Second Term Paper

                                                 Cinematic Fiction

Many animators study physics before they produce any animation in order to create a more believable story. Without studying and making the right decisions before animating the animator’s stories may not be as convincing, preventing audiences from being completely engrossed in the film. Watching a film with incorrect physics oftentimes makes the audience feel odd and makes them wonder what is wrong about the film. Good references and an understanding of how things work in relation to science and physics are the components of a successful film. Although there are various kinds of physics principles to learn that exist, the most commonly spotted mistake or modification of a physics principle is the center of gravity and balance within a subject. The majority of people can use their common sense and spot the part of a film is out of place due to incorrect physics with center or gravity and balance. Although it is important to stay true to real-life physics, sometimes deviation from the original physics principles is utilized in film to make stories unique or create a different feel to the world. In others, it just helps to play out with drama in the scene. There are countless films which misuse the physics principle of balance and the center of gravity; three movies which demonstrate this misuse are Back to the Future III, Final Fantasy, and My Neighbor Totoro.  Each of these films utilizes the bending of physics to add to their film. Although the audience may notice something is not right in the film, the overall production is enjoyable and creates an alternate world from the one we live in today.

            The first movie I am going to talk about is Back to the Future 3. This movie has three parts. The movie is about Marty Mcfly and Doc. Doc created a time machine and brought Mcfly with him and it mess up the whole time line and they have to go back and forth and fix the problems. In the third movie Doc met a girl and felt in love and the girl end up following her to the very end. She was chasing her on the train but strangely she fell and got caught on a pipe with her skirt. The gravity was is on the center of the body. The train was going 80 miles. She looks around more than 150lbs because of her big dress and her height. The tip of her dress was caught on the pipe which did not make sense because it look as if it was caught just a little bit and since because she looks a bit heavy most like that dress would rip and she would fall. Also when her feet is hanging on the pipe she was moving way to much which is a bit confusing how she can be so horizontally flowing off the train. Her hand was close to her stomach where her abs is. The hands were both together which is impossible if you were falling and caught just the tip of the dress. With her position and the center of the gravity she should be closer to the train then more outwards. If she had maybe pants instead of puffy she might be able to do that if she is flexible enough and caught on her feet instead not on pants.

            Back to the Future III is the third movie of a trilogy series based on a time-traveling duo Marty Mcfly and Doc. Doc created a time machine in the beginning of the series and they have just been going through different situations in each film. In this particular one, at the end they are on a locomotive train and Doc is trying to save Clara, a friend they met while living in an old Western town. The train has just accelerated to 80mph and she is being held onto the train by bottom of her dress and she is grasping onto a pipe (but she is mostly being held onto the train by her skirt). The tension within the scene is high, and the threat of her dress tearing leaving her to fall off the moving train adds to the drama. If you look at the screenshot, however, her center of gravity is in the middle of her body, but she appears to be almost completely horizontal. 

Falling off a train going 80mph, being supported by the strength of a dress does not allow much support for her to balance and be able to be in such an upright position, but she remains in an almos 45 degree angle. The way she is hanging off of the train makes it appear as if her center of gravity is closer to the train (indicated by the yellow line). If her center of gravity were closer to the train, it would be easier for her to balance herself on the train. However, since her center of gravity is farther from the train, it would be hard for her to balance in such an upright position if this really were to happen outside of a  motion picture.

             Another notable film, Final Fantasy, is an animation film based on a fantasy world. In this fantasy world, Cloud (the man with blonde hair) is seen driving an enormous, heavy motorcycle in the beginning of the film. It is safe to say that the center of gravity of the motorcycle and Cloud would be low and in the center of the vehicle.  Shortly after Cloud is introduced in the film, enemies start chasing after him starting a fight scene, complete with swords and everything. However, in this fantasy world, Cloud is able to wield a sword as big as himself and still drive the motorcycle. In this movie, the producer either made the sword seem weightless or he depicted Cloud as supernaturally strong because watching the film makes viewers forget about how heavy the sword would actually be in real life. This allowed Cloud to perform some impossible maneuverings that leave viewers stunned. In some of the shots, the physics principles of balance and center of gravity seem to be followed, however, in others, if we were to stop and think about how Cloud was actually staying upright on the bike, it would not make any sense. In the following screenshot, Cloud is shown drifting with the motorcycle, with the motorcycle and himself leaning in one direction, while utilizing the heavy sword to balance the bike and himself and change the center of gravity. 

Without the sword going in the opposite direction of Cloud and the bike, there would be no balance to the center of gravity so the bike would have toppled over to our right. However, the heavy sword brings the center of gravity back to a spot where Cloud is able to balance. In the next screenshot, Cloud is seen drifting, again, but this time without the sword as a counterweight.

This screenshot shows Cloud in an impossible pose with the motorcycle, the sword, and himself all tilting in the same direction. If the shot were to be turned so we were facing the front of the motorcycle, the motorcycle, the sword, and Cloud’s body would all be noticeably tilting in the same direction. This would be impossible for Cloud to be able to keep the bike in an upright position. His center of gravity would move away from the middle of the bike, and to a point in between the sword and Cloud, resulting in an imbalance causing the motorcycle to fall. Although this is incorrect, physically, it makes for a good movie and creates a more intense fighting sequence for audiences because Cloud is able to move faster with a seemingly “weightless sword” that does not affect his center of gravity some of the time. 

            Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro creates a magical world where things that do not happen in real life occur. This movie is about a family who moves to a town where there are forest spirits, one of which is named Totoro. One day one of the daughters discovers a couple of the forest spirits and tries to follow them. Watching the film, the forest spirits move quickly and are seen running and climbing. In one scene, the two forest spirits seem to slide across a steep rock without effort. This would be impossible in real life if the forest spirits were real. Their center of gravity seems to be different than what their expected center or gravity would be because they are able to walk in a position that is not normal for walking up a steep incline, which is depicted in the following screenshot. Miyazaki probably purposefully made them climb this way to make the forest spirits seem more magical. 

             The white forest spirit is walking completely perpendicular to the steep rock. If the expected center of gravity were the true center of gravity, this would be impossible. However, the forest spirit happily glides up the rock while the daughter climbs up the rock in the expected way with a normal estimated center or gravity shown in the next screenshot. With her center of gravity in place, the daughter is able to balance herself on the steep rock. 

All three of these movies show how the center of gravity and balance physics principles can be altered to create more drama, create never-before-seen things, and to create a different feeling for their world, A lot of these scenes are cinematic fiction and are not exact facts of science, however, the majority of the population will just accept what they see and not think twice about what may be wrong. Scenes based on fantasy or things that do not depict real life are what entertain people and is what sells. Anyone can see things shown with normal physics principles, but it takes imagination and creativity to break those rules and still create a believable story.