Stop-Motion Character Animation

 Let me first say, I definitely have an even greater appreciation for Ray Harryhausen!

 Even though I am not satisfied with my result, I still enjoyed the process. I first tried thinking of a short story. Then design and molded characters and props. I tried to find a location in my room that I could control the lighting as much as possible. Then I chose how to stage it. I used my mirror to capture a visual of what I wanted to duplicate and tried my best to mimic it in my characters. Originally there was much more to this animation, but after try and try and try again, there was always something I either forgot to move, something fell and wasn't put in the right place...all these little problems that once they occurred you had to start over from frame one. Extremely frustrating, but a good experience.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

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The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

The World Of Megamind Broken Down Into Physics

Megamind is a 3D full length animated film created by Dreamworks in 2010. It follows an Alien super-villain , Megamind, who recently defeated his fellow alien superhero nemesis, Metro-man, and is now trying to find purpose in his life without a worthy villain to fight. The story takes place on Earth, and therefore for the most part stand by our laws of physics. However, there should be some exceptions expected to suspend belief for the super powers that are displayed by Megamind and Metro-man.

                The law of gravity, which for the sake of the story should be broken for Metro-man's ability to fly, doesn't mean it  should be suspended in disbelief for other normal instances. For example, in the opening and ending scene, which were the same scene from different shots, Megamind is falling to what seems to be his death. Being based on Earth, the pull of gravity should not affect him any differently than anyone else since he does not have the power of flight and is not using any means of resistance. He is in a state of free fall. I've watched the scene several times trying to figure out the timing. Using the buildings around him as a distance guide, in one shot Megamind falls roughly 20 Stories in one second of a slow motion scene.  At first I thought if played at actual speed, he would be zooming down too fast, however I then realized he had been falling for possibly more than 3 seconds  in real time before I was able to start counting the levels of stories he was passing per second. Therefore his terminal velocity may have been met and the higher speed would make sense. However I'm sure there were still some tweaking going on, because his falling speed didn't seem to change when the shot went from slow motion to regular speed. Also he was able to somehow lift himself up enough in freefall to grab the gun falling a couple of feet above him. Not to mention his hand and feet movements were moving too fast in slow motion for it too possibly make sense in real time.

                Another scene in regards to the pull of gravity occured when Megamind's and Metro-man's pods came to earth. Similar to an asteroid, the pods came from outer space crashing into earth. Not only did the pods manage not to burn up while entering Earth's atmosphere, but it avoided the asteroid like impact. The size and speed of the pod would have created a crater in the earth upon impact and killed both passengers inside. Instead what occurred was essentially a ball bounce and a skid.  Megamind's pod dropped to the earth and bounced until it found its resting place in a nearby prison.  As far as a bounce goes it had a nice slow in and out/path of action/timing, but that would only work with a more flexible material like rubber, that was not going at light year speed. As for Metro-man, his pod settled on earth way too gracefully; with a bounce and skid without a trace of damage left behind.

                Weight and Mass  was another issue to take into account for this film. There is a scene where Metro-man  juggles three babies. Now first one would have to consider  juggling babies as a normal thing to do. Second, one  would have to imagine what that would look like. One of the factors  that comes to mind is the weight and mass of the babies.  Babies are fairly heavy and flexible in their tiny bodies. This means when they are going through the fall cycle they are expected  to stretch and squash for implication of those two factors. Instead their fall appears to not come down with enough force because its contact point is too stiff.  They squash, but with the consistency of a light bouncy ball. A more significant squash with overlapping action would have given these babies a more believable portrayal of their mass and lively bodies. In my opinion, a reason the animator may have chosen to use less squash is to ease the baby into a settle at the contact point, making Metro-man's juggling appear easy.

                Another mass issue comes up in Megamind's big fight scene at the end. In this scene Megamind is inside a massive robotic machine fighting his new nemesis Titan. This several stories high robot is running rampant around the city in quick and fairly smooth movements. However, his gigantic robotic suit made of metal would actually be very heavy and it's movements would be rigid in comparison to the flexibility and smooth flow it displays. The Mass of the object is not matching the correct movement/rhythm of its kind.

                Following Newton's law of inertia-An object remains at rest unless acted upon  by an unbalanced force. This is a rule that is followed consistently throughout the film. It helps give this world of superheroes coexisting with humans on Earth a sense of verisimilitude. A scene that could be used as an example of this is where baby Megamind is still in his stationary pod, then all of a sudden his pod is sent off and baby Megamind is thrust against the seat of his pod when it unexpectedly fires off into space.  Baby Megamind was the object at rest that was acted upon.  The pod shot up into space, forcing Megamind down into his seat.

                 Lastly, For every action there is a reaction.  Yet another rule that is always constant throughout the entirety of this film especially in Megmind's final fight scene. For every incoming force, a punch or hit from his enemy there was a reaction; a fall back. Sometimes there were several actions in a row; an initial hit, the impact, the reaction, and a secondary, sometimes third or fourth reaction. The relationship between all objects is believable. When Megamind is hit and sent flying off because of Titan's super-power punch, his body is sent at the right speed and even position. A hit with a lot of force behind it is not going to just make the object stumble a bit, it's going to knock them off their feet, in this case flying off (again it was a super-power punch so suspension of disbelief is acceptable for Megamind to be sent flying off). Then when Megamind hits a wall or the ground after the punch there is an equal amount of force in the action and the reaction to connect them together. It is always balanced.

                Over all this film and its regards to physics was extremely well done and not to mention highly entertaining. The suspension of disbelief for superhero powers was not hard to accept, especially since for the most part everything else follows the rules of physics. Finding flaws in the physics was a bit harder than I thought in this film because it was not an over the top breaking of rules like other animations have. Instead many scenes were masked by having  switching camera shots, areas where suspension of disbelief occurred and by containing so much realism in the movements, the environment,  and other tiny details. It all accumulated to making the film feel incredibly real regardless of it being computer animated with.  I was especially impressed with the action and reaction effect of the wind on the characters. Just a small element that added to the realism of the environment  and as far as the action reaction aspect it felt correct and consistent in direction and speed on whatever it affected. As for the flaws that I did find, they could be justified,  for either a comedic or dramatic entertainment. I do not believe any of these were accidents. I think they were just slight exaggerations to improve the story of a scene.

Term Paper Outline

Outline Paper
Introduction
1. Megamind
2. Superhero Metro-man is an alien with super powers that can defy Earth's laws of Physics. However despite supposedly being bound to the Law's of Physics, Megamind and the citizens of Metrocity  also show their own defiance to the rules.

Gravity
1. opening falling scene- it is in slow motion, however when shown at a side view, Megamind falls past dozens of stories high in less than a second, while still in slow motion. If it takes 3.5 seconds to fall 20 stories at regular speed, and he is falling at this rate in slow motion, shown at actual speed he would be rocketing to the ground.
2. The Pull of gravity on Megamind's and Metroman's Pods as they came into earth would have been strong enough to obliterate them and whatever they impacted.  Megamind's pod had a nice bounce/path of action/timing, but that would only work with a more flexible material like rubber, that was not going at lightyear speed. As for Metroman, his pod settled on earth way too gracefully.

Weight/Mass
1.  The weight of the babies Metroman juggles, as if one could juggle babies, is lost. They are to airy and do not come down with enough force. Needs more squash in order to convey the mass. -Prob less effect of mass to show ease in Metroman's juggling ability
2.  Megamind's big fight scene at the end is full of fast pace action however, his gigantic robotic suit made of strong metals would actually be very heavy and it's movements would be rigid in comparison to the flexibility and smooth flow it displays. The Mass of the object is not matching the correct movement/rhythm of its kind.

Law of Inertia
1. a rule that is followed, which helps give this world of superheroes coexisting with humans a sense of verisimilitude.  Baby megamind is thrust against the seat of his pod when it unexpectedly fires off into space. Following Newton's law of inertia-An object remains at rest unless acted upon  by an unbalanced force.
2. For every action there is a reaction. Always constant throughout this film especially in Megmind's final fight scene. For every incoming force, a punch or hit from his enemy there was a reaction, a fall back. sometimes several actions in a row, an initial hit, the impact, the reaction, and a secondary, sometimes third or fourth reaction. The relationship between all objects is believable.

Conclusion.
Everyone is guilty of law bending at some point, superhero and human alike for either a comedic or dramatic entertainment. However there are also strong examples of rules being abided by that allow for verisimilitude to occur.