventions, and doesn't take itself too seriously. And similarly, it pokes fun at physics, which is bent if it furthers the plot or the comedy.
Unequal action and reaction forces occur fairly persistently throughout the film. The most egregious example of this is when Buttercup jumps out of the window several stories up and lands in Fezzik’s arms without knocking him to the ground. Not only that, but there is an intangible amount of squash. When falling, air resistance is working in her favor for the first part as her dress and hair are flying up, meaning the air is pushing up on her. In the second shot, however, the wind is blowing her dress and hair downward for some reason, which means that air is traveling the opposite way, which would end up pushing her down, especially since her orientation in space has stayed the same as the shot is looking up at her towards the night sky.
Another example of unequal action and reaction forces occurs later on in the film when Fezzik, the giant is able to punch down a door, even though the mass and force of his fist are lesser than Inigo's entire body crashing against the door. Inigo, a normal man, runs and throws his whole weight against the door several times and it doesn’t budge, yet when Fezzik punches the door once, fairly slowly, it is knocked down. This might be able to be explained if Fezzik's punch was going at a faster rater, but this is inconsistent with a scene earlier in the movie. During Fezzik’s fight with Wesley, his slowness is emphazised and wesley’s agility is highlighted. This makes sense as a larger mass is more affected by inertia. It takes a larger force to act upon a larger mass. So in the case of the door, It's Inigo's greater speed and larger mass losing out to Fezzik's smaller mass (fist), and slower speed.
However, amongst all this unequal balance in action and reaction forces, there are occasions where the forces actually are equal, and follow proper physics. In the beginning, the Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini's ship is trying to outrun a mysterious ship on the horizon. Vizzini is incredulous at the fact that someone would be able to keep pace with them. However, the ship following them is going significantly faster than they are, and Inigo makes the comment, "Is he using the same wind we are using?" In fact, both ships have similar size sails, meaning they are receiving the same pushing force. However, when the ships dock and the audience finally is able to compare the sizes of the two ships, it is apparent that the ship following them is smaller, explaining its speed. Both had the same force, yet one had a smaller mass, and it requires a greater force for to move a greater mass the same distance and speed as a lesser mass.
In all of these situations, physics is used to increase the comedic value of the scene, whether it was accurate physics or not. In the first example, jumping out of the window is the denouement of the film, and as it ends on a light note, bending the physics keeps the same lighthearted tone. In the second one, even though Inigo should have been able to knock the door down himself, by preventing him, it allowed his character to build up emotion into a wild frenetic state that the audience can laugh at, and then Fezzik's punch brings a release for the audience as that energy is then directed towards Inigo's goal. The final example plays against the expectations of the characters, giving the audience a laugh at Vizzini's ineptitude, showing that the main goal of the film is to create an enjoyable story for the audience, and the physics is kept accurate or bent in order to accommodate that story.
Another rule of physics that is consistently ignored is that one's center of gravity must shift to accommodate carrying an increased weight in order to keep it over one's base of support. One instance of this is when Westley is paralyzed and can't support his own weight, Fezzik is carrying him with one hand as they try to overtake the castle. While this is meant to showcase Fezzik's strength, he lifts Westley straight up from the shoulder, which would shift his center of gravity too far out of his base of support. Two ways to explain this would be if Fezzik was extremely massive in order to compensate for the ability to hold the weight of an adult male, or if he was using Westley's body to extend his base of support.
He can't be extremely massive because earlier in the film Fezzik was wrestling Westley, and he would have crushed Westley if he had been massive enough to lift Westley without being off balance. So this option does not work. The second option is that he is using Westley's body to extend his base of support. While Fezzik is dragging Westley across the floor, and Westley's skeletal structure could support some of its own weight because of its rigidity, using Westley to extend his base of support would mean he would almost use Westley as a human cane. Fezzik's carrying motions are a clean drag, however, not the staggered pattern of lift and lean (and he would still have to shift his weight to lift anyway). So this second option does not work either. However, by doing this, the ridiculousness of their situation of trying to overtake a castle with only three men, one of whom is incapacitated is furthered.
Another time this rule has been broken is during the battle of wits with Westley and Vizzini. Vizzini has been poisoned, and he is sitting up, leaning slightly forward, when he freezes and falls over sideways. Since he was leaning forward slightly, he should have fallen over forwards, as the motion would have carried him over the base of support at his hips. This was done for comedic effect, as every other time a character falls, they fall in the same direction they are leaning. Westley falls along a forward and backward axis depending on which way his head falls, leading the rest of his body into a fall. Inigo follows suit when he is inebriated. Wherever his head falls, the rest of his body leans in that direction. Vizzini is the only exception to the rule, and this is especially funny because he constantly boasts of his mental acuity, and to see the great know-it-all, Vizzini fall over the wrong way because he just lost the battle of wits makes the scene even more comedic.
So as has been explained, The Princess Bride's main goal is to provide an entertaining, funny story, and if the physics have to be broken (or even kept intact) along the way to do it, then so be it. Through unequal action/reaction forces, the scenes acquire the right kind of emotional tone, whether it be light-hearted fun or a way to build up the tension in a scene. Having an off center of gravity highlights the ridiculousness of two major scenes, keeping with the fun tone of the film.
The Princess Bride is a fantasy film about a young girl named Buttercup, her engagement to Prince Humperdinck and eventual kidnapping. Her childhood love, Westley, rescues her from her kidnappers and later the prince who is determined to marry her for his own gains. It breaks several of the laws of physics, usually for comedic effect. It pokes fun at fairy tale conventions, and doesn't take itself too seriously. And similarly, it pokes fun at physics, which is bent if it furthers the plot or the comedy.
Unequal action and reaction forces occur fairly persistently throughout the film. The most egregious example of this is when Buttercup jumps out of the window several stories up and lands in Fezzik’s arms without knocking him to the ground. Not only that, but there is an intangible amount of squash. When falling, air resistance is working in her favor for the first part as her dress and hair are flying up, meaning the air is pushing up on her. In the second shot, however, the wind is blowing her dress and hair downward for some reason, which means that air is traveling the opposite way, which would end up pushing her down, especially since her orientation in space has stayed the same as the shot is looking up at her towards the night sky.
Another example of unequal action and reaction forces occurs later on in the film when Fezzik, the giant is able to punch down a door, even though the mass and force of his fist are lesser than Inigo's entire body crashing against the door. Inigo, a normal man, runs and throws his whole weight against the door several times and it doesn’t budge, yet when Fezzik punches the door once, fairly slowly, it is knocked down. This might be able to be explained if Fezzik's punch was going at a faster rater, but this is inconsistent with a scene earlier in the movie. During Fezzik’s fight with Wesley, his slowness is emphazised and wesley’s agility is highlighted. This makes sense as a larger mass is more affected by inertia. It takes a larger force to act upon a larger mass. So in the case of the door, It's Inigo's greater speed and larger mass losing out to Fezzik's smaller mass (fist), and slower speed.
However, amongst all this unequal balance in action and reaction forces, there are occasions where the forces actually are equal, and follow proper physics. In the beginning, the Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini's ship is trying to outrun a mysterious ship on the horizon. Vizzini is incredulous at the fact that someone would be able to keep pace with them. However, the ship following them is going significantly faster than they are, and Inigo makes the comment, "Is he using the same wind we are using?" In fact, both ships have similar size sails, meaning they are receiving the same pushing force. However, when the ships dock and the audience finally is able to compare the sizes of the two ships, it is apparent that the ship following them is smaller, explaining its speed. Both had the same force, yet one had a smaller mass, and it requires a greater force for to move a greater mass the same distance and speed as a lesser mass.
In all of these situations, physics is used to increase the comedic value of the scene, whether it was accurate physics or not. In the first example, jumping out of the window is the denouement of the film, and as it ends on a light note, bending the physics keeps the same lighthearted tone. In the second one, even though Inigo should have been able to knock the door down himself, by preventing him, it allowed his character to build up emotion into a wild frenetic state that the audience can laugh at, and then Fezzik's punch brings a release for the audience as that energy is then directed towards Inigo's goal. The final example plays against the expectations of the characters, giving the audience a laugh at Vizzini's ineptitude, showing that the main goal of the film is to create an enjoyable story for the audience, and the physics is kept accurate or bent in order to accommodate that story.
Another rule of physics that is consistently ignored is that one's center of gravity must shift to accommodate carrying an increased weight in order to keep it over one's base of support. One instance of this is when Westley is paralyzed and can't support his own weight, Fezzik is carrying him with one hand as they try to overtake the castle. While this is meant to showcase Fezzik's strength, he lifts Westley straight up from the shoulder, which would shift his center of gravity too far out of his base of support. Two ways to explain this would be if Fezzik was extremely massive in order to compensate for the ability to hold the weight of an adult male, or if he was using Westley's body to extend his base of support.
He can't be extremely massive because earlier in the film Fezzik was wrestling Westley, and he would have crushed Westley if he had been massive enough to lift Westley without being off balance. So this option does not work. The second option is that he is using Westley's body to extend his base of support. While Fezzik is dragging Westley across the floor, and Westley's skeletal structure could support some of its own weight because of its rigidity, using Westley to extend his base of support would mean he would almost use Westley as a human cane. Fezzik's carrying motions are a clean drag, however, not the staggered pattern of lift and lean (and he would still have to shift his weight to lift anyway). So this second option does not work either. However, by doing this, the ridiculousness of their situation of trying to overtake a castle with only three men, one of whom is incapacitated is furthered.
Another time this rule has been broken is during the battle of wits with Westley and Vizzini. Vizzini has been poisoned, and he is sitting up, leaning slightly forward, when he freezes and falls over sideways. Since he was leaning forward slightly, he should have fallen over forwards, as the motion would have carried him over the base of support at his hips. This was done for comedic effect, as every other time a character falls, they fall in the same direction they are leaning. Westley falls along a forward and backward axis depending on which way his head falls, leading the rest of his body into a fall. Inigo follows suit when he is inebriated. Wherever his head falls, the rest of his body leans in that direction. Vizzini is the only exception to the rule, and this is especially funny because he constantly boasts of his mental acuity, and to see the great know-it-all, Vizzini fall over the wrong way because he just lost the battle of wits makes the scene even more comedic.
So as has been explained, The Princess Bride's main goal is to provide an entertaining, funny story, and if the physics have to be broken (or even kept intact) along the way to do it, then so be it. Through unequal action/reaction forces, the scenes acquire the right kind of emotional tone, whether it be light-hearted fun or a way to build up the tension in a scene. Having an off center of gravity highlights the ridiculousness of two major scenes, keeping with the fun tone of the film.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Midterm outline
I still have way more notes than I have included here, and I'm still making sense of all the "data" I've gathered, but this is what I have so far.
Thesis: The Princess Bride breaks several of the laws of physics, usually for comedic effect. It pokes fun at fairy tale conventions, and doesn't take itself too seriously, and so similarly, it pokes fun at physics, which is bent if it furthers the plot or the comedy.
Action/reaction mismatch
· 1) in the beginning, the two ships have the same orientation and approximate size/mass, yet one ship goes significantly faster.
o "is he using the same wind we are using?"
o wind direction stays fairly consistent according to their hair/sail, yet waves go in different directions in many of the shots
· 2) Buttercup jumps out of the window several stories up, and lands in Fezzik’s arms without knocking him to the ground. Intangible amount of squash.
o When falling, air resistance is working in her favor for the first part (dress and hair are flying up), then in the second shot, wind is blowing her dress and hair downward for some reason, which means that air is traveling the opposite way, yet her orientation in space has stayed the same as the shot is looking up at her towards the night sky, so air is forcing her downward
· 3) during Fezzik’s fight with Wesley, his slowness is emphazised and wesley’s agility is highlighted. This makes sense as a larger mass is more affected by inertia.
o Later in the film, Inigo, a normal man, runs and throws his whole weight against the door several times and it doesn’t budge, yet when Fezzik punches the door once, fairly slowly, it is knocked down. More momentum and larger mass vs. smaller mass, slower speed
off-center of gravity
· Fezzik the giant
o during the ascent on a rope, the center of gravity makes sense, as the character’s body shifts to compensate for the weight of the others.
o However, later on, the center of gravity ignored when Fezzik holds a “heavy” rock, yet doesn’t compensate by shifting his weight in the other direction.
o Also later on, Fezzik holds up Wesley (who can’t support his own weight as he is extremely weak) by one arm, straight up and does not shift to compensate for the extra weight.
o He could be possibly quite dense and heavy, since he is a giant, but according to the wrestling scenes, he isn’t quite heavy enough, as he would have crushed Westley completely in a few parts.
· Falling for comedic effect
o Vincini falls sideways, even though at the moment he loses muscle control he is leaning forwards outside his base of support(comedic affect)
o every other time a character falls, it is in the same direction they are leaning (outside their base of support)
§ westley, when he is unable to support his weight
§ Inigo when he is drunk/unconscious
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Homework 05
I am having trouble with tracker. I can't get it to open any of my files. I tried it on 3 different computers, and 2 operating systems. I also tried a .mov straight from the camera and a .mov from iMovie, and nothing works. I don't really know what else to do.
Here is my jumping reference video.
Here is my jumping reference video.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Homework 02: Mini-portfolio
I'm a Graphic Design Major in the BFA with a year until graduation. I've taken BIO 21, and Nexus of Art and Science. As for art classes, a whole bunch: ART 12, 13, 14, 24, 26, 100W, 151; DSGD 99, 102, 103a, 104, 105, 106; ARTH 70b, 72, 176a, 191a; PHOT 40. Right now I'm taking DSGD 103b, 107a, PHOT 112, and of course, ART 123.
Here's some stuff I've done:
This video is from one of my favorite bands, Franz Ferdinand, brought to you by Vevo on youtube. This has a bit of animation in it (as terrible as some of it is), so I figured it was somewhat relevant.
Here's some stuff I've done:
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| ART 151 |
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| DSGD 83 |
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| DSGD 183 |
This video is from one of my favorite bands, Franz Ferdinand, brought to you by Vevo on youtube. This has a bit of animation in it (as terrible as some of it is), so I figured it was somewhat relevant.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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