Outline for the Third Term Paper

Introduction:

A: Special effects for explosions of organic matter

B: Both Raiders of the Lost Ark ‘s “exploding head” and Galaxy Quest’s inside-out pig lizard use similar yet different techniques to achieve a common effect

Body:
1.      Raiders of the Lost Ark: the exploding head

a.       Practical special effect coupled with video speed alteration

b.      The head: a model composed with layers of various materials to imitate human flesh and bone

c.       The explosion appears to be slowed down; this could be because the model itself was built in another scale, or to appear eerily ethereal (or, possibly, both)

d.      Video composite overlay of other special effects such as fire, lightening, and ghostly beings 
2.      Galaxy Quest: exploding pig lizard

a.       Another practical effect

b.      It appears that various sections of the model have different functions pre-explosion

c.       The explosion of the model itself is seemingly conducted by using high-pressure steam to launch bits of pig-flesh all over

d.      Solely practical effects—no digital effects seem to have been used 
3.      Comparison between the two scenes

a.       Both scenes use real-life, layered, exploding models to create the special effect

b.      The choice of materials and presentation utilized in Raiders of the Lost Ark do not stand as well over time, yet it is still enough to instill a cheesy creepy feeling in the audience

c.       On the other hand, Galaxy Quest’s exploding pig-lizard, thanks to its nicely-presented is decently convincing and thoroughly disgusting; It still holds up pretty well today

Conclusion:

1.      Despite having little to no computer assistance in creating special effects, films were still able to hold their own and create absolutely unforgettable scenes with what they were able to gather based on their budget

Stop-Motion Character Animation

It's curtains for you! (Or, rather, blinds.)

For my stop-motion character animation project, I picked a window as my character at the end of the day when the lights go out and the blinds come down. I cut out facial features from black construction paper and taped them to the window. It was fun planning the facial expressions as they reacted to the changes in the environment. The world of stop motion is strange and fascinating. I'd love to spend more time in it soon!

Reverse Video Reference

This assignment was a very fun, interactive take on studying the subtleties of acting, character, and body motion... and a great way to get in some exercise! 

Clip A

Clip B

Clip C

Clip D

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

            The art of filmmaking is beloved for its ability to tell a story grounded in realism with a dash of something extraordinary. That being said, there are some aspects of this visual art form that often, sometimes without intention, push the limits of what is realistically possible, even going so far as to break the laws of physics themselves! One example of this is how people and objects fail to respond with the proper type of reaction to opposing forces. While this can be attributed to a production oversight, it is also used a necessary means to project a specific type of emotional response or feeling. Whatever the case may be, films have smashed the action/reaction rule of physics in various ways.

In Disney’s 1997 animated feature film Hercules tells the story of the titular hero with incomparable strength from Greek mythology. There is a critical scene towards the end of the film where Hercules fights one of the titans that poignantly illustrates the fallacious use of the action/reaction rule. The cyclops is already portrayed as a monumentally huge, incredibly strong creature that can level buildings and smash stone with little to no effort whatsoever. Hercules, weakened for the time being and pointedly mortal, withstands the cyclops blows with nothing more than some bruising despite being kicked, thrown, and bounced around by the titan. Although Hercules has some physical reactions during the fight, such as stumbling when prodded, flattening against a smashed wall, and collapsing after being slammed into the ground, they are severe understatements as to what would actual happen if this scenario were to occur in the real world. At another point in the scene, the hero is even lifted by the enormous titan at one point from the ground all the way up to his single-eyed head, but Hercules displays little to no visible reaction to the forces that he would experience while moving such a huge distance so quickly. The fight wraps up with Hercules using a regular-sized rope to entangle the titan’s gargantuan legs and pull him to the ground and over a cliff. Not only does the cyclops' inability to bust through a relatively tiny strand of rope contradict his previously-displayed strength, but also Hercules would not be able to pull the cyclops down to the ground without his iconic power. Although enjoyable, the scene is riddled with all kinds of completely inaccurate interpretations of how the laws of action/reaction work between two characters of hugely different sizes.

Warner Brother’s third installment of the Harry Potter series, The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), is filled with a wonderful amount of impossible, awe-inspiring physics, but there is one scene in particular that has some delightfully peculiar yet entirely incorrect interactions with the action/reaction rule. The Knight Bus, a magical triple-decked public transportation vehicle with the ability to dodge the laws of physics just as smoothly as it navigates the Britain's traffic patterns, is filled with three-stories worth of inconsistent physics fallacies. Harry is repeatedly shown to react strongly to the sudden accelerations and extremely exaggerated stops, yet the other characters riding along show little to no response to the immense amount of forces that should be altering their weight and center of gravity. Despite being filled with rolling beds for long-distance travelers, these wheeled sleeping arrangements move with a temperamental consistency, only responding with the bare minimum amount of motion to prove that they are not simply nailed to the floor. Perhaps the hardest sell on the bizarrely inconsistent laws of action/reaction so laxly imposed on this bus is the mouthy co-pilot, a shrunken head dangling from a string, is not influenced by the bus’s motion at all! As egregious as this particular error is, the most consistent rule break remains the reaction to the centripetal and centrifugal forces of the vehicle—although the opportunity to impose these forces among the characters riding onboard is abundant, it is strangely non-existent.

Perhaps the film that tackles the action/reaction law with the greatest inaccuracy is another Disney animated film, The Emperor’s New Groove (2000). The heart-warming friendship that blossoms between Kuzco and Pacha is founded upon a sea of physics lies as the characters snap through the laws of action/reaction as quickly as the rope and wood bridge upon which they were standing. They not only have an unusual amount of unrealistic hang time in the air before eventually succumbing to the pull of gravity’s forces, the bridge beneath them also breaks with a sluggish irreverence to the laws of physics. What happens next sets the stage for one of the most memorable parts of the film—the soon-to-be-buddies are crammed at the bottom of two tight opposing cliff faces and work together to return to the top by pushing up against each other’s back to walk up the walls. Pacha very clearly weighs more than Kuzco, but the latter is not shown to compensate for this by pushing harder against both Pacha and the cliff—he appears much more neutral here than he should in this scenario. There are also a couple instances where Kuzco physically panics and without a questionable doubt fails to provide the same abysmal amount of force previously needed to support himself and Pacha. As inaccurate as that is, the two characters eventually return to solid ground by impossibly riding a stream of real, flying bats—it practically goes without saying that there would be nowhere near enough action to support that type of a reaction! To wrap up the scene, Kuzco catches Pacha in mid-air before swinging him to safety after the patch of ground he was standing on crumbles into the alligator-river infested river below. Again, this series of actions are presented in such a way that they fail to justify the amount of weight Kuzco would have to carry, if he could at all!

As plentiful as these examples of incorrect representations of the action/reaction rule, they only scratch the surface of physics fallacies found in these films alone. Even though they break the rules of reality quite generously, that does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing. As shown in Hercules, it is a perfect example of how the hero can get out of a situation that is literally impossible so that the audience can still cheer for him. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Knight Bus scene still conveys the proper amount of quirkiness needed without creating an overly-stimulating, cluttered scene. The comedy of The Emperor’s New Groove would be greatly dampened (perhaps even non-existent) if it was bound to the realism of the actual world.  Clearly, the act of bending, breaking, or completely demolishing the rules of physics certainly has the ability to add even more excitement and fantastic flare than it detracts.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction? Action/Reaction

I. Introduction:
            a. Sources for each of the scenes: Hercules, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Emperor’s New Groove
            b. The laws regarding action/reaction are severely broken in film for various reasons

II. Body
                         Hercules—cyclops fight

a.       The cyclops is already portrayed as a monumentally huge, incredibly strong creature that can level buildings and smash stone with little to no effort whatsoever

b.       Hercules, weakened and pointedly mortal, impossibly withstands the cyclops blows with nothing more than some bruising despite being kicked, thrown, and bounced by the titan

c.       Although Hercules has some physical reactions to (stumbles when prodded, flattens against a smashed wall, collapses after slamming into the ground), they are nowhere near as impactful as they should be

d.       The demi-god is even lifted by the enormous titan at one point from the ground all the way up to his head, but with no visible reaction to the forces that he would experience after moving such a huge distance so quickly

e.       Hercules finishes off the cyclops by entangling his legs in a regular-sized rope; not only should the titan be able to bust through the rope, but also Hercules would not be able to pull the cyclops down to the ground without his powers
 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban—Knight Bus scene

a.       Merry-go-round, teeter totter, and swings all move independently without any explicable means (“ominous gust of wind” isn’t a good enough reason for the laws of physics); playground equipment can still be seen moving in the background even after the Knight Bus shows up and the wind has died down

b.       Harry reacts strongly to the bus’s sudden accelerations and extremely exaggerated stops—yet the other characters do not

c.       The talking shrunken head dangling from a string at the front of the bus hardly responds to the bus’s motion at all!

d.       Even the rolling bed Harry’s sitting on does not move as consistently as he does

e.       Centripetal and centrifugal forces—all the passengers, including Harry, do not respond much, if at all, to these external forces

3.                                    The Emperor’s New Groove—Kuzco saves Pacha

a.       Filled with inaccurate interpretations of the laws of physics, but what a fun movie!

b.       After fighting in the dangling strands of a rope bridge, Kuzco and Pacha fall after an unusually long air hang-time when the whole structure breaks in a delightfully cartoony, far from realistic way

c.       Both characters are wedged in a tightened gap at the bottom of two opposing cliff faces—Pacha weighs considerably more than Kuzco, yet Kuzco is not shown to compensate for this by either pushing harder against the cliff face or Pacha—he appears much more neutral than he should

d.       The entire heartwarming, character-building sequence of Kuzco and Pacha working together to climb up the cliff is riddled with incorrectly-used action/reaction principles; Kuzco flails more than once yet is somehow able to still support Pacha

e.       The buddies finally make it up to solid ground by riding a stream of bats escaping their cave—not enough of an action to prompt that kind of a reaction

f.        But the solid ground was a trick! Kuzco grabs Pacha at the last second after his tiny patch of cliff crumbles into the alligator-infested river below—and Kuzco is miraculously able to catch, swing, and throw Pacha without any limitations based on the latter’s aforementioned weight

III. Conclusion

a.       Inaccurate portrayals of the laws of physics, particularly action/reaction action is not always detrimental

b.       It can actually add to the fantastic element of visual storytelling