Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

Green/Magenta

Red/Cyan

Red/Cyan

Extra Credit: Ottawa Animation Festival and CTN

Ottawa Animation Festival

CTN

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

Extra Credit: Lighting a Scene in Maya

Sample

One Point

Two Point

Three Point

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first two term paper scores were 90 and 89; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Visual Effects have a huge impact on the movie industry.  Especially that of fire.

A.    Films: The Avengers and How to Train Your Dragon

B.    Thesis- Fire is an effect that is now inserted into films digitally and added in during post production.

                                                                                                                   

Body          

1.     The Avengers

a.      The visual effects were mostly added in after filming

b.     Actors filmed on a green screen

c.      Believable fire added in post, creating an authentic scene

2.     How to Train Your Dragon

a.      Fire given a life of its own due to being a main visual effect

b.     Animators gave the fire a slightly different consistency, to make it more believable coming from a dragons mouth

c.      Different types of fire, created differently depending on the type of dragon

Conclusion                                                                                                        

1.     Fire used in normal live action movies tend to be pretty simplistic and used to create believable scenes.

2.     Fire used in movies like How to Train Your Dragon given a little more attention/life since it is a major aspect of the film.

Character Animation

I worked in a team with Nicki Yee, Ryan Eways and Geoff Nakanishi.  We all worked on coming up with a story, bringing props and animating the stop-motion animation.  As a group, we came up with the idea and created a rough story board.  We then created the set using pine cones, and other objects, as well as drawing the background and creating trees out of paper.  We then started filming, which each person in charge of different characters and movements. Afterwards, we complied it into aftereffects and added the sound effects.

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

Movies are a wonderful source of entertainment and are made and viewed with enthusiasm and excitement. As such, they are also critically analyzed for any mistake or error.  These mistakes can range from camera errors all the way to ignoring basic physics principles.  One rule that is broken a lot in film making is the principle of action and reaction.  According to this principal, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. There are three different movies that are prime examples of this: Man of Steel, Identity Thief, and Hotel Transylvania.  These three movies all incorrectly illustrate this principle at some point during the film.

            In the live action movie, Man of Steel, Clark Kent, otherwise known as Superman, has to save the world from General Zod, a Kryptonian who is trying to bring back Krypton by destroying earth.  During this movie, there is a scene where Lois Lane, a journalist from the Daily Prophet, is saved by Superman.  He saves her as she is falling from the Kryptonian ship and they land in a corn field.  He then takes off and flies away, leaving her.  According to the principal of action and reaction, the amount of force required to fly away would have been huge and he should have left a very large dent in the ground, also possibly hurting Lois Lane.  All of which did not happen.  This is interesting because later in the film, as he is getting ready to fly away he has Lois Lane step back so she is unharmed. He then takes off, leaving a large and understandable dent in the ground from the force of his take off. That leaves the question of why did that not happen in the corn field.  Could this really have been an oversight on the part of the director or the special effects team? One possible reason is the director might not have wanted to ruin that moment he was trying to create between Lois and Clark.  Either way, the law of physics was broken during that scene.

            The next movie that breaks the principle of action and reaction is Identity Thief.  This live action, comedic crime film is about a Man named Sandy Bigelow Patterson who gets his identity stolen. He is then fired from his job and decides to go after Diana, the woman who stole his identity. During this movie, the two characters become closer together and develop more of a relationship.  There is a scene near the end of the movie where Diana saves Sandy’s life by pushing his out of the way of a car, which ends up hitting her.  The reaction her body has is correct when she is hit by the car, but with the amount of force hitting her, her body should have incurred a larger amount of injuries. Yet, a few minutes later, she gets up perfectly okay, no visible or physical injuries and barely a limp.  This is not the kind of reaction a person should have after being hit by a car at that speed.  This was also probably done for the sake of the story and well as a comical effect.  It has the ability to make the audience laugh at the fact that she is just able to get back up on her feet and able to run away without being seriously hurt.  It also gives her character a sense of indestructibility which adds to the humor.  They were also running away from people who wanted to kill them so they had to keep moving for the sake of their safety.  According to the law of physics though, she should have been in a lot more pain, and most likely severely injured.

            The third movie, Hotel Transylvania, is an animated film about a hotel for monsters and creatures which is owned by Dracula.  He built the hotel as a sanctuary for these creatures to be safe from humans as his own wife was killed by humans.  But a human boy finds his way in and by the end of the film is able to change their minds about humans. During the course of the film, there is a scene where the hotel is having a party and Frankenstein decides to jump into the hotel pool from a giant tentacle arm.  He body flops into the water with a somewhat small splash and his body parts disconnect.  According to the principle of action and reaction, his body should have created a much larger splash, especially when one considers the height from which he fell.  The splash from his fall was way too small to be physically possible.  This was probably done again, on purpose.  The animators most likely wanted the audience to see Frankenstein’s body split up, which created a comical effect.  With a larger splash, that could have been more obscure and hard to see.  Though the water does not react to Frankenstein’s fall in a physically believable manner, it does make the comical effect that his body has much more entertaining as well as visible.

            In conclusion, these three films all break the basic principle of action and reaction.  The first, Man of Steel, the reaction of the earth to his feet during takeoff should have been a lot bigger.  The second, Identity Thief, where Diana gets hit by a car, yet her body has no visible or physical injuries. The third, Hotel Transylvania, where the water does not have a believable reaction to Frankenstein’s belly flop into the pool.  The films did break the principle of action and reaction but it was done most likely done on purpose. In the case for Man of Steel, the director probably did not want to ruin the moment between Lois and Clark Kent.  In Identity Thief, it brought humor to the scene to see Diana able to just get up without a problem after being hit by a car. With Hotel Transylvania, having a small splash made it easier for the audience to see the effect of Frankenstein’s body coming apart.  Though all these films broke the law of physics and the principle of action and reaction, they are all done for the sake of humor or the story.  

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Introduction

A.    Films: Man of Steel, Identity Thief, and Hotel Transylvania

B.    Thesis- These three movies incorrectly illustrate the principle of Action and reaction during certain scenes.

Body

1.     Man of Steel

a.      Scene where he is standing with Lois Lane and flies away into the sky.

b.     Large action of flying away with no big reaction from ground and no reaction physically from Lois Lane

c.      Contrary to later in the film when he asks her to back away before he flies off so she does not get hurt from the reaction from his take off

2.     Identity Thief

a.      Diana, who stole Sandy’s identity, gets hit by a car.  The reaction her body has is correct.

b.     The aftereffects are not, she has no physical injuries or broken bones and gets up and walks away perfectly okay.

c.      Not the type of reaction a person should have after being hit by a car at that speed, the effects on the body should be more severe.

3.     Hotel Transylvania

a.      Scene where Frankenstein jumps into a pool

b.     The water does not react in a physically believable manner, he jumps from a great height and yet there is very little splash when he impacts, when there so the audience could see that his body splits apart, done more for humor than correct physics

Conclusion                                                     

1.     The principle of action and reaction is broken throughout these three films.

2.     These rules are broken for the purpose of humor and/or for the sake of story.

Reverse Video Reference

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

To make this animation, I first brainstormed an idea. I planned it out then drew all my poses.  I made the cutouts and did a trial run using the odd rule for falling.  I shot everything on my desk using a camera.  After that I found out I needed some more inbetweens, so I drew and cut out a couple more poses and reshot. I then took the images into Adobe After Effects and put my animation together.  I shot most of my animation on 2's and a couple frames on a 1's at 24 frames per second.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

The universe can be portrayed in many ways, and is vital to the look and feel of any film.  Every film’s universe can have its own unique qualities and use of physics to help get the story understood better by the audience.  The animated film, Kung Fu Panda is about a Panda bear with dreams of becoming one of the Kung Fu masters.  He is portrayed as talentless and clumsy, but is chosen as the hero and inheritor of the Dragon Scroll, which holds the secrets of Kung Fu. The universe portrayed in this film takes place in a world very similar to earth.  The laws of physics apply to a majority of objects and characters, but the laws of physics is stretched and slightly exaggerated to give the film its unique feel and aesthetic.  The animators used exaggerated actions and reactions, as well as playing with the effects of gravity, and the use of squash and stretch. These things have made Kung Fun Panda more entertaining and fun.

According to physics, for every action has and equal and opposite reaction.  In the universe of Kung Fu Panda, this is not always so.  Near the beginning of the film, Poe’s father is able to pick up and throw six bowls filled with noodle soup at Poe, who then catches them all neatly on his arms seemingly without a problem.  In the real world, this would most likely be impossible, especially when the view considers how clumsy Poe is portrayed.  Later on, Poe is trying to go see the festival and the furious five.  He is slow climbing the stairs and does not make it in. He then tries to find ways to watch.  In one of his early attempts, he catapults himself into a wall, cracking it.  Later, he smashes into the same wall when attached to a chair of fireworks, but does not crack the wall at all.  This is interesting because, the wall should show the same effects of Poe’s body since the two impacts are so similar.  If anything, there should have been a larger effect on the wall the second time, since the force of fireworks should have been greater than that of Poe’s earlier attempt.  Another example of an exaggerated reaction is when Poe tries to use a tree as a catapult, it does not move, so he gets off and it releases very quickly, snapping back and hitting him with a much larger force. This same exaggerated reaction occurs later on in the film when Poe hits a punching dummy.  He punches the dummy causing it to swing back and knock him over.  This is unrealistic because the force in which he hit the dummy was not enough to give it that kind of reaction.  All of these exaggerated actions and reactions were done on purpose.  They create a fun and laughable scene which then creates a more entertaining world and movie.

Another rule of physics that is broken in this film is that of gravity.  During a lot of the kung fu scenes, characters who should not have the ability to fly can.  An example of this is when the furious five are training, Snake is able to launch herself into the air, an ability snakes are not suppsed to have in the real world.  This also happens when they fly into a scene seemingly from the sky, which would be impossible for all but the crane.  This also happens when Tigress is demonstrating her ability to break two ceramic pieces. When Master SiFu throws these two ceramic pieces in the air, she jumps up and kicks her legs out into the splits, breaking both pieces.  When she reaches the apex of her jump, tigress pauses in the air for a slight bit longer than an object should.  This not only lets her complete her movement but also lets the audience see what she is doing and process that movement.  This also helps give the film its cartoony feel.  This decision to let characters have more hang time than an object normally would have is used a lot in the movie, not only in this scene, but also in others.  This technique is mostly used when the characters are fighting or doing things midair.

Lastly, The use of squash and stretch are used a lot in this film.  The animators use it to show what a character is feeling and push the expressions.  This makes the characters emotions readable. This push of expressions also helps create comical moments. For example, there is a moment when Tigress is telling a story to Poe about Tai Lung, who was not picked as a dragon warrior so he tore everything apart.  While she is telling the story, Manitis is in the process of using acupuncture on Poe.  He ends up hitting a nerve that makes Poe make a funny face right after the story.  This creates a comical moment and lightens the mood of the film.  In order to create that face, the animators stretched his facial controls and pushed his expression further than normal to create that look.  They do this again with Poe during the final fight scene between him and Tai Lung.  They slow down certain parts, like when Poe and Tai Lung are falling down the stairs The sequence slows down to show Tai Lung’s face being squashed by Poe’s butt.  This again creates a comical moment as Tai Lung seems to be squished down beyond physical ability to create the bounce back up and a more expressive and hilarious scene.

Like most Kung Fu films, this film uses these exaggerated movements to bring a more magical feel to Kung Fu.  In many live Kung fu films, like Hero and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. These same techniques are used when characters fly through the air and seem to defy gravity.  Most Kung Fu films also have exaggerated reactions and actions to make the characters seem more powerful when using Kung Fu against their enemies.  These traits can also be seen in Kung Fu Panda as explained previously.

Overall, though this film takes place in a world similar to ours, there are certain things that the animators push and change to create a fun and humorous universe.  They use exaggerated actions and reactions to create compelling and quick scenes.  They also defy gravity a bit to make characters actions more readable and expressive.  They also use squash and stretch to bring wacky comedy to their animation.  By pushing the laws of physics beyond that of earth, the animators make the film convincing, successful and fun.

Outline of First Term Paper

Introduction

A.    Animated Feature film: Kung Fu Panda

B.    Thesis- The movie takes place on earth but the physics is exaggerated to make the film more entertaining and fun. 

Body

1.     Exaggerated Actions and Reactions

a.      The father is able to throw quite a few bowls at Poe very quickly which Poe is able to catch  without dropping them or flinching.

b.     Poe hits runs into a wall, cracking it but later, when connected to a chair with fireworks, he runs into the same wall, which possibly the same force and not cracking it.

c.      When he tries to use a tree like a catapult, the tree does not move, but when he gets off, it snaps back with surprising speed and hits him

d.     When Poe pushes a punching dummy, the dummy swings back with more force and pushes Poe over.

2.     Gravity

a.      The furious five is able to seemly fly through the air

b.     Snakes, which normally cannot fly, seemed to be able to fight midair

c.      During some of the fight scenarios, the animals seem to pause a little too long at the apex before falling back down.

3.     Squash and stretch

a.      Poes facial expressions are pushed to show how he is feeling and make him seem more silly.

b.     During the final fight scene between Poe and the tiger, there are several moments where the timing slows down and the tigers face is squashed by Poe’s butt.

Conclusion 

1.     The law of Physics is broken throughout the film even though it takes place in a earthlike world.

2.     This difference creates a more entertaining movie.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Shooting Video Reference

Mini-Portfolio

I am a sixth year student in the Animation/Illustration program at San Jose State University.  I've taken a variety of courses in both animation and Illustration.  These classes have ranged from Animation to painting, both digital and traditional.  This is my last year in the program and am hoping to graduate with a BFA degree in Animation in the Spring.  When I finish school, I'm hoping to get a job in the industry doing character animation, for either films or games.

This first video is my Animation demo reel.  It has both my 3D work as well as some of my traditional work as well.

Katherine Chu: Character Animation Demo Reel from kchu on Vimeo.

This was a still life painting I did for one of my beginning Illustration classes. It was painted with acrylic paint.

This second painting was done for my intermediate Illustration class.  It was painted with acrylic paint as well.

The First Post

Pretty excited for this class! Can't wait to learn all there is to learn about the Physics of Animation. XD