Stop Motion Animation of Falling Object

 
For my stop motion animation, I decided to do a ball drop, represented by a bottle cap, on a cork board (in our very own room 243). As one could guess, I used push pins to suspend my paper platforms and the bottle cap onto the board. I used two different pieces of paper to represent the elastic platform at the bottom one to show it's neutral state, and the other to suggest a heavy ball pressing it down and the same flipped vertically to suggest the release of pressure on the platform. I used one piece of paper in the center to draw the path of action on it; I later edited it out on Photoshop (it's pretty obvious editing). I did not use a traditional tripod to hold the camera up instead I held it up with a pile of boxes. The boxes did not provide a steady base resulting in a shaky cam effect that I thought added a certain texture to the clip and decided not to correct.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe: WALL-E

    The film, WALL-E takes us from a desolate, dying Earth littered with skyscrapers of waste to an interstellar vessel inhabited by overly convenient machines and the out of shape, lazy remnants of the human race in a universe of Hi-Tech whimsy. The protagonist, WALL-E, finds himself drawn to a robot scout named, EVA as she arrives on Earth to find her objective, a living plant specimen. Upon acquiring her objective, EVA rendezvouses with the spacecraft that brought her to Earth while an infatuated WALL-E hitches onboard as well. Before going too in-depth, I would like to focus on the deviances in physical laws that this film uses to push the character animation and to show the amount of sophistication the technology has to offer. The most important observations I made dealt with the improbability of many characters’ movements, the advent of Levitation and “Tractor Beams,” and holographic projections capable of being projected onto the eye-level atmosphere.

    Something seemed strange about WALL-E’s movements right from the beginning of the story. The little box shaped robot with tracks reminiscent to that of a tank moved around with the zippiness and zest comparable to an organic creature. How could such a rigid looking thing move like that? Only through a slower frame rate did it become clear that there wasn’t any turning motion of the tracks. WALL-E was able to turn in full degree range with ease and there was no evidence of any effort put into his turns. A comparison to the mechanics of a tank’s ability to turn made me think that WALL-E must use the same system; which is to stop the left track while the right one keeps moving resulting in a left turn and vice versa. However, upon closer inspection it became apparent that that method was rarely used. Sometimes WALL-E could make a sharp turn without any movement of the tracks. It was as if inertia hardly affected him. 

Further analysis of character movement brought up the way in which the pet cockroach jumps. It seemed as if it could jump with an extreme ease as it did not seem to need to make an anticipation gesture most creature need to do in order to prepare for a leap. It hopped vertically in a way that seemed more like a strobe light than a bouncing motion. It’s horizontal jumps are as likely as the vertical, looking more like a spaceship jumping into hyperspace (or in the case of the cockroach, a twinkie).

Another anomaly encountered in the film comes from the morbidly obese future human beings Wall-E comes to save from their own sloth and apathy of the world around them. These descendents of modern humans are said to have lost bone mass over time and seem like they weigh an average of 320 pounds each. However, after generations lacking any movement that required them to sustain their own weight,  they seem to be able get the hang of walking rather easily. People today can struggle for years trying to regain mobility after an impairment. Furthermore, it usually boosts the process if one is under the care of a physical therapist. It seems to suggest that perhaps gravity on Earth and in their interstellar spacecraft is not as rigorous as in our present.

Many of the robotic characters, including EVA, have the ability to levitate without any indication of any propulsion system. In the case of EVA, one can see that she has a perfectly smooth, oval shape with no vents or jets built into her frame. In the universe of the film, levitation seems to be a much simpler act that does not require any system producing a force strong enough to lift an object into mid air. It almost looks as if the robots choose to ignore gravity. Furthermore, these robots can fly in a horizontal direction fast enough to temporarily produce a sonic boom.

However, one can deduce that the slightly vertical wavering motion the robots make is similar to that of someone holding two magnets with the same polarity pointed to each other will push each other away. It is possible that in the future of this universe, negative mass has been discovered and applied as a means to cause an object to repel gravitational pull; resulting in levitation.

Beyond levitation, some security bots in the spaceship have the ability to use what seems to be a “Tractor Beam” to grab objects and even other robots with ease. It produces a red beam that surrounds the object in an aura-like energy field. This further shows how the robots in this universe are capable of bending the laws of gravity at will. 

    One can begin to build another hypothesis upon the “Tractor Beams” used by many of the robots in the film. The beams produce a near opaque field of light which seem pretty natural; except for the fact that light needs particles in order to be seen. A look at the uses of the tractor beam whilst onboard the ship reveals that there are no particles (i.e dust, aerosol) that would make light visible. Another example of visible light lies in the use of digital projections the humans use on their hover chairs. These projectors work as they should; they project an image. Except they do not need a solid surface for the images to be seen, the light stops in mid air (without any dense atmosphere). So, it is clear that light does not need any solid surfaces to be seen.

    There are other anomalies to be discussed in this film. There is the question as to how WALL-E can fit his limbs, tracks and head into his body when he hides inside of himself. Then of course there is the moment in the film in which WALL-E and EVA are almost sucked out into the vacuum of space as it would in our universe. However, it seems like no other objects are affected by the vacuum. Those are definitely topics worth exploring. But for now it seems like enough has been covered to show how the creators of the world of WALL-E played with a few principles of physics to shape a more whimsical world and to create a bit of conflict to make a more interesting story.

Outline of the First Term Paper

Introduction

A. Introduce the film, Wall-E.
B. The film, Wall-E, has several aspects that demonstrate a slightly warped sense of physics intended to give a morbid world a bit of whimsicality.

Body

1. The Improbability of Some Character's Movements
 - Wall-E can turn without his tracks actually moving.
 - He can also shuffle sideways which seems quite difficult for a robot with a stiff structure.
 - Wall-E's pet cockroach can jump with seemingly no anticipating motion to prepare for any leap.
 - The incredibly obese people who live in the BnL ship are able to walk with a diminished bone mass and an over-abundance of fat.

2.  Levitation and "Tractor Beams"
 - Eva can inexplicably levitate and fly without the use of any propulsion system.
 - Many robots can use a "tractor beam" to pick up objects and even restrain other robots.
 - Counter Hypothesis: Perhaps the robots that levitate are using an anti-gravity component that can push them away from gravitational pull.

3. Atmosphere is Capable of Sustaining Projections.
 - The images projected from the hover chairs the humans ride around in stop in mid-air without a solid surface.
 - The aforementioned "tractor beams" produce light that are almost opaque.

Conclusion

- Other anomalies in the way the physics in the world of Wall-E seem odd include:
      - A seam leading out to the vacuum of space that affects only some characters.
      - Although Wall-E fits his limbs and head inside his body, it seems highly improbable that he
      would be able to do so.
- The oddities serve the character's appeal and help to add conflict to the story.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling