Term Paper: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Second Term Paper: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

The physics in media entertainment has been done more inaccurately than people may think. Some movies, television shows, and video games often seem fake and unbelievable because a lack of physics was applied to help make environments or character movements convincing. The principle of action and reaction, for every action force there was an equal reaction force in the opposite direction, was one of the various physics concepts that have often been inaccurately demonstrated in the media. The film Space Jam, the video game, Grand Theft Auto III, and the animated cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants, all proved that the physics principle of action and reaction has often been demonstrated inaccurately throughout media entertainment.

The film, Space Jam had demonstrated that physics of action and reaction could often be done inaccurately throughout film entertainment. During the movie, Space Jam, Michael Jordan inaccurately demonstrated action and reaction throughout an overly exaggerated half court dunk that appeared very unrealistic and unnatural. The action of this cinematic moment was the successful half court dunk. This action was unrealistic for the following reasons: humans cannot create enough running force to successfully make a half court dunk, humans cannot use slow motion for having a jump hang time of over five seconds, and human anatomy would not allow Jordan’s arm to overstretch like a rubber band to reach objects that were too far away. The reaction to Jordan dunk occurred at the same time of the dunk by gravity, and two giant aliens pulling down on Jordan’s legs to prevent him from dunking the basketball. Although the reaction force of gravitational pull hardly affected Jordan’s jump force, this dunk still demonstrated inaccurate physics through the reaction of the aliens pulling on Jordan’s legs. The giant aliens pulling on Jordan’s legs made the jump inaccurate because in reality the aliens’ force would have been greater than Jordan’s jump force and would have made Jordan fall onto the ground quickly. In reality the aliens’ force would have caused Jordan to miss his half court dunk. Jordan’s slow motion half court dunk proved that Space Jam inaccurately demonstrated the physics of action and reaction because this dunk could never exist in reality.

The video game, Grand Theft Auto III also proved that principle of action and reaction was often shown inaccurately in video games. During Grand Theft Auto III’s game play inaccurate action and reaction occurred through a character getting hit by a speeding car and not getting seriously injured. The action of this car accident was the force of a speeding car driving front on into a character that was standing innocently in the street.  The reaction occurred simultaneously by the character getting hit by the speeding car, dramatically falling, and not getting seriously injured. The inertia of the speeding car created a greater force then the character could handle and launched the character into the car’s windshield. This action then resulted by the character reacting by falling several yards into the air for over five seconds until the character finally hit the ground with no serious injuries.  The car reacted by continuing to drive fast, not stopping, and having no indents or damages from this car accident. Inaccurate physics occurred during this action and reaction by the character spending too much time falling in the air and falling too far away after being hit by the car. In reality the character that was hit by the car would be in the hospital, the character would have damaged the car windshield, and the character would have quickly hit the ground by following a path of action. Here the action of a character being hit by a car was accurate, but the over exaggerated reaction appeared fake.

The television show, Spongebob Squarepants, proved that the physics of action and reaction has often appeared inaccurate and fake on television. The character, Spongebob Squarepants, was able to demonstrate inaccurate action and reaction by flipping and catching hamburger meat patties with a spatula while cooking burgers under the ocean. In this situation, Spongebob’s action was picking up a hamburger meat patty with a spatula and tossing it into the air. The simultaneous reaction from Spongebob’s action allowed the patty to naturally and successfully fall back onto Spongebob’s hamburger cooking grill. Although gravitational pull had very little effect on the hamburger meats’ motion, the inertia of the meat patty compelled the meat patty to run out of ascending momentum, and fall back onto the grill after reaching an apex. Spongebob’s hamburger flipping action and reaction proved that this television show had inaccurate physics. Since the environment in this show took place under the ocean, in reality it would be impossible to throw, flip, and catch an object while deep under the ocean. In reality the ocean water would cause the meat patty to become soggy, break into pieces, and instantly float to the ocean’s surface. It would be impossible to cook, throw, and flip hamburger meat under water because the ocean water’s current would control the action of an object’s motion and the weight of the object would determine the reaction of it sinking or floating underwater. Although the action and reaction of flipping hamburger meat was unconvincing, the humor of cooking food underwater compensates for having unbelievable physics.

The media has broken the action and reaction principle with inaccurate physics quite often by exaggerating and creating motion that does not exist in reality. Since films, video games, and television shows break the logic of action and reaction, the physics in these sources of entertainment often appear fake and unconvincing. The film Space Jam, the video game, Grand Theft Auto III, and the animated cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants, all proved that the physics principle of action and reaction has often been demonstrated inaccurately throughout media entertainment. Films, video games and television shows can only get away with inaccurate action and reaction if the action and reaction was broken for entertaining the audience and progressing story.  Although humorous gags, fun game play, and story can compensate for having inaccurate physics, cinematic fiction should be based on believable action and reaction so motion does not appear fake and unconvincing.

Outline of the Second Term Paper: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

The Outline of the Second Term Paper: Scientific Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Introduction

A.   How the physics of action and reaction can become inaccurately applied demonstrated throughout media entertainment.

B.    Thesis: The film Space Jam, the video game, Grand Theft Auto III, and the animated cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants, all proved that the physics principle of action and reaction has often been demonstrated inaccurately throughout media entertainment.

Body Paragraphs

A.   Space Jam Michael Jordan Dunk

a.     Action: Jordan successfully dunked a basketball from half way across the basketball court.

b.     Reaction: At the same time, gravity, and two giant aliens were pulling down on Jordan’s legs to prevent him from dunking the basketball.

c.     Inaccurate physics: The reaction that occurred simultaneously with jump was too strong and would have made Jordan fall onto the ground quickly.

                                                        i.     Jordan spends too much time in the air, jumps too far, and stretches too long for the dunk.

B.    Grand Theft Auto III character gets hit by a car.

a.     Action: Speeding car drove front on into the character as the character was unknowingly running into the speeding car.

b.     Reaction:  Simultaneously the character ran into the speeding car. The inertia of the speeding car created a greater force then the character could handle and launched the character into the car windshield made the character fall several yards into the air for over five seconds until the character finally hit the ground.

                                                        i.     Inaccurate Physics: Character spent too much time falling in the air and flew too far until finally hitting the ground.

C.    Spongebob flips and catches hamburger meat patties with a spatula while under the ocean.

a.     Action: Picking up a hamburger meat patty with a spatula and tossing it into the air.

b.     Reaction: Gravity causes the meat patty to successfully fall onto Spongebob’s hamburger cooking grill.

                                                        i.     Inaccurate Physics: The water pressure, and gravity effects of flipping meat under the ocean would cause the meat to float to the oceans surface drift away due to the ocean’s current.

Conclusion

A. The media has broken action and reaction principle with inaccurate physics.

B. Thesis: The film Space Jam, the video game, Grand Theft Auto III, and the animated cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants, all proved that the physics principle of action and reaction has often been demonstrated inaccurately throughout media entertainment.

C. The media can get away with inaccurate physics because this was done for the right reasons by wanting to entertain the audience and progress story. 

Reverse Video Reference

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

This video, The Hotdog  Drop, described the process of a brick drop falling in motion, but instead of a brick I used a magazine cut out of a hotdog. Even though a hotdog  may have slightly different physics then the physics I created in this animation, having this hotdog emulate the physics of a brick made this animation believable. I planned out my animation by drawing dots and arcs on the same wall that I shot my animation for creating believable timing and paths of action. I created this animation by cutting out paper from magazines, taping the magazine paper to a wall, and moving the paper manually for each frame. I used the program, SAM Animation, for taking photos, flipping through frames, and for exporting my stop motion animation. This was a fun process and I hope I can do more stop motion animation soon.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

All successful animated movements needed a foundation of physics for creating both realistic and physic breaking motion. The laws of Physics were essential for animation because the laws of physics were a tool for understanding how objects exist and function in reality.  Incorporating the laws of physics in animated films has allowed each scene to always remain believable. In the animated film, Tangled, the characters can successfully break the laws of physics by imitating the physics of other existing objects. 

Throughout the film, Tangled, the character, Repunzel, can break the laws of physics with her hair because her hair can imitate the physics of rope. Throughout Tangled, animators’ emulated Repunzel’s hair as rope when Repunzel used it for the following movements: climbing up a tall tower, making her hair a pulley for elevating herself off the ground to paint a wall, and tying up Flynn Rider to keep him from moving out of a chair. These rope movements proved that animators made Repunzel successfully break the laws of physics because in reality humans cannot lift heavy objects with their hair. Humans would injure themselves trying to lift heavy objects with their hair.  Having Repunzel’s hair imitate the physics of rope worked for making believable animation because in reality rope can be strong enough to lift humans and other heavy weight.

During Tangled the horse, Maximus, successfully broke the laws of physics by emulating the mannerisms of a tiny dog. During the scene when Maximus and Flynn Rider were fighting over Rider’s satchel, Maximus was compelled to successfully walk across a thin tree branch. Maximus’ weight broke the laws of physics because in reality Maximus’ horse weight was too heavy to be held by the small tree branch and would have caused the branch to break instantly.   Even though Maximus evenly distributed his weight on the branch, Maximus’ weight was still too much for the branch to hold. Having Maximus imitate the physics of a tiny dog worked for making believable animation because in reality a tiny dog might be able to walk across the tree branch due to the small dog weighing less than the tree branch’s weight capacity.  Although reality does not allow horses and dogs to have the anatomy or balance for walking on small tree branches, the comic relief of having a big animal imitate a small dog and the story progression of making Maximus retrieve a satchel from a tree both worked for making Maximus’ tree movements convincing.

Another way that Maximus’ imitation of tiny dog moments and tiny dog personality worked for breaking the laws of physics included Maximus’ capability of being able to playfully sit like a tiny dog. Maximus’ abilities of being able to playfully sit like a tiny dog broke the laws of physics because in reality a horse’s weight, mass, and anatomy would make this physically impossible. Although Maximus broke the laws of physics by being able to sit like a dog, the humor of a horse imitating the mannerisms and physics of a small dog worked for making Maximus’ movements believable for an audience’s enjoyment.

Throughout Tangled funny characters broke the laws of physics by instantly recovering from their injuries through imitating the physics of rubber. During a bar fight Repunzel forcefully hit a tough bar thug in the head with a heavy piece of wood. The tough bar thug remained unharmed because he emulated the movement of rubber. This blow to the head created humor and did not cause a serious injury because the exaggeration of the tough bar thug’s personality made this moment comical. In reality the force of gravity, the force Repunzel exerted on the piece of wood, the weight of the wood, and the inertia of a heavy piece of wood moving in motion would make the bar thug unconscious, and unable to recover quickly from such a forceful blow to the head. Although the squash and stretch of the bar thug’s head, the slapstick humor of hitting someone in the head, the fast movement of the wood, and the bar thug emulating the physics of rubber all made this blow to the head believable, in reality the bar thug would slowly recover from this potential head injury.

Flynn Rider was another example of how a funny character can break the laws of physics by emulating the physics of rubber. During a wild tug of war fight between Repunzel and Maximus, Repunzel and Maximus made Rider’s body stretch to unnatural proportions by Repunzel and Maximus pulling Rider’s body back and forth.  After the tug or war was over, Rider’s overstretched body recovered instantly and was unharmed as he compressed back to his regular body proportions. Rider’s body may have also been left unharmed because his boots and clothing were being pulled and not his anatomy. Since Rider’s body appeared stretched to bone breaking limits and was left injured, this caused Rider to break the laws of physics. Rider emulating the physics of rubber, Rider’s funny personality, and the humor of seeing Rider’s body overstretched made the overstretching of Rider’s body believable.

In animation the laws of physics have been just as important as the need for creating believable motion. When an animated character clearly emulated the physics of another existing object to do non-realistic behavior the animated character had broken the laws of physics. Animators must know and apply the laws of physics at all times unless the laws of physics were clearly broken for a reason. In the animated film, Tangled, the characters successfully broke the laws of physics by imitating the physics of other existing objects.  Emulating objects such as rope, rubber, and a small dog improved Tangled because this proved that even when the laws of physics were broken, using the laws of physics from another referenced object kept the movie humorous and believable. Breaking the laws of physics in a convincing manner made Tangled an entertaining film because this developed the film’s story and made the likable characters relatable to the audience.

Term Paper Outline: Tangled and The Laws of Physics

Laws of Physics Outline: Tangled

Introduction

A.     Computer Animated feature film: Tangled

B.     Thesis: In the animated film, Tangled, characters can break the laws of physics by imitating the physics of other existing objects.

Body Paragraphs

A. Rapunzel can break the laws of physics with hair because her strong hair can imitate the physics of a rope.

1. Rapunzel’s hair was used as a rope for climbing a tall tower.

2.     Repunzel used her hair as a pulley rope for elevating herself from the ground to paint a wall.

3. Rapunzel used her hair as a rope for tying Flynn to a chair.

4. In reality humans would get hurt, lose hair, and lose balance by trying to lift heavy objects with their hair.

5. In reality rope can be strong enough to lift heavy weight.

            B. The horse broke the laws of physics by emulating the mannerisms and physics of a tiny dog.

1.Since a small dog may be light enough to walk on a tree branch, the animated horse could walk on a tree branch.

a. The horse’s weight was too heavy for the branch and in reality the branch would have broken instantly.

b. Dogs and horses cannot balance or walk on a branch.

                                    2. The horse could playfully sit like a dog, but in reality a horse’s weight, mass, and anatomy made this impossible.

C.     Funny characters can break the laws of physics and instantly recover from injuries by imitating the physics of rubber.

1. A bar thug was hit in the head with a frying pan unharmed because he emulated the movement of rubber.

2. Flynn was unnaturally stretched during a tug of war fight and was left uninjured. His body emulated the physics of rubber.

            a. Contradiction: Flynn’s body may have been left unharmed because his boots and clothing were being pulled and not his anatomy. The physics of rubber still made this tug of war scene and stretching recovery believable.

Conclusion

                        A. When an animated character clearly emulates the physics of another existing object to do non-realistic behavior, the animated character has broken the laws of physics.

B. Animators must know and apply the laws of physics at all times unless the laws of physics were clearly broken for a reason.

C. Breaking the laws of physics in a convincing manner made Tangled an entertaining film because it developed the film’s story and made the likable characters relatable to the audience.

Video Analysis of Path of Action