Outline of Second Term Paper

I. Intro: Essay will be an analysis of the paths of actions of moving characters and objects, analyzing how bounces, jumps, and falls in a variety of movies do not follow the laws of physics by having incorrect timing, spacing, or a lack of weight.

II. Body:
     a. Kung Fu Panda (film, 74 m). In this scene, a very chubby panda is fighting with a leopard. When the leopard tackles the panda the laws of physics are broken as the two fly hundreds of feet through the air and then upon landing bounce down stone steps as if they are a bouncy ball. The physics of the tackle itself are inaccurate, as well as path of action of the fall. The panda is exaggerated to be bouncy due to his roundness whereas in reality his immense weight would not result in such a light bounce.
     b. Tarzan (film, 42 m). This scene in Tarzan features Gorillas perched on top of barrels and bouncing along the ground lightly, moving forward with each jump. This is physically incorrect because of the lightness/bounciness of the movement. Not only is the average young male gorilla about 300 pounds or more which would severely impact the ability of the barrel to bounce so lightly, but the barrels would not physically be able to squash and stretch as they do in the film. The wood would likely splinter, but in the scene the barrels have properties akin to a rubber ball.
     c. The Road to El Dorado (54m) Ball bounce seems too evenly spaced to be realistic and hits same apex during each bounce. This is not physically possible for a ball bounce, especially if the ball bounces about 5 times within the shot. The even-ness of the spacing is used for comedic effect and is synchronized with the head movements of the background characters.

III. Conclusion: These movies all have some deviations from realistic paths of action/bounces for the purpose of emphasizing and exaggerating certain movements for entertainment.

Reverse Video Reference

WALK A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZCSD6ZVf2o

WALK B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV--Ft1GuI8

WALK C

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V5VrRdXYMs

WALK D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sWcTJx-ZOQ

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

To create my stop motion animation I decided to use candy as little characters, and drew a background for the video on large paper. I then put it on the ground with a light source, and had my boyfriend photograph each frame from above when I told him to as I moved the characters between each shot. I used the iPhone app called 'Stop Motion Pro" to create my video. I reshot the animation about 4 times, and adjusted the timing with each attempt. I made an effort to include anticipation by making the pink candy back up before attempting his final great leap. I tried to make the path of his fall appear realistic as by using my knowledge of falling, acceleration, and velocity. I remembered from the 1/4 down at 1/2 time rule that the object would drop the furthest at the beginning of the fall before slightly slowing down as he gets closer to his terminal velocity.
Overall, the project was pretty fun and an interesting challenge.