Building a Scene in Maya

Scene:

One-point lighting:

Two-point lighting:

Three-point lighting:

Second Term Paper: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

The (real world) laws of physics are frequently bent or manipulated in the world of animation, often times for comical effect or emphasis. One particular law that can be observed in many animations is Newton’s Third Law, or also known as the Action-Reaction Principle. This law states that for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction; or, in other words, the forces enacted by two bodies on each other are always equal and directed in opposite directions. A typical example of this principle is implemented when people push their hands against a wall: The force they would feel against their hands as they push is the reaction force of the wall, which is pushing back on them. They would only feel as much force as they exert. If there was no reaction force towards our pushing hands, we would move straight through the wall! Although not realistic, it is an entertaining thought as it goes against our everyday (perhaps mundane) experiences, which is a quality that animation films such as One Piece: Curse of the Sacred Sword, Kung Fu Panda, and Despicable Me try to invoke. Therefore, this paper intends to analyze these three films, focusing on the incorrect application of the action-reaction principle and their possible reasons for doing so.

One Piece: Curse of the Sacred Sword follows another journey set out by the Straw Hat Pirates who are seeking to unveil the secrets behind the Shichiseiken, a sacred sword considered to be the world’s most beautiful and valuable treasure, although it is surrounded by a deadly curse. Like in most Japanese animations, the laws of physics are defied profusely in the world of One Piece, obeying few if any. This is due to the fact that it is based in a fairy-tale like world, where magic, wonder, and super-human powers are the norm. The film creators distort and manipulate our perceptions of physics to emphasize this fantastical setting as well as the adventurous, comical tone of the film. Newton’s Third Law, therefore, is employed to this effect. The specific scene I chose to examine comes from the beginning of the adventure in which Luffy (hero character who wears a straw hat and red vest) is running after a girl, while his crewmate, Usopp, rides on his back, holding for dear life.

 

Newton’s Third Law holds that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, yet in this scene, Luffy hardly shows signs of the reaction forces that should be acting against his actions. He is not only running but also jumping from place to place with extra weight (two times his weight, no less!) on his back, but he moves as if he is weightless, ignoring the forces of gravity and Usopp’s weight acting upon him. I would like to focus on Luffy’s jump at around 00:07s in particular. Here, he seems to jump high, or at least high and far enough to get across a stream that is at least 6 feet wide. Although he exerts little effort (hardly a crouch) or pushing action on the ground, thus resulting in a short push time, he jumps quite high based on the distance he is able to cross. His applied force and push time is inconsistent with the scale of his jump; or, in other words, he inputs little force of action, yet the force of reaction (the ground’s upward push, in this case) is so great.

Furthermore, Usopp’s weight, which is another force acting upon Luffy, seems to be completely ignored. As Luffy jumps upward, Usopp’s weight should be reacting to this jumping force and pushing back on Luffy equally, which should not only slow down Luffy but also lessen the height at which he jumps. This is similar to the example of pushing a wall mentioned above. However, the action-reaction principle is not obeyed here seeing that Luffy jumps freely and weightlessly, as if Usopp was nothing more than a thin scarf. Nonetheless, this defiance of Newton’s law is used effectively to portray Luffy’s super-human strength and create a fun, humorous scene, which I argue is the point of any good animation.

Another film that plays with this principle is the notable computer graphic animation Kung Fu Panda. The film tells the story of Po, a lazy fat panda who trains under Master Shifu and transforms to become a Kung Fu Master that saves the Valley of Peace from the villain, Tai Lung. The universe of Kung Fu Panda, while masks the physics of our world, bends some fundamental principles. The effect of this allows audiences to believe to a certain extent the reality of that universe (the plausibility of animals actually talking, moving like humans, and performing kung fu), while maintaining the entertainment value. Often, the kung fu warriors perform with exaggerated movements, or lack thereof, which challenges the boundaries of our perceived physics. Not only is this entertaining but also serves to highlight their physical abilities. Newton’s Third Law is applied extensively for this effect. One of many scenes that exemplify the bending of this law is the intense fighting sequence between Shifu and Tai Lung.

Tai Lung has the ability to exert a great amount of force, as made evident by his big landing that causes the earth to crack. However, the problem of action-reaction occurs right after, when he lifts a giant piece of concrete (which is also portrayed unrealistically, but that is a separate issue) and propels it towards Shifu. He exerts his great force on the large rock, which is arguably larger and heavier than him, yet there is no sign of reaction to the rock’s force back on Tai Lung. He lands back on the ground, not moving away from his original position. If Newton’s law were to actually apply, Tai Lung would recoil quite a distance (considering the distance the rock travels, which is also suggestive of the large force he exerted) in reaction to the equal force the rock would exert back. This lack of recoil is also observed in Shifu in this same scene. With Tai Lung’s force enacted on the rock in mind, it is counterintuitive that Shifu stays in place when he applies his own great force to hit and shatter the rock to pieces. In reality, if he had that great amount of force to counterattack the force of the propelling rock, it would also be equally reflected in the rock’s reaction force, which would in effect propel him backwards some. Alternatively, entertaining the idea that he actually had the strength and ability to stay in place, the ground should at least reflect his reaction to the rock’s force by cracking in around him, similar to what occurred when Tai Lung landed on the ground. Although unrealistic, the lack of reactions by these kung fu masters is done on purpose to emphasize their compelling strength and physical abilities. They make what we would find challenging look easy, highlighting the (cinematic) fact that nothing shakes them. The action-reaction principle is defied in a similar fashion throughout the film to create this effect.  
    
     The final example of incorrect application of Newton’s Third Law is examined in another computer graphic film, Despicable Me. The film features Gru, an “evil” thief who makes several failed attempts at capturing the moon, a dream of his since childhood. Realizing he needs his archenemy’s shrink ray, he adopts three little girls to sell the enemy cookies in attempt to distract him and steal the weapon. In the end, he realizes the importance of family and abandons his attempts. The particular scene I decided to examine appears as the opening. When a family tours the pyramids of Egypt, their mischievous son climbs and plays on top of a construction site from which he falls and lands on, as it turns out, a blow-up (or inflated) replica of a pyramid.

After the boy lands on the fake pyramid, it bends inward, taking in the boy’s force, and then reacts by pushing the force back, which causes the boy to propel into the air. While the action-reaction is present, the application of the forces is incorrect and fairly exaggerated. When the pyramid reacts to the boy’s force, the boy flies too great of a distance in the air, far past the original height from which he fell. Newton’s Third Law supports that every action yields an equal reaction; therefore, the force the boy enacts on the pyramid should be reflected equally by the pyramid’s reactive force on the boy. In other words, the boy should be pushed, at the most, to the height of his original position, but factoring in the force of gravity, air resistance and such, this would still be pushing the boundary. Furthermore, the boy is pushed into the air at too fast a speed, which is not reflective of the force or speed with which he hit the pyramid. Such a great and fast push would suggest that the pyramid has another force acting upon it, which it uses against the boy's force. However, the pyramid is inanimate, stationery, and has no such extra force. In reality, the boy would not fly so high and fast in the air, nor would he be projected all the way to his parents' position. This exaggeration of the action-reaction principle creates interest and humor, illustrating the comical aspect of animation.

     In conclusion, many animation films, such as the above mentioned, often defy and manipulate the laws of physics, such as Newton's Third Law. The proposed physics in these animation works challenges our perceived knowledge of physics, which in effect creates attention-grabbing sequences. Such defiance of our world's natural physics is utilized to exaggerate and emphasize actions, while creating an enjoyable and comical tone that almost anyone can enjoy, if not appreciate. This illustrates the flexibility of animation and the effects of a creative mind, proposing that perhaps not every action yields an equal and opposite reaction afterall... in cinematic fiction, that is.


{EDIT}
Notes:
     It may be observed that I deviated from my outline. Besides rearranging the order of the main points (which was due to feeling), I chose a different scene or example from Despicable Me to analyze. I had originally planned to analyze the action-reaction in the scene where Gru shoots a ray gun at a carnival. I had argued that Gru should have showed signs of recoil after shooting large energy out from the gun. However, after further speculation and online research, I realized that it is difficult to determine whether or not ray guns actually produce recoil. Since they produce rays, lasers, or some form of light, some claim that they do not shoot out mass, and thus, would not produce enough momentum and force for a recoil; therefore, Gru's reaction, or lack thereof, would hypothetically be correct. I do not have to the knowledge to challenge the validity of such claims and I am not familiar with guns, let alone ray/laser guns, so I thought it was too tricky a point to tackle, thus I decided to look for another scene.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

I.          Introduction

A.  Laws of physics defied in the world of animation.

B.  Specific law that is often bent, for example, is Newton’s Third Law, or also known as the action-reaction principle. Explain law and provide a brief (correct) example.

C.  The three animation films that will be used to exemplify the incorrect application of this principle are:

1.    Despicable Me

2.    One Piece: Curse of the Sacred Sword (Anime film)

3.    Kung Fu Panda

II.                Body

A.    Despicable Me

1.   Brief introduction of the film and a comment on the physics of its world.

2.   Specific scene that illustrates incorrect application of the action-reaction principle: Gru shoots a large laser/ray gun at the carnival, yet shows no sign of reaction, or recoil, to the force of the gun.

3.   Explain why incorrect in terms of our real world and what would likely happen in reality.

B.     One Piece: Curse of the Sacred Sword

1.   Brief introduction of the movie and a comment on the physics of its world.

2.   Specific scene: Luffy runs and jumps with Usopp on his back as they chase after a girl, but Luffy jumps and lands too easily without reaction to the various forces acting upon him—such as Usopp’s weight and the ground.

3.   Explain why incorrect and what should actually happen in the real world.

C.     Kung Fu Panda

1.   Brief introduction and a comment of the physics of its world.

2.   Scene selection: During the fighting sequence between Shifu and Tai Lung, Tai Lung propels a giant piece of concrete towards Shifu. Both characters show a lack of reaction to their own actions as well as actions enacted by the other:

                                   i.      Tai Lung’s lack of reaction when he kicks the slab of concrete.

                                  ii.      Shifu’s lack of reaction when he hits the concrete.

1.   Lack of recoil when he exerts a force of energy against the concrete

                                 iii.      Alternatively, the ground’s lack of reaction to Shifu’s force or weight once he hits or comes into contact with the force of the concrete.

3.   Explain why incorrect and hypothesize what would likely happen in the real world.

III.             Conclusion

a.      Restate thesis

b.      Summation of points

c.      Possible interpretations for bending the law of physics

Character Animation

Mickey and Ball Stop Motion

I decided I wanted to use my sister's Mickey Mouse key chain figurine since he was somewhat posable. I first  created a storyboard to layout my plan and scenes for the stop motion. Then I collected my props and materials, which included clay (for the ball), needles (to hold up the ball in "midair"), camcorder, double-sided tape (to hold mickey steady), etc. When it came to animating Mickey, I just took shots as I moved him little by little. To be honest, I moved him in the only natural way I thought he could move, being made of rubbery material. I tried to take many shots to create a smoother movement. As for the ball, I used a video of a bouncing ball and used Tracker to track the movements. I then used it as reference and measured out the spacings and such on the background of my set. After collecting enough photos (some 300), I used MonkeyJam, an animation software, and clipped the photos together to form the animation. However, as some photos were off, I had to go back, rearrange, edit, and delete some photos. Editing took longer than I anticipated, but it was probably due to my poor planning and photo-capturing skills.

Below are some pictures during the stop motion process:

These are the shapes of the falling ball at various stages/times, which I prepared before hand. I thought it would be easier to have multiple balls made rather than shaping one ball as I go along.

  
This is Mickey as well as the needle (with thread attached, only in this photo) just to his left side. I used the needle to hold up the ball.

This is basically a zoomed image of my set.