TERM PAPER: Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first term paper I scored 96 and my second term paper I scored 100. I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline of the Third Term Paper

1.     Introduction

a.     Visual effects of superheroes aerial dynamics and traveling by swinging from building to building

b.    Comparing Spider-Man (2002) and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (2015)

2.     Body

a.     Spider-Man

                                              i.     Film about a high school student who gets super powers from a radioactive spider and protects New York City from supervillains

                                             ii.     Spider-Man gets to places faster by using his web sling to swing him from building to building

                                           iii.     Methods in creating this effect

(Spider-Man's final web swing scene)

b.    Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

                                              i.     Series about two teenagers who transform into superheroes as they protect Paris from supervillains

                                             ii.     Ladybug gets to places faster as she uses her yo-yo to swing herself from building to building

                                           iii.     Methods in creating this effect

(Ladybug's yo-yo swing from S1 EP4, 18, 24)

3.     Conclusion

a.     Spider-Man and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir are both stories about a superhero with similar techniques for faster transportation

b.    Though the effects from both plot lines may not be accurate, its visuals create stunning worlds that are aesthetically pleasing and impressive to the audience where they are not disturbed by them

c.     Interesting that they are both superheroes named after bugs with the same transportation method

Stop Motion Character Animation

I wanted to use the Tsum Tsums as I did for the last stop-motion assignment. For this assignment, I wanted to make a story about the Tsum Tsums wanting to get a snack, but couldn't because of a bigger Tsum Tsum. They then devise a plan on how to distract the bigger Tsum Tsum to get the food they want. The story for this animation is Mickey, Donald, and Goofy Tsums want a snack and find an apple tree. In creating this, I used a DSLR camera to take the pictures, used Adobe Photoshop to edit the pictures, and Adobe Premiere to make the video. Unlike the falling animation, I had a harder time creating this due to the many characters/objects I had, as well as the weather conditions. Other than that, I had a great time making this!

04/12/17 EDIT: Same video, but with sound effects!

TERM PAPER: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Filmmakers can stay true to the law of physics or not follow them at all. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston have stated exaggeration as being a principle for the twelve principles of animation—meaning that one can have the style of realism or to distort realism. We can find many films that have used this principle, though one of the most common uses of exaggeration is the brief pause in a character before they fall. The brief pause before falling is a classic effect used in animation as it makes the audience laugh. Because everyone experiences the force of gravity every day, it makes this effect enjoyable since it is not what people expect to see. Delays in falling are intentional in films as it creates an entertaining and comedic atmosphere for the scene.

(Peter Pan and Captain Hook combat scene)

In Walt Disney’s animated film Peter Pan, there is a scene with Peter Pan and Captain Hook in a single combat after saving Tinker Bell and the children. During their dual, Captain Hook starts walking towards Peter Pan with no awareness that he’s actually walking towards the edge of the cliff. Since Peter Pan has the ability to fly, we see that Hook still continues to walk as he’s in the air. Hook’s reaction towards gravity does not happen until Pan gestures him to look down, which is when he realizes he has no support and starts to fall. Not only is gravity overlooked in this scene, but Hook’s fall is bizarre. Animators have exaggerated his fall by creating a U-shape path of action—he beings to fall downward and then changes to moving upward so he can grab onto the edge of the cliff. The force of gravity states that it is the force of the earth that pulls objects towards it, which is why objects are always falling downward. With that reason, Captain Hook should have fallen downwards right after he first stepped off the cliff. Even the momentum of Hook “falling” seems to be strange. The momentum of Hook falling makes him appear to be light as a feather, where he only moves down about half his body length. Due to the purpose of making his weight look light, it leads into how he is able to gain momentum moving up—something that is physically impossible to do.

(Ella's "Freeze!" scene)

Though the delay in falling is used in many animated films, there are rare live-action films that have done this as well. One of them is Ella Enchanted—a story about a girl who receives the gift of obedience from her fairy godmother, only to find that it is a curse and goes on a journey to find her to take back her “gift.” Before she embarks on this quest, there is a chase scene between Ella and the guards, who catches her stealing after she is told to do so by her stepsisters. When Ella jumps over a barrel, one of the guards tell her to “freeze,” where she actually freezes mid-air. It is when the guard tells her to “put [her] hands together” when she moves and falls into the barrel she tried to jump over. This effect amuses the audience as it is used to emphasize that Ella is obligated to doing whatever she is told, even if it means making the impossible possible. Just as how Captain Hook didn’t fall until he looked down, we still sense there is a pause before Ella falls. As the audience anticipate for her to fall, she doesn’t do so until after she obeys the guard. With the force of gravity, Ella could have still froze but she would not be floating in the air—which may have resulted in her getting over the barrel. Another theory could be that Ella could still be floating in the air, yet it is when she is able to have control of moving her body again is when she falls. Meaning, once the guard gave the command to Ella, she should have fallen right then instead of having the pause of putting her hands together.

(Naveen and Ray stealing the charm scene)

Looking at another Walt Disney Animation Studio film, The Princess and the Frog is seen using this method of breaking the law of gravity. Naveen (as a frog) tries to steal the Shadow Man’s charm from Lawrence, which causes him to look like Naveen’s human form. As Naveen is in a struggle with Lawrence, he flings it to a firefly named Ray for help. Like the last two films that were mentioned, Ray catches it and is able to hold it for a second before he immediately falls with it. The pause here is used for a humorous effect despite the fact that there is an opposition going on. In the shot of Ray catching the charm, we can see that the charm is much bigger than Ray, but he holds it as if it was so light that he has enough strength to carry it. Not only is the force of gravity exaggerated, but Ray’s arms are stretched to show how heavy the charm actually is for him. Gravity does not physically stretch falling objects, yet the reason why this effect is amusing to the audience is how it plays along with the dialogue. The pause gives just enough time for Ray to catch it and say “I got it!” However, as Ray’s position of holding the charm changes, his determination also changes while he says “It got me too,” and then he falls. If Ray were to catch it realistically, he would have just fallen with it the moment he caught it.

After analyzing the scenes in Peter Pan, Ella Enchanted, and The Princess and the Frog, characters are able to defy gravity as it makes the film comical and enjoyable for the audience. Though the audience is aware that their actions are unlikely to happen in the real world, they do not question as to why it is done but continue to laugh at the scenario. This method that is very common in animation can be seen in any type of film presently and still have the effect of causing the audience to find it entertaining. It does not effect the story to the film, but it only enhances one’s imagination as an escape from reality.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

1.     Introduction

a.     Three films: Peter Pan (1953), Ella Enchanted, and The Princess and the Frog

b.    Thesis: Delays in falling are intentional in films as it creates an entertaining and comedic atmosphere for the scene. 

2.     Body

a.     Peter Pan

                                              i.         A fight scene between Peter Pan and Captain Hook, where Captain Hook is walking in air.

                                             ii.         Captain Hook only falls down when he actually looks down—a classic effect used in animation to make the audience laugh.

b.    Ella Enchanted

                                              i.         Ella is told to freeze when she is running away from security and actually freezes in mid-air, defying gravity.

                                             ii.         As she still floats in mid-air, she is told to put her hands, which causes only her upper part of her body to move. It is only after she puts her hands together she falls into a barrel.

c.     The Princess and the Frog

                                              i.         Naveen (the frog) steals the charm from Lawrence that makes him look like Naveen’s human form. As Naveen is in a struggle with Lawrence, he flings it to Ray (a firefly) for help.

                                             ii.         In this scene, we can see that the charm is bigger than Ray, though Ray is able to hold it for a couple of seconds before he falls with it.

3.     Conclusion

a.     Characters are able to defy gravity as it makes the film comical and enjoyable for the audience.

Reverse Video Reference

For this assignment, we were given animation clips to film ourselves and recreate the clip as accurately as possible. This exercise helps us observe the motion, also watching how intricate the body mechanics are.

Clip A

Clip B

Clip C

Clip D

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

For my stop motion animation, I knew I wanted to use one of my Tsum Tsums [soom sooms] as the object falling. After giving some thought of what I wanted to do for my animation, I was inspired by The Lion King Tsum Tsum edition as I was reminded with one of the most painful memories of my childhood—Mufasa's death.

To accomplish this, I wanted to reenact the scene with Scar pushing Mufasa off the cliff. I went to my backyard where my mom has this huge rock that was perfect for the scene. Before I started taking pictures, I would drop the Mufasa Tsum Tsum to see its path of action for reference. I would also re-watch the scene of how Mufasa falls in the movie. After watching the scene a couple of times, I noticed how Scar flings Mufasa off to his death, giving him a tipping motion. For each frame, I took a picture after the other. I first taped the Mufasa Tsum Tsum to rock, and after having the Scar Tsum Tsum push him off, I taped it to a sharpening stick to create the falling motion. I used Adobe Photoshop to edit the stick and myself out of the frame. After I was done editing, I imported all the photos to Adobe Premiere to create the animation video.

Since I had so much fun doing this assignment, the video below stars James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas along with composer Hans Zimmer. Enjoy! :D