Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

The anaglyph color pair for all images are Green/Magenta.

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

Photo 1: Original Image

Photo 1: Maya Render

Photo 2: Original Image

Photo 2: Maya Render

Photo 3: Original Image

Photo 3: Maya Render

Photo 4: Original Image

Photo 4: Maya Render

Bonus Points: Lighting a Scene in Maya

no lighting

one-point lighting

two-point lighting

three-point lighting

Building a Scene in Maya

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

Introduction

1. Two films – Rain in films is very stylized depending of what type of film it is set in.
2. Thesis – Both movies had their own way of making this rain look realistic on the silver screen.

Body Paragraphs

1.  Disney's Brave (2012)

a.  Describe scene:

                                                              i.      Running away from home.

                                                            ii.      Merida builds a shelter for her and her mother.

b.      Techniques used to create the special effect

                                                              i.      How was it made

                                                            ii.      How does it looks and acts

c.       Was it Successful/realistic?

                                                              i.      Why was or was not successful

                                                            ii.      Need improvements?

2. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

a.       Describe scene:

                                                              i.      Neo fights Agent Smith at end of the film.

b.      Techniques used to create the special effect

                                                              i.      How was it made

                                                            ii.      How does  it looks and acts

c.       Was it Successful/realistic?

                                                              i.      Why was or was not successful

                                                            ii.      Need improvements?

Conclusion

1. Most films today have some kind of special effects in them. It is more prominent in CG animations then live-action. Depending on if it is an action or a romance, live-action films have all kind of special effects.
2.  Rain is just one of many special effects that we can see in today’s films.

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

As long as there have been science fiction films, they have been messing with many of the physics you see in the films. Directors and special effects artists do this to entertain the audience; making sure their attention is on the silver screen and nowhere else. One of the simpler ways to do this was to make the explosions more theatrical. Because they make explosions so grand, it is hard to have normal looking explosions in a film or television; we are all used to the big bangs and fire being so immense in the explosions. You might think that you can only find it in older films; however, you can see the elaborated explosions in modern films as well. The three films that I will be talking about more in depth about why explosions are not accurate are “The Matrix Reloaded”, “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope”, and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. These three films have great examples of exaggerated or not even plausible for its environment explosions, which could never happen in our reality.

The 2003 film “The Matrix Reloaded”, the second movie in “The Matrix” trilogy has unique physics. This film can get away with this because it is set in a world that is similar to ours, but the people set free can bend physics almost to their will. The explosions in the film are realistic looking; however, are not plausible to appear the way they do on the silver screen. One moment in the film where Morpheus is shooting the underside of the ghost twins car’s gas tank; it explodes into a big fire ball. Right when the ghost twins got out of the car and were blown up into the air, you can see a blast wave or shock wave emanating from the car’s blast. However, if it had been shot realistically; the gasoline would not have a blast wave. The gas tank is a mixture of gas and air which would make a deflagration wave. This type of wave makes the sound of a loud explosion but has no shock wave. On a side note, the shock wave and the fireball from the blast would have killed Morpheus because he was standing lest then 30 feet away from the car. You can also see a blast wave later in the film when Naomi blows up a power plant, it can be seen emanating on top of the water. But unlike the gas tank, this is a detonation wave; a dangerous shock wave that can be seen in Atomic bombs. You see that the bomb was set on nuclear pressure line; it is not a nuclear blast, but will have a blast wave to it. 

Time of Explosion: 0:32

Power plant Explosions showing shock wave above the water.  

Another example of explosions that could not happen in “The Matrix Reloaded” is the scene where two semi trucks crash, head-on at a very high speed. Because the sequence was shot in slow motion, the explosion is dramatized to make the explosion and Neo’s rescue look more impressive then it would have if shot in normal speed. The audience sees the explosion develop for about 12 seconds before the scene ends. When in reality, we would see this in maybe two seconds or less. Even though the two trucks had a head-on collision, there is no way of knowing if the two would explode in the way that they actually had in the movie. Furthermore, at the end of the movie where the sentinels send kamikazes sentinel bomb to blow up Morpheus ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. You can see a second big explosion, which has to be around 2500 degrees Fahrenheit, because it is a blue colored flame.  Higher temperatures of the flames have a cooler or blue tint to them. It is really unknown what is inside the ship; however, it appears to be run on electrical power, using batteries or other electric sources. It looks cool on the silver screen, but it is unlikely that there would be a blue flame in this scene.

Time of Explosion: 1:33

Time of Explosion: 0:00

In 1977, “Star Wars: A New Hope” blew open the sci-fi genre into a new generation that would last to this day.  With the new Star Wars trilogy right around the corner, we look to the original films for inspiration; however, there are some odd space physics happening with their explosions. When Darth Vader tries to board Princess Leia’s ship, the Stormtrooper’s blow a door open to get onto the ship. You can tell that there are some firework sparklers mixed into the explosions to make it look more impressive. I believe that they were trying to make it look like sparks of metal from the door being cut and blown open; however, it just comes off really cheesy looking.

Firework sparklers in the explosion.

A lot of movies set in space, have amazing explosions that could never happen in the real space. In “Star Wars: A New Hope” there are many scenes where ships are being destroyed in space in big fire balls; however, in space there is no atmosphere for an explosion like we see in the film. You can see this when Luke and Han destroy the tie fighters as they escape from the Death Star for the first time. There is a large fireball that emanates from where the tie fighter(s) explodes. There with be debris from the tie fighters that could make it look like a smoke cloud; however, there is no way that it would burst into flames the way it does. Flames need oxygen, heat and fuel to survive; there is no oxygen or very little on board the ship to see this spectacular explosion. If they shot this scene realistically the blast would have happened within a couple of seconds then dissipated from our sight. Other scenes with this quality of unrealistic explosions are the detonation of the Death Star and the planet Alderaan. Like with the tie fighter, the Death Star has no atmosphere to speak of that could warrant such an amazing ending to the film. On the other hand, Alderaan does have an atmosphere, but the super laser would have heated the surface of the planet, destroying the atmosphere before the planet exploded.

Time of Explosion: 0:45

Time of Explosion: 1:03

Time of Explosion: 0:13

          Improbable explosions are not just seen in older films, but can be found in newer films as well. One such recent film in 2014 that has questionable explosions is “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. In the opening rescue mission of the S.H.I.E.L.D ship, Natasha (Black Widow) and Steve (Captain America) are fleeing away from a hand grenade that Cap had hit to the corner of the room. When the grenade does go off, you can see a large flash of light, followed by many firecracker like sparks. When the scene cuts to a different angle, the fireball from the grenade looks like it is right behind Natasha and Steve.  Where the grenade was located, the explosion would not look the way it does on screen. Another unrealistic explosion in “The Winter Soldier” is when Natasha shoots a grenade from what looks to be a M203 Rifle Grenade Launcher at Winter Soldier; however, it hits the truck that was right in front of him instead. When I slowed down the speed of the film, I notice that the grenade had shot past the Winter Soldier, making it physically impossible for a grenade to hit the truck in front of him. However, the explosion of said truck is what I am interested in. A normal grenade does not make such a large explosion as seen in the film. The explosion in the film had help from gasoline, you can see the tell tale signs of bright yellow and orange in the fire. Grenades do not have gasoline in them. When in really a grenade goes off, you really do not see a flam or fire from it, just a lot of dust or other debris that gets kicked up.  You can also see this same type of wrong use of a grenade when the Winter Soldier shoots a disc-like grenade so it hits the underbelly of Nick Fury’s car to flip it on its roof. The explosion in this scene seems to be coming from the back of the car, but the grenade was placed in between the front wheels. The explosion would not be this intense to cause the car to flip.

S.H.I.E.L.D ship explosion.

Time of Explosion: 3:20

Time of Explosion: 4:06

           Science fiction breaks the rules of normal physics to make better films, it also makes the movies that much more entertaining for the audience. This concept is not new to the cinematic universe. Even though films are trying to become more realistic; they are still trying to keep the audience entertained at the same time. It is understandable why directors and special effects artists tweak the physics and realistic look of explosions. As we saw that this is not just for Sci-Fi films; but ones set in the real world like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”. Yes, Captain America is from a comic book and is that type of film; but, it is set in our universe and set of physics. Unlike “The Matrix Reloaded”, they can make up their own set of physics because they are in a computer universe. “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” is a little bit complicated, it is set in the future where no one knows how their ship(s) are truly powered. But space is space, and with no an atmosphere, there can be no Earthly explosions. Spectacular as it may be, none of these explosions in these films are very plausible.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Introduction

1. Three films – explosions in film are exaggerated or not even plausible for its environment.
2. Thesis – Many movies there are exaggerated explosions that could never happen in a normal reality.

 Body Paragraphs

1. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
1. Car blowing up after Morpheus shoots the underside of the gas tank (01:29:40).
2. Semi trucks crash into each other at a high speed (01:36:48).
3. Power plant explosion (01:44:49).
4. Sentinels’ sends kamikaze sentinel to blow up the Nebuchadnezzar (Morpheus ship) (2:03:52).
2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
1. When Darth Vader aboard princess Leia’s ship, blows the door down/off (00:03:29).
2. Luke and Han shooting and destroying tie fighters (01:36:04).
3. Explosion of Alderaan (00:59:09) and the Death Star Death Star (01:54:17)
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
1.  Natasha (Black Widow) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) jumping away from bomb on S.H.I.E.L.D ship (00:13:06).
2. Nick Fury’s car flips after Winter Soldier shot a grenade under car (00:32:26).
3. Natasha (Black Widow) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) in old Army base missal (01:06:18).
4. Natasha (Black Widow) shot grenade from gun at Winter Soldier; hits truck (1:23:47).

Conclusion

1. Science fiction breaks the rules of normal physics to make for better movies, it also makes the movies that much more entertaining for the audience.
2. Films are trying to become more realistic and still keep audience entertained at the same time.