Building a Scene in Maya

Extra Credit:

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

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction.

Linear momentum, when applied to animation or film, tends to be a very inconsistent concept. Few audiences would watch a film where their favorite superhero becomes a flesh colored puddle on concrete after they land. While the conservation of momentum is important to mechanics and construction of vehicles in reality, the limitations that it places over reality can prevent fantastical motion and action. Many instances of the inconsistency around the conservation of momentum involve falling and the impacts it has the human body, namely how injured any particular character could be past impact.   

            One set of films that violates the realistic constraints of linear momentum, particularly when applied to the human body, is The Matrix Trilogy. The cyberpunk action films consistently break physics, more often to increase the tension of the moment. One of the most blatant examples of this happens at the end of the second film, The Matrix: Reloaded. Neo, having learned Trinity is in mortal danger, flies through the city in order to save her. As she falls from a building, Neo catches her and flies away. In terms of cinematic action, the series of events seems fairly benign and simple, however when one adds the physics of the actors’ movements, the outcome becomes far more unrestrained. In this series of actions, Trinity is in free fall from approximately three-fourths the height of a skyscraper (she is also firing guns at an Agent, but for the physics purposes that means very little). While Trinity falls, Neo flies through the city at a breakneck speed. His velocity is inferred to be quite high as when he flies closely between two buildings, the force expelled from him causes the glass to ripple and shatter behind him. His flight also can be seen to create a vortex of debris and cars following behind him. Despite Neo’s obviously incredible momentum and force, when Neo flies by to catch Trinity, she comes away seemingly unharmed, sans a bullet wound from the earlier firefight. Comparing the momentum of Neo and Trinity, Trinity would not have survived the impact of Neo grabbing her. Not only would the rapid change of direction at the speed Neo was moving would cause great physical harm, combine that with Neo’s momentum, Trinity should have been torn apart by the force applied to her in a very small window of time. This exemption of physics being applied to Trinity could be explained by Neo’s status in the film during the sequence, as Neo has nearly god-like power, which includes altering The Matrix in its basis code. While this can explain the physics being broken, knowing when physics breaks compared to reality allows the audience to gain an understanding of the universe which the movie takes place in.

            Often films breaks physics in order to create moments and emotional reactions, and while breaking physics at times shatters the suspension of disbelief, doing so in a minor enough fashion will either fly under the radar, or will be minor enough to be forgiven. A well thought out instance of only a minor break in physics is a moment in How to Train Your Dragon when Toothless and Hiccup saved Astrid as she fell by snatching her by the leg after her was knocked off her own dragon. In the movie, she was unharmed, albeit a little unhappy she was being held upside down. If she was caught by her leg while tumbling through the air in reality, her momentum would continue her motion with enough force to cause her leg to break or possibly enough to snap her spine. While she clearly ends the battle injured, her injuries are nowhere near the extent they should have been. By causing a main character to enter into a situation where great danger is present, and having them to almost not survive, but happen to be saved, it increases tension and eventually create attachment to them. Astrid’s fall was a moment of great danger (and momentum), and Hiccup and Toothless catching her endears them to us, and shows the relationship Hiccup and Astrid share now. Going outside the bounds of realistic physics in films and animation not only establishes the bounds of the universe but also can be used to exaggerate emotional moments.

            Physics does not always have to be broken to cause an impact on the story or characters, it can be bent in slight but consistent manners to exaggerate how that specific universe functions. Within the Marvel Universe, the reins of physics has been loosened, so many seemingly regular humans, such as Hawkeye and Black Widow, can survive battle with superhumans and aliens. Specifically, Tony Stark, with his Iron Man suits, seemingly survives countless impacts and falls that would essentially liquefy Tony if realistic physics applied. A strong example of this phenomenon would be Tony Stark escaping from the militants who captured him. After building the Mk.1 Iron Man suit and cutting down his guards, Tony’s suit explodes, sending him flying several hundred feet through the air. Given the composition of the suit and his high momentum as he lands, realistic physics would cause him to break almost all his bones and tear his apart. Instead, Tony survives with only minor injuries and no permanent damage. While there are some effects of heavy impact and high speeds, the Marvel Universe removes some of the consequences of momentum in order to exaggerate the action and glamour of the films.

            Momentum, which often limits how realistic movement can be, is often broken in film and animation in order to exaggerate action or motion. When the rules of momentum are broken, it can be obvious and feel incorrect. Yet when used properly, the breaking of conservation of momentum can establish a universe, or show how the rules of the universe changes. While deconstructing improper physics in film and animation serves an important purpose for a content creator, knowing how to bend and break physics in the ways that are purposeful and thought out can create universes and emotional moments that feel real and consistent. 

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Introduction

A.      Physics Concept: Conservation of Momentum

B.      Movies: The Matrix: Reloaded, How To Train Your Dragon, Iron Man

Body

A.      The Matrix: Reloaded

a.       Neo moves at an incredibly velocity, fast enough to blow cars out of the way, and then suddenly catches Trinity as she falls. Since she’d have a massive change in direction, coupled with the large acceleration, she would be essentially be liquefied.  

b.      While this does break physics, Neo is basically bending reality at this point, so he might be altering the laws of physics

B.      How to Train Your Dragon

a.       Towards the end of the film, Astrid falls from her dragon and plummets towards the earth. Hiccup and Toothless then catch her by her leg, which should provide enough to either tear her leg off break her spine.

b.      Slightly later, Hiccup and Toothless fall an incredibly long distance and have a heavy impact into the ground but only sustain minor injuries, sans a leg that needs to be replaced

C.      Iron Man

a.       Literally every high speed impact he has between his 3 titular roles and 2 Avengers movies should have either liquefied him, broken all his bones or caused him severe physical handicapping.

Conclusion

A.        If momentum was conserved/properly applied to these films, they would not work, as several of the main characters would be flesh colored puddles on the ground. The rules of physics must be bent in films and animation in order to remain extraordinary

Reverse Video Reference

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

This is a short stop motion animation of a 'ball' falling and bouncing a couple times. In order to create this, I used a kneaded eraser as a 'ball' and a couple pieces of paper as platforms. I used my DSLR and my tripod to shoot down on my setup so I didn't have to rig string for the ball. I did an initial pass of motion with only one platform and then added the others after I had mapped out a path of action on a large sheet of paper which drew the arcs of the bounces. I used it as an overlay of where the ball should fall through the entire sequence, and if I misplaced a frame I could easily place the paper over my workspace to reshoot. Overall, I shot the sequence 3 times after the initial test.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

A world cannot exist without rules, and especially not a world designed by human beings. World of Warcraft is Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game developed by Blizzard entertainment, set in a lush living world, filled with fantastical monsters and magic. Yet for as alive as it feels, World of Warcraft was designed, and in particular, the laws of physics within that world are specifically crafted to be different from the physical reality. This was done meticulously and thoughtfully in order to create a better gameplay experience, both in the realm of storytelling and the life of the game, but also so the that the mechanical controls of the game could function without becoming overly complex.

In order for World of Warcraft and other games to be playable and entertaining, the laws understood in the physical universe must be broken. Clearly understood gameplay mechanics and controls sit centrally to many instances of the laws of physics being broken. One of the more poignant instances of physics being broken, or in this case simplified, can be seen with character and non-player character (from this point on referred to as NPC) movement. Within World of Warcraft characters can be controlled through movement commands via keyboard input. The actual movement in the game is where the laws of physics break down. When moving, characters do not physically accelerate or decelerate in a physically accurate manner, instead they begin and end movement in a linear, constant fashion. In moving this way, the law of inertia breaks during all character movement. This concept also appears with the rideable mounts that player can acquire. These mounts, while ranging greatly in aesthetics and visuals, all serve the same mechanical function, they increase the rate that the player can move. It also illustrates the lack of inertia as some of these mounts are large elephants or dragons the size of large cars, yet require the same amount of distance to reach maximum speed, as well as stop, as an unmounted player. While this change seems unnecessary and vaguely arbitrary, it serves the important function of allowing for more control of the character at any given time, without seemingly random or overly difficult mental prediction of how far a character will move. While one could argue it removes from the immersion of the game, it allows to player to focus on their actions and adventures more than how far they will keep running if they don’t stop soon enough.

While World of Warcraft obvious breaks of the laws of physics provide an important function for playability, they also provide important cinematic and world building elements. Some of the most important creatures in the universe of World of Warcraft come in conflict with biological physics, particularly where the size of creatures is concerned. Within the game there are dragons that exceed the size of small buildings and ships, all while having the ability to fly and move with surprising agility. Where these creatures come into conflict with the physical world has to do with the square-cube law. The square-cube law is a mathematical that states as by increasing the surface area of a shape, its volume increases at a greater rate than the surface area. When applied to biomechanics, past a certain size the cubic increase to the mass of any particular creature would simply overstrain the muscle of that creature, which only experiences a squared increase of overall available muscle. The rapidly increasing volume would also overstrain the bones of those creatures on land, while flying creatures would experience an increase in wing load in order to achieve lift. Despite that, within World of Warcraft, massive creatures exist and thrive. While this could be explained in the game by magic, the design choice to ignore these physical limits allows the developers and designers to create creatures and monsters that surpass the physical limits of this world, and thus help surpass imagination. These fantastical creatures also help reinforce the world that is being built within World of Warcraft: that the world the player explores is greater and more fantastic than the physical world outside them. This adds to the immersion while not adding any unnecessary difficulty to the gameplay or mechanics.

In some cases the need to ignore or bend the laws of physics in a game encompasses both the need for better storytelling and a gameplay need. The spellcasting effects of many of the player classes showcase this idea with great detail. While the world contains fantastic enemies and creatures, the players of World of Warcraft are also capable of great feats of strength or magic, so the graphics and effects must show exactly what the player is doing, or what spell they are casting. Particularly in the instances of the spells cast by the mage and warlock classes, if the spell effects were present in the physical universe, the spellcasters would incur major damage to their own limbs, due to many spells include summon fire or lightning with their bare hands with no protection. The bending of physical laws goes a step further as once the spell is cast, as the fire that does not damage the caster damages the target of the spell. While it cannot be explained by the rules of physics, World of Warcraft bends them to its own form in order to allow players to live out fantasies of power and otherworldly adventures.

While these are not all the changes to the rules of physics, nor are they minor changes, World of Warcraft takes great care in weaving the breaking of physics into the game. The bending always takes place when there is a need for a suspension of disbelief and is done in a way that serves one or both of two main purposes, to either create storytelling and world building, or to allow for a greater range of gameplay opportunity. World of Warcraft stands as an excellent example of how one can break and bend the laws of physics with a game or film, without seeming arbitrary or meaningless. Ever instance it breaks what is known about reality, it does so with great reason, and thought.