Reverse Video Reference of Walking

CLIPS A ● B ● C ● D ● E

...the movements were very difficult to imitate. I especially had trouble with Clip A and D and just did what I can.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Realistic and Unrealistic Physics in "The Triplets of Belleville"

Through the academic discipline of physics, not only is it useful to apply it to the real world and universe in order to understand how everything functions around us, but it can also be of use when applied to media. By knowing how physics works in the real world, the natural science can be applied in the world of 2D animation by representing physics in a realistic manner. However, 2D animation does not have to be limited to the laws of physics we use in life. The rules of physics can be bent and broken in the world of animation as a means of adding a sense of drama, humor, or just making the world far more entertaining than what we can experience in real life. One example of unexplainable physics can be seen in the Belgium-Quebec-France adventure film, "The Triplets of Belleville" by Sylvain Chomet. It uses a mixture of a realistic representation of a fantasy representation of physics through various scientific concepts such as balance, falling, and the actions of characters and structures in the world of Belleville.

One of the most notable aspects in Chomet's film is that the characters are designed with proportions of different shapes and sizes ranging from various kinds of squares to circles that make you question how they are able to move or be able to support their body. Most of the characters such as the grandmother, Madame Souza and the triplets appear to maintain a balanced pose, but there are plenty of over exaggerations in some of the other characters' physique, especially in the cyclists. Portions of their thighs and calves are enlarged while the rest of their body are literally as thin as twigs or sticks. Take Champion, one of the cyclists and the grandson of the main character, as an example. He not only has over exaggerated limbs, but much of his body is leaning forwards into a curve. The curved form of Champion's body is not only when he grasps the handles of a bicycle but very close to being apart of his usual posture. Yet, he manages to walk just fine without using a cane to increase stability and base of support. If he were a real person, he may possibly close to tipping over without a third leg to support himself. Champion's design is made in a way which appears that he is leaning all the time as though he were toting around an invisible heavy backpack. A far more unexplainable character is a waiter who appears in one scene. The waiter literally bends nearly half of his body backwards while walking around and serving guests. Somehow, his base of support is able to support his posture. He does it in stride and never manages to completely fall over. Being able to bend around looks to be natural for the character.

Despite the odd shapes of the characters in the film, the animators input realistic physics in many areas of the film like the use of forces upon objects and people. objects move because a force acts upon them. There are many examples in the film that could be pointed out for using Newton's law of inertia. The fat dog, Bruno, is often animated with many frames to follow-through. Bruno is one of the main characters seen throughout the film and while in some points he may not be moving, his tiny ears and tail can be seen flapping about whenever he skids or stops abruptly. Not only does he stop suddenly or slides to make his ears and tail move, there are different scenes where different forces are acting upon him. In a dream sequence, Bruno sits still on top of a moving train. As the train accelerates, the wind blowing in Bruno's face increases, causing his ears and lips to flap open. Outside of the dream, he has similar experiences by standing still and watching in shock as a bomb explodes. The bomb's explosion is strong enough to send a blast of wind in Bruno's direction. The force acting upon the dog sends his ears, tail, and mouth flapping. When Bruno does move, his head moves around enough to send his ears swinging around. They continue to remain in motion even when Bruno stops moving his head for a short moment, creating a drag. What denies forces in the film is not a character, but oddly designed structure in the film. There is a long scene featuring a strangely proportioned, flat-in-width boat sailing across the ocean. Despite the harsh weather blowing at the boat, it manages to continue to stay upright throughout the whole sail.

Falling and acceleration is demonstrated in a few small parts of the movie such as the chase and the shower of dead frogs. After one of the triplets tosses a bomb into the lake, the explosion sends hundreds of frogs flying into the air. It is never seen visually how high they flew, but it is indicated it may have had a high apex considering the amount of time it took for the frogs to accelerate and land. The impact exerted from the frogs is not very strong since they are small, light creatures in the movie that could be likened to a squirrel. Another display of acceleration is when a car is driving up a slanted road during the chase scene, but some how manages to tumble backwards. As it flips over and over down the road, the force pulling the tumbling car causes it to slow out.

At some points of the film, the animators manage to properly follow the action-reaction principle, in which every action force receives an equal reaction force in the opposite direction. One of the triplets is seen in the bathroom, struggling to comb her long hair straight. She uses a strong amount of force with the comb and once reaching the ends of her hair, what appears to be an equal amount of force is exerted back onto her. The moment she releases the comb, a lock of her hair is sent bouncing back to her face. Although unrealistic, one scene shows a mafia member being able to drag a whole car with him as he tips over, exerting force on the vehicle as he moves. Another example is during the big final chase, where all the members of the French mafia are seen with a gun in a hand. When firing a bullet from a gun, gunpowder is ignited behind the bullet and creates pressure. By creating pressure, it can cause the person handling the gun to recoil. Different firearms can give the user a different amount of recoil. A member of the French mafia has his hand make small recoils after firing a small pistol, which should be light and quick to use. Sometime later, an unexplainable force suddenly has his arm recoil too far back as though he were firing an even larger gun. During the chase scene, another mafia member is seen using an even larger firearm: a bazooka. The recoil for firing a bazooka was large but over exaggerated, sending both the mafia member and the car he was riding flying backwards. Much of the chase scene towards the end of the movie shows many displays of unrealistic physics by denying the action-reaction principle. A car that appears to be driving at full speed crashes into a stroller with a baby in it. Despite what should be a large amount of force colliding into the stroller, the stroller does not budge and stays in one spot. At the near end of the chase, Madame Souza makes a move similar to the stroller by sticking her shoe out. The car accelerates at full speed towards the little grandmother and "trips" over the shoe, flying throughout the air and into a boat. The collision only makes Madame Souza's shoe shift slightly, but she stands safely in one spot after taking on the car on her own.

After watching and analyzing "The Triplets of Belleville" closely, it feels as though half the world of Belleville's physics is realistic while the other half is unrealistic or using physics you would experience in a fantasy. One moment, it can feel real and other times, nothing makes sense, especially during the action of the ending's chase scene. Yet while the animators brought in unrealistic physics and created their own world different from real life, it does not take away from the entertainment factor of the film. Following too closely with the real world's principle would likely be unable to capture the excitement that the original film had and through animation, the filmmakers are capable of accomplishing actions that we are unable to do in real life. And while the character designs may appear strange and overdoing it, they are interesting characters to look at. Some may even carry their own charm. By mixing real with fantasy, it keeps the viewers entertained by being able to watch a different world that appears and functions differently from what we are used to in the real world.

Outline of the First Term Paper

Physics in the movie, "The Triplets of Belleville"

I. Introduction - realistic physics and fantasy
a. Physics in the real world and how it can be represented realistically in animation
b. Unexplained physics in an animated feature.
c. Describe and briefly introduce "The Triplets of Belleville" world as an example. One moment, physics is represented realistically and at the same time, it uses fantasy.
d. Thesis statement.

II. Balance - the characters, structures
a. Many characters would lack balance and be unable to hold the top portion of their bodies up or move very unrealistically because of their proportion
b. A lot of over exaggeration in physique, especially in cyclists
c. One character, a waiter, who literally bends over backwards to satisfy guests
d. The fat dog, Bruno, at one point, cannot carry itself well down the stairs because of its large weight a stick-like legs
e. A boat that is flat on the bottom and larger on the top is somehow able to sail upright without overturning

III. Falling, Speed
a. A bomb explodes, sending hundreds of dead frogs falling. How heavy should the impact be and how fast should they be falling?
b. At one point, a character is heavy enough to drag a vehicle falling down with them
c. A car ends up tumbling backwards repeatedly, accelerating speed as it goes

IV. Action-Reaction - it follows the laws of physics at some points, but towards the end in the big final chase, the laws of physics are most noticeably denied.
a. One of triplets using a strong amount of force to comb her hair has an equal amount of force exerted back on her.
b. Noticeable small recoils after large man fires a gun. But later seen to have his arm recoil too far back near the end of the chase.
c. A bazooka is strong enough to send both the man using it and the car flying back.
d. Somehow, a baby stroller is able to stop a car and have it get crushed. Sticking a wooden shoe out can also "trip" a car and send it flying.

V. Conclusion
a. Summarize points
b. Restate thesis

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

Assignment #6: Stop Motion Animation of Falling

For this assignment, I used a Canon Powershot A630 to shoot each photo of the ball. In each photo, I moved the ball lower and lower to change the positions. I later imported the photos to my laptop and combined them to make animated GIF sequence on Adobe Photoshop CS 6. I ended up cutting out many frames while editing it. I repeated the ball bounce several times in the video. While doing this assignment, I looked back on our lecture on falling objects as a reference and videos.