ED 433 209 AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION SPONS AGENCY PUB DATE NOTE AVAILABLE FROM PUB TYPE EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS ABSTRACT DOCUMENT RESUME SE 062 421 Boxer, Jennifer; Valenta, Carol Special Effects Activity Guide. WGBH-TV, Boston, MA. National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA. 1996-00-00 28p.; Funding also provided by Silicon Graphics Computer Systems. Forty-minute IMAX film not available from ERIC. WGBH, 125 Western Avenue, Boston, MA 02134. Guides Classroom - Learner (051) MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. *Chemistry; Elementary Secondary Education; *Film Production; *Films; Higher Education; Photography; *Physics; Science Education; *Special Effects; *Technology; Visual Literacy This guide accompanies "Special Effects," a 40-minute IMAX film and "Special Effects II", a multimedia, interactive traveling exhibit designed by the California Museum of Science and Industry. The exhibit focuses on the underlying scientific and technical processes of special effects from the earliest motion picture to state-of-the-art digital computer graphics. The guide contains activities, questions, and projects that allow students to create and further uncover the mystery of special effects. Contents include: (1) "Science Concepts"; (2) "More Than Meets the Eye (Perception)"; (3) "A Matter of Perception (Perception)"; (4) "Monsters, Motion, and Mechanics (Physics)"; (5) "Mysterious Makeup and Preposterous Props (Chemistry)"; and (6) "High-Tech Reality (Technology)." (CCM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************
Transcript
ED 433 209
AUTHORTITLEINSTITUTIONSPONS AGENCYPUB DATENOTE
AVAILABLE FROMPUB TYPEEDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS
ABSTRACT
DOCUMENT RESUME
SE 062 421
Boxer, Jennifer; Valenta, CarolSpecial Effects Activity Guide.WGBH-TV, Boston, MA.National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA.1996-00-0028p.; Funding also provided by Silicon Graphics ComputerSystems. Forty-minute IMAX film not available from ERIC.WGBH, 125 Western Avenue, Boston, MA 02134.Guides Classroom - Learner (051)MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.*Chemistry; Elementary Secondary Education; *FilmProduction; *Films; Higher Education; Photography; *Physics;Science Education; *Special Effects; *Technology; VisualLiteracy
This guide accompanies "Special Effects," a 40-minute IMAXfilm and "Special Effects II", a multimedia, interactive traveling exhibitdesigned by the California Museum of Science and Industry. The exhibitfocuses on the underlying scientific and technical processes of specialeffects from the earliest motion picture to state-of-the-art digital computergraphics. The guide contains activities, questions, and projects that allowstudents to create and further uncover the mystery of special effects.Contents include: (1) "Science Concepts"; (2) "More Than Meets the Eye(Perception)"; (3) "A Matter of Perception (Perception)"; (4) "Monsters,Motion, and Mechanics (Physics)"; (5) "Mysterious Makeup and PreposterousProps (Chemistry)"; and (6) "High-Tech Reality (Technology)." (CCM)
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE ANDDISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
BE N GRANTED BY
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
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U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research ana improvementDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)his document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organizationoriginating it
13 Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality
Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy
The Special EffectsProjectNOVA®/WGBH Boston andthe California Museum ofScience and Industry havejoined together to presentthe following film and exhibit.
Special Effects II is a multime-dia, interactive traveling exhibitdesigned by the CaliforniaMuseum of Science andIndustry that opened inDecember 1994. Scheduledto travel to I 5 other museumsand science centers in NorthAmerica between 1995and 1999, the exhibit focuseson the underlying scientificand technical processes ofspecial effects, from theearliest motion picturesto state-of-the-art digitalcomputer graphics.
Special Effects is a 40-minuteIMAX® /IMAX Dome filmproduced by NOVA/WGBHBoston with the participationof 14 U.S. and 4 internationalscience museums.Thefilm shows how special effectsfilmmakers use their under-standing of thehuman visual system tocreate movie illusions.Special Effects is distributedby Imax Corporation.
Angela Marcano Lifsey,WGBHDale McCreedy,The FranklinInstitute Science MuseumElizabeth Stage, New Stan-dards ProjectBarry Van Deman, OrlandoScience Center
Film ScienceAdvisorsDr. Richard Gregory, Universityof BristolDr. Vilayanvur Ramachandran,University of California/SanDiegoDr. David Hubel, HarvardMedical School
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Major funding forSpecial Effects pridedby the National ScienceFoundation.
Corporate fundingprovided by:
4P° SiliconGraph4Computer Systems
Air transportation forSpecial Effects provided by:
ffil UNITED AIRLINES
Special Effects is presented aspart of the Motion PictureCentennial:Years of Discovery,1891 1896/Years ofCelebration 199 1 1996, asix-year, nationwide, multi-institution observance of thefirst 100 years of the movingimage arts.
!ALMON
RE
CENTENN I Al.
Years of Disaway99696
lbus of Cdebr,ion99.996
NOVA is a trademark andservice mark of the WGBHEducational Foundation.
IMAX and MAX1 Dome areregistered trademarks of ImaxCorporation,Toronto, Canada.
This guide is your escort intothe world of motion picturemagic, with projects that allowyou to create special effects.You will find activities thatexplore what makes ussusceptible to certain illusions.Read the questions at thestart of each sectionthen do the activities touncover the mysteriesbehind special effects.To find out more aboutyour discoveries, checkout Behind the Scenesto learn about how scienceplays a role in what you'vedone.And don't miss the
Close-Ups, which tell youhow some of today's topspecial effects experts gotinto one of the world's mostunusual professions. It's all in
the magical world of specialeffects.
ContentsPage
2 Science Concepts4 Is Seeing Believing?
The World of Special Effects5 More Than Meets the Eye
right age to do these activities(you don't have to
see the film to do themr(ourparents and
teachersmight see how much fun you're having
and want to join in--go aheadand letthem
(otherwisetheyll never leave you alone).
And tell
them the scienceconcepts
for these adivitiesare
on pages2-3 (so they can figure it out tool).
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4-1 tanceptsMore 57han Meets the EveScience concept: perception (eye and brain)
I "Color Scheme"Mix construction papercutouts with real objects tosee how color serves as apowerful cue to a thingsidentity.
aliafltalr EDG PevaeptdonScience concept: perception (eye and brain)
I "Flip into Action!"Make a flipbook to explorehow the visual system andbrain work together toperceive motion.
Monsters, 17413otion, and Mechanics!Science concept: physics (motion and machines)
I "Stunt Car Drivers"Use miniature racecars tolearn how the motion of amoving object is altered byapplied forces.
2 "Now I See!"See how fast you can identify amoving object and learn howthe structure of the humanvisual system influences theperception of motion, shape,color, and clarity of image.
2 "So Close andYet So Far"With balloons and coins,discover how the brain utilizesvisual clues to judge thedistance and relative positionof objects.
2 "What's Walla ?"Make your own moviesoundtrack and discover howsounds may be simulated byproducing similar vibrationpatterns electronically or withother objects.
EitOvsteulcas Klatealop merod flpreposterons Props?Science concept: chemistry (properties of materials and reactions)
I "A FrostedWindowpane"Create "frost" that never meltsto understand that crystals aresolids that form when a liquidevaporates.
[RemnitvScience concept: technology (computers and communications)
I "Too Good to Be True"Use your own cartoon moviescene to discover that, despiteits many advantages, computertechnology cannot duplicate tit li
the natural imperfections and differences in living things.
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2 "A Bone to Pick"Turn chicken bones rubberyand discover that chemicalreactions produce newmaterials with propertiesdifferent from the substancesthat combined to make them.
2 "HappyTrails, Mr.Circuit"Make a special effect with asimple circuit and learn that itincludes a closed patch, aswitch, a load, and an energysource.
3 "Fish Gotta Swim"Make a fish "swim" throughwater and see how an objectthat seems to be movingmight be doing the oppositestanding still.
3 "What Did You Expect?"Show some basic shapes toyour friends, tell them a storyabout the shapes and learnhow the brain uses patternsand contextual clues to deter-mine the identity of objects.
3 "The Creaturefrom the Backyard"Draw a "storyboard" of a roly-poly bug and study howanimals move in distinct wayswhich can be observed andrelated to specific stimuli intheir environment.
3 "Prop Rocks"Make different-sized rocksfrom plastic foam and observehow the different densities(mass per unit volume) ofsubstances affect how theyinterface with other matter
3 "A Square Image"Use different sizes of graphpaper to reproduce a photo-graph and observe that thequality of information im-proves with the density ofinformation.
4 "Shoebox Studio"Make your own movie studiowith a shoebox, action figures,and magazines and observethat the relative position ofobjects in a limited frame ofreference determines howthey are perceived.
4 "Out of the Blue"Duplicate the special effect"bluescreen" and see how technology,based on an understanding of light <0:8,and color, permits action on onelocation to be combined with otheraction, scenery, or characters filmed at a different time or location.
4 "'It's a Bird, It's a ...,It's Flying!' "Create your own miniature
_ flying harness and explore.
-----, how simple machines atter thedirection and magnitude of aforce.
3
4 "Mad Scientist's Lab"Experiment with kitchen.science to see that matter hasproperties, including elasticity,density, color, and texture thatdefine how it behaves.
4 "Give Me a Hand"Create an animated handand explore some of themany new ways computerscan be used in animation.
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Is eeinshaving?
Have you ever been fooled by somethingthat wasn't what it appeared to be?
A piece of lint that looked like a bug?
Hand cream that you mistook fortoothpaste?
A shadow that looked like your next-doorneighbor?
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Special Effects: Preparing to filmKing Kong atop a skyscraper.
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without making serious errors.We have learned to interpretclues of color, form, light,motion, and depth to orientourselves in the world.Occasional mistakes, as in theexamples to the left, occurwhen we misinterpret theclues.The art of special effectsrelies on supplying just theright clues to convince theaudience that something isreal when it isn't
In order to fool the eye, ithelps to know how the eyeworks. Often compared to acamera, the eye is actuallymuch more complicated thanthat. A camera cannot adaptto light nearly as well as theeye can because camera film isnot as sensitive or as dynamic.Most importantly, the eye isconnected to the brain, whichconstantly analyzes andinterprets all the informationcoming into the eye, allowingfor special perceptions such asmotion and shape.
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For example, imagine you'relooking at a mountain range orblock of skyscrapers.Y3su can
see people and cars in thestreets beneath the mountainsor tall buildings.You can also
see telephone poles and trees.Your brain instantly tells youthat the mountains or theskyscrapers look big in relationto the cars and telephonepoles.You take a photo, butwhen it comes out you'redisappointed.The mountainsand buildings look so tiny!Theywere really much bigger, youthink. But their bigness was animpression that your mindcreated by comparing themountains or buildings withthe objects around them.
Special effects rely on tricks ofperception. Say you're watch-ing Star Wars, for example.One spaceship is chasinganother above a planet.Themotion is so smooth andconvincing.You almost feelpressed into your seat as therockets accelerate across thescreen. In reality, the space-ships are models, the planet isa painting, and all that's movingis the camera. But who wouldinterpret it that way exceptfor the people who made thefilm? For everyone else, theirbrains tell them that space-ships are fighting it out over aplanet.
But now you know how it'sdone.And you can find outlots more about special effects.Just turn the page to startyour journey.
emember hearing about(9 the scene where the
Aoriginal King Kong peers
out Tr. m the side of the Empire State
Building? How co Id y' forget? Butwhat exactly was that? Was it really
Kong, or just his head? Was it really his
head, or just a fuzzy brown costume
worn by an actor? How do filmmakersuse what is kn wn about human
perception to show us just enough so
that we believe what they want us to
believe? Hmmm. It's
How have things been looking lately?
OK, you say? No problem telling yourdog apart from that shadow on twall? Good thing, because in the
movies there's no telling wh,at's real
a d what's noto Are there people
whose job it is to use what they know
about how you see to make things
seem real that aren't?You bee
5r)
"A cast of thousands!" How many Hollywoodfilms have been promoted with that promise?But thousands of what? People? Martians?And are there really thousands of them?Try this project to shed light on the illusionof endless crowds on the screen.
You will need: assortedcolors of construction paper,scissors, colored pencils, acollection of objects of thesame colon such as a bunch ofcarrots, a bouquet of identicalflowers, a bowl of apples, a bagof candy corn, or a stack ofblocks.
Select a piece of construc-tion paper that is close to thesame color as your collectionof objects. Cut the paper intothe shape of the object.Arrange the cutout with thegroup of objects. Place thearrangement at one end of aroom.
Now bring a friend into theother end of the room. Askher how many objects thereare.What happens?
If your friend notices thatone of the objects is really acutout try making the cutoutlook more realistic by usingcolored pencils to give it
shading or other features.Youcan also try arranging orlighting the objects differently.Then try the test on anotherfriend.
When you succeed infooling your friends, trymaking the cutout lessrealistic.What is the crudestshape that you can get awaywith? How important arecolor, shape, and lighting tocreating the illusion that thecutout is one of the objects?Is anyone fooled by lookingat the cutout all by itself?
Try placing differentcutouts around your home,such as a green-leaf shape ina plant, or a yellow shape in abunch of bananas.You mayfind that, when you pass by,even you are fooled!
( Now ISee!
A shaking branch, a ripple in a pond, a puff ofsmoke in the distancehave you ever noticedtiny movements like these? In our shiftingawareness of the world around us, motion isone of the first things we detect. But at whatpoint do we notice the shape of something, orits color, or its details? Grab a friend and see.
You will need: four pagesof newspaper, tape, assortedcolors of construction paper,scissors, a colored marker, anda black marker
Cut out a triangle and acircle from a sheet of con-struction paper (the twoshapes should be about 4inches across). Cut anothertriangle and circle of the samesize from a different coloredsheet On each of the fourshapes, write "see" on oneside and "sea" on the other,using the black marker
Tape the four pages ofnewspaper together edge toedge, place them on theground, and stand in themiddle of the big sheet Haveyour friend use a marker tooutline your feet
Raise your arms straightout to your sides. Lookstraight ahead and focus youreyes on a particular spot
Ask your friend to walkaround you very slowlyholding one of the four
6
shapes.The path your friendtakes should be a circle, justoutside the reach of youroutstretched arms.The objectshould be at eye level.
Starting from behind you,your friend should walk slowlyaround you. Look straightahead. Say "stop" when youfirst see something moving.Have your friend write "motion"on the newspaper at that point
Repeat the process, only thistime say "stop" when you cansee the shape of the object.Have your friend write"shape"at that point Do this two moretimes, saying "stop" once whenyou see color and once whenyou can read the word. Haveyour friend write "color' and"detail" at these points.
Change places with yourfriend and repeat the activitywith a different shape. Markthese results in a different color
What do you notice aboutthe ways you see motion,shape, color, and detail? Wheredid you see each?
Without relative motionone thing movingpast anotherwe'd be marooned in anunchanging world, unable to orient ourselvesto anything around us. Sound like a scaryscience fiction movie? Try this activity.
You will need: two sheetsof wax paper, one 10 x 12inches and one 5 x 12 inches,a black marker, one sheet ofwhite paper about I I x 17inches, and tape.
Using the marker, cover oneentire side of the large sheetof wax paper with black dots,roughly one-half inch apart(see illustration). Make thepattern as random as possible.It doesn't matter if somedots are closer togetherthan others.
On the small sheet ofwax paper, make an outline ofa fish using black dots that areabout one inch apart.
Orient the white paperhorizontally (the long way),and tape the fish in thecenter so that it is facing toyour left.
Now your fish is ready toswim! Place the large sheet ofwax paper over the fish. I
Where's the fish? Slowlymove the large sheet to theright. Do you see the fish?
Try moving the fish to theleft while keeping the largesheet stationary. Does itmake a difference in how youperceive the motion? Be sureand try this experiment onyour friends.
10
Ever have a day when you wished you werebigger than King Kong? In your ShoeboxStudio you can be any size you want. It's alla matter of perspective.
You will need: a hc) e' box,a small pair of scissors, severamagazines
magazines work well); 4- xinch inciex.cardi,asmall photoor drawing of yourself, glue,and a small plastic Monsterfigure.
e Cut an eyehole about 'I /2inch in diameter in one end ofthe shoebox.This will be yourcamera viewfinder
o tut out a magazine picturebackdrop that shows where.*your scene takes place. Put itat the other end of theshoebox so you can see itthrough the eyehole.
Next, cut out any sceneryand props you would like(such as buildings, trees, andfurniture). :
7:
Cut out a piece of an indexcard about the size of the'Photo'or drawing ofyou,leaving an extra inch of the'card at the bottom. Glue thephoto or drawing to the top
'._of the card. Fold the card sothat your photo is at a rightangle to the extra inch of thecard at the bottom.Thisshould allow "you" to stand up.Repeat this with your sceneryand the props.
Arrange your photo,monster, scenery, props, andyou in the shoebox so they'reready for their scene7Lookthrough your eyehole to makesure it's the way you want it.
Can you make yourselfbigger than the monster? Howcan you do it?
How else can you use thedifferent sizes of images tocreate your own specialeffects?
Bruce Nicholson,and Special
Effects directorBen Burtt
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I Color SchemeHardly anyone wouldthink that a cutout orangepiece of paper was acarrot. But put it in with abunch of real carrots andpeople are easily fooled.Color can serve as apowerful cue to theidentity of something.Abright red rectanglespeeding down the streetis interpreted as a firetruck, even if all you see isa blur. By contrast, a firetruck painted with black-and-white stripes woulddefinitely cause confusion.Movie directors rely onour conditioned expecta-tions about color to makeus believe they have lotsof something, whenactually they only have afew things.
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2 Now I See!You may think thateverything in your fieldof vision is laid out insharp detail that youperceive all at once. Butit's not true.Your eyesare always on the move,assembling a picture ofyour surroundings bit bybit. As this experimentshows, you can detectmotion at the extremeedge of your field ofvision; shape and color abit closer to the center;and sharp detail only atthe very center of whereyou are looking. Moviesoften direct our atten-tion by showing onlycertain parts of a scenein sharp focus.This imi-tates the way we see theworld, so it looks real.
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enes,3 Fish GottaSwimHave you ever stoodabsolutely still in themiddle of the woods? It'simpossible to identifywhich branch belongs towhich tree. But as soonas you move everythingsorts itself out.The sameeffect makes the fish inthis experiment visible assoon as it, or the "water;"moves. Does it matterwhich movesthe wateror the fish? Apparentlynot, for either way weinterpret the fish asmoving through thestationary water
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4 Shoebox StudioGenerally, we are able tolook at what's around anobject and perceive thatobjects don't change sizebased on how close orhow far they are from us.However, when we limitwhat we can see aroundan object, then objectsclose to us appear largerthan when they arefarther away, even thoughthey don't change size.This difference is calledperspective.You shouldbe able to make yourselfbigger than the monsterby moving "you" closer tothe eyehole.
f Elliot and E.T. could fly across
the moon, why couldn't you soar`u over to the video arcade during
lunch and be back in time for English
class?You couldwith some helpfrom the special effects artists. Forthem, it's all ...
How does an ani-mated movie bringdrawingsto life?
la 2When is a snial/loon biggerthan a big
3 How fast canYou
III in a movie?when it first appears all4 What is behind
E.T.1111111
balloon,
all
11111identify
and Supermanflying?
J
4W4Have you ever thought you saw
something and then it turned out to besomething else? Why do you think this
happens? We use our brains to see, notjust our visual systems.We practice
figuring out what things look like andwhat they are from the moment weare born. Special effects artists use
what they know about how we see and
what we expect to see to make movies
seem real. Curious? Don't worry, yourbrain can figure it out.
Hey, cool questions. Find out moreorrtliezneZtlia get
912
g Flip intoa! Action!Have you ever wondered how cartoons aremade? Find out by making one yourself.
You will need: a three-inch-square pad of yellow self-stick notes, a pencil, and your
imagination.
Think of an object that youcan draw easily.Then imagine it
moving in some interestingway. (Remember, in the worldof special effects, plants sing,
milk cartons dance, andvegetables fly.)
Place the stack of notes onthe table with the sticky edgeto the top.You will be drawingyour flipbook from the back tothe front
Draw your object in its finalposition on the last sheet inthe pad. Remember, you areworking backwards, so imaginethat your object has justfinished moving.
Lay the second-to-the-lastsheet on top of the last.Trace
the parts of your figure thatwill not move.Then draw themoving parts in a slightly
changed position.
Repeat the process untilyou have I 0 to I 5 sheets.Each time you start a newsheet, trace the parts of thefigure that will not move andmake slight changes in themoving parts.Your top sheetshould be the object as it isbefore it starts to move. Pickup the stack of self-sticknotes and flip the pagesrapidly from back to front.Watch what happens.
Why do you think thefigure appears to move?Does the action change ifyou go slower or faster? Howis this like an animated
cartoon?
o CI sea nd IrefgsSo Far
When is a big balloon not a big balloon?It all depends on your perspective.
You will need: threedifferent-sized balloons orballs, your breath, a table, an
empty toilet-paper or paper-towel roll, a dime, and aquarter.
Blow up the three balloonsso that they are three differentsizes. (You can also use threedifferent-sized balls.) Arrangethe balloons on the table sothat one is close to you, one isin the middle, and one is faraway. Using the toilet-paper orpaper-towel roll as a camera,look at the balloons with oneeye.
Can you arrange theballoons to make the biggestballoon seem smaller? Canyou rearrange them to makethe smallest balloon seemcloser or farther away?
If you can fill in the blank inthis sentence, you alreadyknow something about
perspective. Objects close tome appear to be
Use what you know aboutperspective to make a dimeand quarter the same size.Hold one in each hand andclose one eye as ifyou arelooking through a camera.Hold out your arms so thatone hand is in front of theother. Line up the two coins sothat the dime blocks your viewof the quarter completely.
. Think about how you coulduse one of your plastic toys tomake a movie monster ...
WhatDitlYouxpecti
Sometimes in the movies you need toidentify something very quickly withoutmuch information. (Is that a monster lurkingin the bushes?)Your brain is good at makingdecisions like these. But what happens if you 'give your brain some suggestions?Try thisactivity on your friends.
You will need: scissors,construction paper, tape,writing paper, and a pencil.
Cut the construction paperinto squares, triangles, andcircles. Combine the shapes inseveral different ways so thatthey resemble familiar objects.For example, a square and atriangle can look like a houseor two circles joined by a linecan look like a pair of glasses.Tape the shapes together
Write a story a paragraphor two long that features thethings you made with theshapes.
Now it's time to call in afriend. Show your friend eachof your shapes for one second(count "one thousand one")and then ask your friend whatthey remind her or him of.Record each answer
Find another friend and tellyour story.Then show yourfriend each of the shapes forone second and ask what theylook like.Write down yourfriend's answers.
How are your two friends'answers different? Why doyou think they are different?Try both parts of yourexperiment on lots of friends.How are the answers fromthe first group different fromthose of the second group?What conclusions can youdraw?
Why do you think scientiststry to use big groups ofpeople when they areconducting an experiment?
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Q: What clo-E.T.and Superman have in ,common? A:',A "blue screen." Using a bluescreen is away-of filming an actor separatelyfrom the bickground ofa scene so that E.T.can appear' to ride a bike across the moon,! r
and Superman can fly over Metropolis. Let'ssee how this high-tech special effect works.
, You will nee fiVe plasticsee-throughJolders-r roneclear one red; One,bl9e, oneyellow, and onelreet2=,-:- ',-several magazines,. scissors,
index cards, antrglue.::,
Your clear 'folder Will beyour scene. Cutout sceneryfrom the magazines and glue itto the front of the clear folder.Make it as outrageous as youwant, keeping in mind whereyou want your actor to go.
Cut out youractororwhatever you want to movethrough the scene---from amagazine, but don't glue itdown.
another color (the filter).Youwill use your clear screen later.
When you find therightcombination, the background.-should turn completely black:but you should still be able tosee your actor.What twocolors work best? Why? Isthere more than one combi-nation that works? Does ablue screen have to be blue?
A colored filter stopscertain other colors of lightfrom getting through to youreye.What colors wereblocked by the different filtersyou used?
Put the scenery over yourblue screen with the actor inbetween your clear screenand your blue screen. Look atit through your filter.
Glue a little piece of foldedindex card to the back of youractor. Cut a slit in your bluescreen so that you can movethe actor through the scene.
Now it's time to set upyour blue screen. One of yourcolored folders will be yourblue screen and the otheryour filter. Find the combina-tion you want to use byputting one folder (the bluescreen) on the table with youractor on top of it, and lookingat it through a folder of
_ -
Raiders of the List Movie FramesMovie framesmove at 24 frames per second Howle many frames are in an hour-long
movie? Estimate howixGI
many hours it would take to make an animated filmif an
artist drew each frame by hand. How could youSIP organize an animation studio to make this moreefficient? How might computershelp?
Flip into Action!Like the movies, animatedcartoons are a series ofstill pictures.When welook at something, ourbrains retain the image fora fraction of a second. Ifthe same image followsimmediately in a slightlydifferent position, ourbrains interpret thechange as a movement.Animated cartoons andmovies use 24 stillpictures per second tocreate the appearanceof a single moving image.A flipbook works best atthat speed, too.
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d the Scenes2 So Closeand Yet So FarSeeing is more than oureyes taking a picture.Our brains use cluesfrom what is around anobject to decide how bigor how close it is. As longas we have enoughinformation about what'saround an object, we willperceive its correct size.However, when we viewobjects through a tube,the surrounding informa-tion is gone and objectsclose to us appear largerthan when they arefarther away, eventhough they remain thesame size.This differenceis called perspective.
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3 What DidYou Expect?Our brains are good atnoticing patterns and
drawing conclusions froma few, basic features.
Redundant features arethe that repeat informa-tion or add detail and canbe removed to make avery simple pattern (like atriangje and square for ahouse) that we can stillidentify. If too many ofthe features are re-moved, we make a guess
based on the context.filrinmakers know that ifthey show us just enoughof the shape of somethinginthe context of the story,we will see it as they wantts to see it
4 Out of the BlueWhen you see color, yousense light beingreflected from an objectto your eyes. Since plasticfolders are not all alike,you will find that somecombinations of red oryellow folders will createa filter to block blue/green light from gettingto your eyes.This causesthe "blue screen" todisappear, allowing theactors to be added toany scenelike E.T. andElliot "flying" out of theneighborhood. A green"blue screen" is used forscenes where the actoris wearing blue so he orshe won't disappear intothe background.
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hat can that
thundering sound be?Is it an earthquake?
Wait a minute.... no ... it's, it's
Tyrannosaurus rex from Jurassic Park
and she's headed this way!Yikes! Ourheroes drive madly through the park,but the T. rex is close behind.Will theyescape, or will they be caught and
carried off, never to return? With
movie special effects, it's all a matterof...
34
Est,.,,,..
What happens tthat hit a bumpo carsin theroad?
Can you make amovie soundtrack?What makes aconvincing
dinosaur?How doesSuperman
fly?
Bet you didn't know that a special
effects artist is also a scientist!To create a realistic dinosaur takes
more than a fossil skeleton. Artists
also study how large animals move,the sounds they make, and how
ran St t CarZo- riv rsEver walk out of a movie having aconversation like this?: "Awesome.The caractually flips in the air, spins around, andcrashes to the ground." "My favorite part waswhen that other car goes off the cliff." "Yeah,that was cool, too. How did they do that?"Youcan figure out how some of your favoritecar-chase effects are produced.
You will need: miniatureracecars, strips of posterboard about an inch widerthan your cars, tape, largerubber bands, a clothespin,chairs, books, and whateverelse you can think of to buildthe rough terrain, steep slopes,curves, and bumps of yourchase scene.
The strips of poster boardare your road or track.Experiment with differentdesigns until you find the oneyou like best for your chasescene.Tape the strips togetherif you need longer roadways.For a neat effect, include abump somewhere in yourdesign.
Send your cars along theirway and watch them closely.Where on the track do theyspeed up, slow down, or stop?How does the steepness of
the track affect their speed?What do you need to do tomake sure the car stays onthe track after the bump?How does gravity affect thecars on your track?
For your grand finale, howcan you use your clothespinand/or rubber bands to makea car flip in the air, spinaround, and crash? In themovies they use a "cannoncar"
Scientists know that whenan object is moving in onedirection, it tends to keepgoing that way.When doesthis happen with your car-chase effects?
.1
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What9sWalla?
What kind of sound does a dinosaur make?The sound of Tyrannosaurus rex in Jurassic Parkincluded a mixture of noises from elephants,alligators, penguins, tigers, and dogs. Foleyartistsspecial effects sound-makersproduce these sound effects.You can createyour own soundtrack.
You will need: a taperecorder, a cassette tape,paper; a pencil, aTV, aVCR, anda videotape of a favorite scenefrom a movie orTV show. Alsogather: up lots of things thatcan make noise, such as
bottles with different amountsof water in them, rubberbands, old shoes, empty boxes,a cookie sheet, plastic grocerybags, and a fast-food drink cupwith a lid and straw.
Watch your videotapescene without the sound.Discuss ways in which youcould change the scene withsound effects. Consider addingmusic or even making up newlines for the actors.
Make a detailed list of allthe sounds you want to createand how you might createthem. Collect any additionalnoisemakers you will need.
Watch the videotape andmake the sounds, adding musicand dialogue at the momentsthey should occur. Rehearseuntil your timing is just right.
Make a tape of your newsoundtrack and play it with
the video.
Ever), sound has a pattern
of vibration.What vibrationsdid you notice in the objectsyou used? What vibrates whenyou tap on the bottle ofwater? What vibrates whenyou blow over the top?
Why do you think it ispossible to make two quitesimilar sounds using very
different objects?
*A Foley artist's word for thebackground noise in a crowdscene. How would you createthat?
14
war
What's the difference between MickeyMouse and Mufasa?They're both cartoonanimals.They both talk. But Mufasa seemsso real. The Lion King filmmakers studiedlions carefully so they could make Mufasalook real. For your next film, The Creaturefrom the Backyard, you will be studyingroly-poly bugs, or if you'd prefer,worms orspiders. After all, you're the director.
You will need: an animalto observe, a notebook, apencil, and lots of patience.
Try to find an outdooranimal so that you can see it inits natural habitat. If not, a pet isOK, too. Sit quietly and
observe your animal for tenminutes.Write in your note-book as many details as youobserve.
Pay careful attention to howyour animal moves. Draw theanimal in several stages ofmotion. Note the time of dayand weather conditions for thisfirst observation. Describe anddraw the animal's habitat
Repeat this observation asecond time at a different timeof day and/or with differentweather. It doesn't have to be
the exact same wormafriend or relative will do. Howdo changes in the environ-ment affect the way youranimal moves?
Based on what you nowknow about your animal, give ita name and a face. Draw a"storyboard" showing youranimal character moving.A storyboard is a group ofsketches drawn in the orderthey will appear in the movie.It's sort of like a comic book.
How did your animalresearch affect the characteryou developed?
How did you alter theanimal's real characteristics indeveloping your cartoonanimal? What did you keep thesame? Why?
18 IS
Et%Et9S ale 9
lit's FEDuck! It's Superman, swooping down fromthe sky! Or is that Peter Pan? Whatever it is,it fliesor at least it looks like it flies!Moviemakers use specialized machines toallow actors or models to "fly." You canmake your own system to simulate flight.
You will need: a broomwith a long handle, two chairs,an action figure or a stuffedanimal, rubber bands, heavyfishing line or string, a plasticlid (like from a coffee can), apaper punch, drinking straws, aspool or two, tape, andscissors.
Suspend the broom handlebetween the two chairs (seeillustration).This will hold yourflight system.
Using the rubber bands andstring, create a supportingharness for your flying figure.Experiment until your figurehangs in the position youwant
c Is your figure balanced inthe harness? Congratulations,you've discovered your figure'scenter of gravity. But it maynot be in the center! Why didyou put the harness whereyou.did?
Punch holes in the plasticlid. Using string, connect theflying figure to the lid so ithangs below the lid.
Design a system that willconnect the plastic lid to asingle string.The string will bethe main cable.
Now be creative. Spoolsand pieces of drinking strawscan be used to build a path fothe main cable to follow.Youwant to be able to control thefigure out of the view of thecamera. Can you design a wa'to raise and lower the figure?
Can you design a way toturn the figure? And whatabout moving the figure acro:the scene?
Would you like to fly? If ycwere the one in the harness,what would you want to knoabout the design of the flyingapparatus?
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I Stunt CarDriversYou've been experiment-ing with forces of motionGravity keeps pulling yourcar toward the earth.Thesteeper the hill, the fasterthe car goes. When it goesover a bump and into theair, gravity pulls it down,but momentum, anotherforce, keeps it travelingforward. A "cannon car"works by applying a strongforce under one side ofthe car, causing it to flip upin the air. Motion is there-fore transferred from thecannon to the car. A mo-ving car eventually slows
down and stops because ofthe friction of its wheelsagainst the track and of thecar body against the air
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e ce es2 What's Walla?To reproduce a soundyou must simulate itspattern of vibration.Different things can beused to create the samepattern.You can see thevibration when the watermoves in a bottle.Whenyou use a tape recorder,you're reproducing avibration, too.You canhear because your earchannels these vibrationsto your eardrum.Thevibrations are amplifiedand travel into the innerear, where they aretranslated into nerveimpulses which the braininterprets as sound.
3 The Creaturefrom the BackyardFrom walking to running,from running to flying, ananimal changes the way itmoves when somethingchanges in its environ-ment. Filmmakers usescientists' knowledge ofanimal movement andbehavior to developconvincing animal charac-ters. In the best animation,a talking cartoon animalstill moves with thedistinct gait of its "cousin"in the backyard.
19
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4 "It's a Bird,It's a ...,It's Flying!"The center of gravity ofan object represents thepoint at which the totalobject is pulled by theforce of gravity. Itinfluences the positionan object takes when it issuspended. Since thispoint is not necessarilythe middle of an object,harnesses must bedesigned to adjust forthis point on an object ora person.The apparatusused to control the flyingmotion of actors in a filmis a complex machinemade up of simple ma-chines working together
V hat a face! With a face
like that, he ought to,,,,7 ___d be in pictures.We all
know him as Chewbacca, Han Solo's
loyal friend in the StarWars movies,but how did special effects artists
create that hairy face we've grown tolove? What materials are makeup andmasks made of? Does matter matter?
For the answers to these and otherchem-mysterious questions, discover ..
How do you createatfrost that never melts?.When can chickensibones come to life? of3 When is a giant bout-der mighty
in size andsmall in weight?What different formsof matter
can you11111
create?
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From start to finish, making the mask forChewbacca requires knowledge of chem-istry.The properties of different forms ofmatter must be understood to createjust the right materialrubbery latex,for examplefor Chewie's hairy head.Special effects chemistry creates the
makeup for blending Chewbacca's mask
into the actor's real face and also createsthe space-age props Chewie uses.
Problem: Your scene takes place in winterwhen the windows are covered with frost, bugyou're filming in the studio under brightlights.The Solution:A solutionan Epsomsalts solution, that is.
You will need: Epsomsalts, a plastic foam cup, hottap water, a spoon, a smallpaintbrush, and dark construc-tion paper
Pour some Epsom salts outof the box and look at themclosely. Study their shapes.
Fill the cup halfway with hotwater
Stir in Epsom salts until theydissolve and you can see alayer of salt collecting at thebottom of the cup.
Dip your brush into the tophalf of the cup and paint thesolution onto the constructionpaperWhat happens as itdries?
Compare the shape of you"frost" to the salts you pourecout of the box.
Why might the window-pane effects created withEpsom salts work better forthe movies than real frost?
Your simulated frost isactually made of crystals. Doyou know how the crystalsare formed? What do youthink crystals are?
How did special effects artists make E.T.'smask look so real? Chemistry.They figuredout how to mix together materials to getthat rubbery, crinkled look. Sound like fun?You can make a chemical reaction in yourown kitchen and make a chickenboneskeleton come to life! "But those bones areso stiff," you say."How can I make them bendand move?" Nothing a special effects artist(you!) can't solve.
You will need: cleanchicken bones, a clear glass jar(like a mayonnaise jar), vinegar,a book about skeletons oranatomy, fishing line, scissors,and tape.
Study the chicken bonescarefully.What properties dothey have that make a goodskeleton for a chicken? Break abone in half What does it looklike inside?
Fill the glass jar abouthalfway with vinegar. Drop inthe bones and let them soakovernight (Larger bones maytake two orthree nights ofsoaking.) How have theychanged by morning? Why?
Try breaking a bone in half.What's different? Do thebones feel heavier or lighterthan before? Which kind ofbones do you think would bebetter for a chicken?
In your book about skel-etons or anatomy, study how askeleton fits together
Dry the bones with a papertowel and build a skeletoncreature out of them. Begin bytaping the ends of a shortpiece of fishing line to one endof each of two bones. Con-tinue building until you haveput all the bones together theway you want them.
Write a story using yourspecial effects skeleton. If youwould like to act out yourstory, attach longer pieces offishing line to the skeleton andto one or two sticks that youcan hold above the skeletonto make it move like a mari-onette.
cor-EAr pRocks
Our superhero dashes through the landslidetossing huge rocks aside. Finally, arriving justin time, our hero catches a mighty boulder inmidair, saving a terrified victim from itscrushing blow.You've seen actors performfeats of strength even more amazing thanboulder-tossing. Can they really be thatstrong? To find out more, set up this "BigRock Challenge" with your friends.
You will need: a yardstick,string, tape, a real rock (2 or 3inches across), an assortmentof large plastic-foam pieces leftover from packing cartons, andtoothpicks.
The idea of the challenge isto create the biggest plastic-foam boulder possible withthe same mass as the rock. Abalance, made from theyardstick, will be used tocompare the real rock to thespecial effects boulder.
Build a balance like the oneshown above to compare yourprop rock to the real thing.
With a piece of string andsome tape, suspend the rockfrom the I -inch mark at oneend of the stick. Hang all of theboulders you create from the35-inch mark at the other end.
Build your first boulderfrom plastic foam.You canfasten pieces together withtoothpicks or tape and tear
chunks out to lessen the sizeor improve the look.Thenhang your boulder oppositethe rock on the balance. Addor subtract foam until theyardstick is parallel to the floorand the two have nearly thesame mass.
What clues does yourplastic-foam boulder give youabout the rocks used in themovies?
Does your prop lookenough like a boulder to bebelievable? What else wouldyou need to do to make thisspecial effect do the job?
What other materials ordesigns could you use to builda better boulder and beat theBig Rock Challenge? You mighttry papier-mache, hollowobjects, or different kinds offoam.
How would you need tohandle this prop rock for theaction to look realistic?
4. 9''2
(a Maig" Scientist's
"Mad" scientist? Get real. Real-life scientistsare pretty much like the rest of us exceptthat they have a lot of experiments to showyou, some of which can make great specialeffects.
For"secret potions:' youwill need: cut-up redcabbage, an adult, boilingwater; a strainer; three emptyjars, lemon juice, and liquidsoap.Ask the adult to boilsome water for you and helpyou put some cut-up redcabbage into the boiling water.Let the cabbage sit for a whileuntil the water has cooled offand turned nice and pink. Donot touch the water untilthe adult tells you it'scool enough.Then strain offthe juice.You can ask the adult(nicely) to go away now so heor she won't get in On thesecrets behind yoUr specialeffects.
Arrange three empty jars,putting a little lemon juice inone, a little soap in another; andnothing in the third. Pour somecabbage juice into each jar andsee what happens. Do notdrink any of your potions.Blech! Worse than carrots.
Why does the cabbagejuice react differently to somesubstances than to others?Trymixing the cabbage juice withother things you find in thekitchen, like baking powder orvinegar; and see what happens.
For"mysterious ooze," trymixing cornstarch and waterin a cup. Start with I table-spoon of cornstarch andgradually add dribbles of water;then a little more cornstarch,then a little water; until you getjust the ooziness you want. Isthe ooze a solid or a liquid?"Eeew! It's oozing across thetable! Somebody stop it!"Food coloring will create arainbow of different oozes.
By the way, these mad-scientist activities involve realscience.What are the featuresof the things you created?How are the new creationsdifferent from the substancesyou combined to make them?
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to helpyou find
a play or
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is it differentfrom
readinga book)
Wheredo you think
special3QV
effectsmight
be needed?What
makeupand
like to playyourse/P
propswould
you need/Whatrole would
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I A FrostedWindowpaneYour frosted window-panes never melt becausethey're made of Epsomsalts, not frozen water.Epsom salts are a sub-stance with very differentproperties. First, youmade a solutiona soliddissolved in a liquid.Thenthe solid crystals re-formed when the water inthe solution evaporated.The crystals on the paperhave the same shape asthe ones you poured outof the box.
IS
i
e cenes2 A Bone to PickA chemical reactionoccurs between thebones and the vinegar,producing a new mate-rial with different proper-ties (elasticity) from theoriginals.There is achemical in the bonesthat combines with thevinegar to get this effect.When you break thechicken bone in halfbefore it is soaked, youcan see little holes inside.A bird's bones havehollow spaces inside thatmake them lighter,making it easier for thebird to fly.
3 Prop RocksWhen the balance islevel, the prop rock hasthe same mass as thereal rock. At first glance,the obvious difference issize. However, from ascientific standpoint, thedifference is one ofdensity. Density is aproperty of materialsthat describes theamount of mass in aparticular amount ofspace. Most rocks andmetals have a lot of massin a small space, or a highdensity. Prop boulders,on the other hand, aremade from low- densitymaterials.
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23
1
4 MadScientist's Lab"Secret potions": Cab-bage juice is an "indica-tor," a chemical thatchanges to differentcolors when exposed toother chemicals such as"acids," like the lemonjuice, or'bases," like thesoap.You performed a"pH test," one of manykinds of tests used bychemists."Mysteriousooze": Chemists call yourooze a "suspension."Thecornstarch does notdissolve in the water, sothe ooze is not a solu-tion. It is neither a solidnor a liquid. It hasproperties of both. Bothcreations are differentforms of matter
C Aan you imagine Luke
Skywalker without his__di: buddies R2D2 and C3PO?
Or Captain Picard without Data?
Computers and robots star in manyof our favorite movies and shows, butdid you know that they're just as
important behind the scenes? With
computer animation, special effectshave become so mind-boggling, itwould make C3PO blow a fuse. But
not you.Turn the page to enter theworld oE
A
animated creature
When is ta he perfect
,too good to be true?Whoore--a s circuits
rn vie cow.boy or aanimator?3 What do
make youreal? an *mage look
computer
as 4 How Can you * i ,dit .1,44.1, d. rUneycootoguestionst Findroutirnorelontthsqls?cEmmTtzcomputerail
hand?
The difference between yourbrainpower and C3 PO's means thatyou (and other scientists) can
understand what goes on in our worldand you (and other engineers and special
effects artists) can use that knowledge
to create things.The more you knowabout light, color, electricity, and
computer technology, the more high-tech your special effects can become.
21 ?
MEM.
Computer-developed images allowmoviemakers to film adventures usingcreatures and scenes they've created fromtheir imaginations.With the computer, onecreature can be copied to make an entirecrowd. But do real animals or even twinsever look exactly alike?You can explore thechallenge moviemakers had in making thewildebeest stampede in the The Lion King.
You will need: a pictureof a wildebeest from acomputer clip -art program ora book. (NA/hat?You can't find awildebeest? Okay, anotheranimal will do.)You'll also needa photocopier and scissors.
Use a computer to copythe art five times and put sixof the same animals in thesame scene. If you don't have acomputer, you can use aphotOcopier to make sixcopies of the animal.Then cutthem out Six identical ads orflyers can be used, too.
Move the identical imagesaround to try and create arealistic looking scene (e.g.,animals in a herd, people in acrowd, or plants in a garden).Add additional scenery usingthe computer graphicsprogram or markers. Can youmake the scene look real?
Like scientists, moviemakersstudy the differences amonganimals, even among those of
the same species, that arisefrom inherited traits andchanges caused by injury anddevelopment Use thecomputer to make alterationsto each image, such as thelook of the skin, or slightlymove the position of some:part of the image. How doyour effects help improve thereal look of the group?
If you are using copier orcut-out images, use markers,white correction fluid, or evenscissors to create changes inthe perfect copies. Whichchanges are the most effectivefor a more true -to -life look?
Computers can createperfect images, but whathappens if they are too goodto be true?
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Howdy, pardnenWhat do cowboys andcomputers have in common?The same thingthat lets the computer respond when youmove the joystick is what lets the moviecowboy always hit the can on the fence postcircuitslYou can make your own special effectusing a simple circuit.
You will need: twoI 8-inch pieces of insulatedcopper wire, two flashlightbulbs, two size-D batteries,masking tape, markers, scissors,index cards, glue, and oneadult. -. .
Use the scissors to peel theinsulation off the ends of thewires. HoW can you connect abulb, wires, and a battery tomake the bulb light?Try itdifferent ways until you'veshown your adult how itworks.When you succeed,you've made a circuit! Draw apicture of how it worked.
Now for the special effect.Your scene requires that lightsgo on mysteriously, go offmysteriously, or blink mysteri-ously. Create a story using thisidea.
25 is
S.
Draw and cut out sceneryand actors and glue them toyour index cards.' .
Wire your circuit so thatthe battery and wires can't beseen. (You can hide thembehind your set) For a biggereffect, add an extra bulb andbattery.Then play out thescene with your new circuit
Here are a few questions tothink about What are theparts of the circuit you built?What does each part do?What special effects have youseen that might use circuits?
Why would circuits be usefulfor the effect?
The next time you see thatcowboy shoot a hole in eachtin can without a single miss,think about circuits.When theswitch is pulled, the cans go ofibefore you can say "WhoopeeTiYiYo."The cowboy doesn'thave real bullets so it doesn'tmatter where he aims!
rfrc-45-1;°'104
Ever look closely at the printout from acomputer or the image on a screen in avideo arcade? Can you see the pattern ofsquares? If you have a computer,try printingout the same word in small letters and againin very large letters. See those squares again?Computer animators want as much detail aspossible to make their images realistic, butthey're limited by those same patterns ofsquares. How has technology overcomethese limits? Let's find out.
You will need: a simpleblack-and-white picture that isclear and easy to recognize (ablurry image with lots of graysand detail won't work well);two pieces of graph paper, onewith 16 squares per inch andone with 100 squares per inch;a pencil; tape; two paper clips;and a window or other lightsource.
Clip the I 6-square graphpaper to the front of thepicture.Tape the two pieces ofpaper to the window so thatthe light shines through.
Look at each square of thegraph paper and decide:a Is more than 50 percent ofthe square of the pictureshaded? If so, color the graphsquare black.
b Is less than 50 percent ofthe square of the picture
shaded? If so, leave the graphsquare white.c Is the square of the pictureshaded, but only lightly? If so,leave the graph square white.Continue until all yoursquares are colored, or leftwhite, using this system.
Study your image up closeand at a distance.Whatfeatures in the originalpicture can you also identifyfrom the graph paper?
Try the same activity butthis time use the I 00-squaregraph paper. Compare thetwo images.What would youneed to do to make yourimage even more realistic?What developments incomputer technology wouldbe important to this process?
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Give Metit 6:6,.\- a HandIn Jurassic Park, computer animators tookfossil skeletons and brought them to life withterrifying results. Can you do the same thingwith your own hand? Here are threeanimation problems that computers cansolve.
You will need: a photo-copier, a pencil, paper, a latexor tight-fitting glove, smallpieces of cardboard, scissors,paper clips, and masking tape.
Make a photocopy of yourhand. Compare the copy toyour real hand.Write downthe similarities and differencesbetween the two.What wouldyou need to do to thephotocopy to make it morelike the real hand?
Draw a picture of a smallpart of your hand (about twosquare inches), putting in asmuch detail as possible.
Put a latex or tight-fittingglove on one hand. Lay thegloved hand on the tablewithout moving it.What is itabout the gloved hand thatmakes it no longer seem real(or alive)? Compare it to yourdrawing,
How does a real handmove?
Use the small pieces ofcardboard, scissors, paper clips.and masking tape to build yourown hand skeleton. Cut thebones out of cardboard.
Connect the bones by tapingeach end of an unfolded paperclip to each bone so that theycan move.
Write a story about a handUsing the photocopy, thegloved hand, and the movableskeleton. Act out yourstoryfor your friends.
Which hand did you use inwhich scene? Why did youchoose the one you did?
°1 '' Beethoven's ThirdWhat do you think about when you listen to different kinds of
music? See if your library has a cassette tape of tchaikovsky or
Wynton Marsalis or some other composer or musician you've
41) t, heard of but neverlistened to Compare their music to that of
ine to
igyour favorite groups What movie sceneswould you imag ..
iiii go with the music? Listen to the soundtrack from a movier 4
SIMI ryou've seen and notice the music they played dunng a special
,
effect How does the music add to the effect? ...._ ,IF
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I Too Good toBe TrueIn the making of The LionKing, creating a stampedewas a challenge. If thewildebeests were to lookor move too much alikewe would guess that theywere made by computer.Careful observation revealsthat animals of the samespecies, identical twins, and
even the right and left sidesof a face are not exactcopies.Though the com-puter allows the generationof perfect-match images,they are indeed too goodto be true.
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9 I
S eases2 HappyTrails,Mr. CircuitYour circuit includes abattery, which gives itpower; the wire throughwhich the energy travels;and the bulb, which usesthe energy to producelight A circuit will workonly when it is con-nected without anybreaks.When youdisconnect the wire fromthe battery, you'returning off the switch.Circuits are importantfor special effects, likeexplosions, that must beactivated from a distance.Elaborate computerspecial effects arepossible only because ofcircuits.
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
3 A SquareImageComputer technologyhas developed to enableus to make smaller andmore detailed images.Themore squares per inch inyour graph paper, thebetter the quality of yourimage.Today's computerstransmit images allowingfor thousands of squaresper inch.This can makesomething two-dimen-sional appear three-dimensional.A computer-animated characterrequires this high densityof information to lookreal.
2
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4 Give Me a HandComputers have a lot tooffer. Unlike the two-dimensional image madeby a photocopier, you canscan all sides of a realobject and make a three-dimensional picture onthe computer.To make agloved hand look real, atechnique called texturemapping adds intricatedetail to the surface of anobject. Models like yoirskeleton can be con-nected to computers sothat the motions youmake can be duplicatedand altered.The computercan even combine allthree of the activities youdid into one realisticmoving image. Manymovies use a combinationof the above techniques.
GlossaryanimationA sequence of drawingsviewed quickly one afteranother, giving the illusion ofcontinuous motion.
blue screenA blue- or other color -litscreen used as a backdrop forfilming action that will later becombined with a backgroundscene that is shot separately.
computer animationAnimation created with theaid of a computer that cansimulate realistic motion,lighting, and color
depthHow near or far away some-thing is.
illusionAn erroneous perception ofreality.
matteA device or piece of film thatallows part of a film frame tobe blacked out so that aseparate image can be addedlater
matte paintingA realistic painting that iscombined with live-actionscenes.
perceptionA process in which a sensoryorgan, such as the eye, feeds
the brain information aboutwhat it sees and the braininterprets that informationbased on relevance to currentevents as well as previousexperiences.
persistence of visionThe perception of rapid flickeras a steady light, a principlethat makes movies seemrealistic.
perspectiveThe illusion of depth formedwhen familiar objects are seenwith different sizes.
relative motionThe change of position of onething in relation to another
special effectAny shot designed to createan illusion on film.
stop motionThe technique of making aninanimate object come to lifeby filming it one frame at atime, gradually moving itbetween exposures.
2825
Andersen,Yvonne.Make Your Own Animated
Movies and Videotapes. 2d ed.Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.,1991.
Ardley, Neil.
The Science Book of Color.
NewYork: Harcourt BraceJovanovich, 1991.
Conklin,Thomas.Meet Steven Spielberg. NewYork: Random House, 1994.
Exploratorium TeacherInstitute. The ExploratoriumScience Snackbook San
Francisco:The Exploratorium,199 I .
McCarthy, Robert E.Secrets of Hollywood SpecialEffects. Boston: Focal Press,1992.
Platt, Richard.
Film. NewYork:Alfred A.Knopf, 1992.
Samonek, Michael E.
Special Effects Cookbook.
Narberth, PA: MES/FXPublishing, 1992.
Scott, Elaine.
Look Alive: Behind the Scenes of
an Animated Film. NewYork:Morrow Junior Books, 1992.
Shay, Don, and Jody Duncan.
The Making ofJurassic Park anAdventure 65 Million Years inthe Making. NewYork:Ballantine Books, 1993.
Smith,Thomas G.Industrial Light & Magic: The Art
of Special Effects. NewYork:Ballantine Books, 1986.
The Smithsonian Institution.Science Activities. NewYork:
U.S. Department of EducationOffice of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI)
National Library of Education (NLE)Educational Ii08011fCeti Information Center (ERIC)
REPRODUCTION RELEASE(Specific Document)
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ef-revis isPtikAAN.J 61JULt
Author(s): ref Sce)(el f V a 1 tA-6;
Corporate Source:
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