Extra Credit: Silicon Valley Comic Con

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the first Silicon Valley Comic Con!

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

It is often said that “rules are made to be broken.” While I do not necessarily agree with that statement, in some cases it is true that – for the sake of storytelling – the rules can and should be broken. More specifically, one must bypass the rules of physics when it comes to visual media, as is often done in animated shorts and films, live action movies, and music videos. In a way, it is the visual equivalent of exaggerating moments in verbal stories – embellishing parts that must be embellished and omitting parts that would slow down the pace of the tale. In Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Joseph Kahn’s Taylor Swift music video for “Bad Blood” (2015), and Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch (2011), each director bends Newton’s Third Law of Motion, also known as the Action/Reaction Principle, in order to better tell their stories.

                One movie which breaks Newton’s Third Law of Motion is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Specifically, in the film, right as Roxy (Ramon’s ex-girlfriend) starts a fight with Scott (Ramona’s current boyfriend), Ramona steps in and stops Roxy from flying through the air and kicking Scott. When Ramona stops Roxy, Ramona does not even flinch or move when she takes the kick. Normally, due to the Action/Reaction Principle – which states, “For every action force there is an equal reaction force in the opposite direction” – the audience expects Ramona to have at least experienced some follow-through movement due to Roxy’s kick. However, Ramona does not move, and therefore she jars the audience by contrasting the expected with the unexpected. In doing so, Wright embellishes the true beginning of the fight, which is not between Roxy and Scott but between Roxy and Ramona. Despite the contrast, the fight still reads as believable, because Wright establishes the broken rules of Scott Pilgrim’s world early in the film. In fact, without the broken Action/Reaction Principle, the story itself would not have flowed nearly as well from that point.

                Another movie which break Newton’s Third Law of Motion is Joseph Kahn’s music video for Taylor Swift’s song “Bad Blood” (2015). In the music video, Kahn sets up the premise for the animosity between Swift’s character Catastrophe and Selena Gomez’s character Arsyn when Arsyn kicks Catastrophe out the window of a building. After the fall, Catastrophe lands on and crushes a car with noticeably more force than you would expect coming from a tall, thin woman. Not only that but the video continues with Catastrophe still alive and singing immediately after her crash. Realistically speaking, Catastrophe would have died from her fall. However, to me, the most jarring visual was the impact that Catastrophe had on the car, because the reaction of the car did not appear to match the force of Catastrophe’s fall. Evidently, because the music video is all about tough women, Kahn broke the Action/Reaction principle in order to emphasize the strength of Swift’s character by having her sing and still live despite her accident. Also, had the film been more realistic, the music video would have ended upon Catastrophe’s crash, which, needless to say, would have severely impaired the flow of the story. However, the main purpose, most likely, for Kahn choosing to portray the crash the way he did was to punctuate the true beginning of the song, which opens up on Swift lying down on the destroyed car. All in all, Kahn successfully broke Newton’s Third Law of Motion in order to tell the story he wanted to tell, frame the song intentionally, and to continue the flow of his and Swift’s storytelling.

                In addition, Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch (2011) breaks Newton’s Third Law of Motion. For example, during the fight scene between the first of the three giant demon samurai and Baby Doll, Baby Doll actively parries the first samurai’s weapon. When Baby Doll parries, the samurai quickly recoils with its weapon. Upon observation, the quick recoil of the looming CGI mechanical warrior betrays its own weight and mass. Specifically, looking even closer at one particular detail, the way in which the samurai and Baby Doll interact, when Baby Doll parries, the Samurai’s reaction to Baby Doll’s action makes the Samurai’s heavy weapon appear lighter than it should be. Truthfully, considering the Action/Reaction Principle, the samurai’s recoil should have a slower acceleration reacting to the force of Baby Doll’s parries. However, because the world of Baby Doll’s imagination is clearly fantastical, breaking Newton’s Third Law of Motion is not all too jarring to take the audience out of the moment. In fact, by breaking that particular law, Snyder suspends the audience’s disbelief just enough to give them hope that Baby Doll might stand a chance against her adversaries, allowing the story to progress with a proper flow. All in all, while Snyder does break the Action/Reaction Principle, he does so with enough intention for the fight scene to read believably and smoothly within the film.

                In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) directed by Edgar Wright, Taylor Swift’s music video for “Bad Blood” (2015) directed by Joseph Kahn, and Sucker Punch (2011) directed by Zack Snyder, each film breaks the Action/Reaction Principle, more formally known as Newton’s Third Law of Motion, in order to achieve a better flow and clarity within the stories that each director attempts to tell. In Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Wright deviates from the Action/Reaction principle most evidently in his fight scenes, such as the scene in which Ramona prevents Roxy from kicking Scott. Also, in Kahn’s Taylor Swift music video “Bad Blood,” the first instance in which Kahn breaks Newton’s Third Law of Motion is in the beginning when Catastrophe falls with great impact on a car and proceeds to sing. Finally, in Snyder’s Sucker Punch, the broken law of physics presents itself evidently within the film’s fight sequences, such as in the fight between the giant demon samurai and Baby Doll. All in all, all three films have the same error in physics, yet all the instances in which that particular law is broken works for the shared purpose of each film and most films ever made – which to tell good, fluid stories.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

I.                   Action/Reaction

II.                Scott Pilgrim

     A.                 Ramona stops Roxy from kicking Scott                                                                    

     B.                 Ramona doesn’t even flinch after kick

III.              Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood Music Video”

     A.                 Beginning, lands on car faster and with more force than she should

     B.                 Still alive, singing after falling into the car

IV.             Sucker Punch

     A.                 Samurai fight scene

     B.                 Baby Doll keeps parrying the Samurai’s weapon and the way the samurai and her interact, it looks like the samurai’s weapon, which should be very heavy, is lighter than it should be

V.                Conclusion

     A.                 All have the same physical error but they all work for the purposes of their film

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

For class, I had to create a stop motion animation. This was my first time ever animating stop motion and it was a fun and interesting process. The whole concept behind my animation was "playing with food," so I decided to shoot it in my kitchen using things I'd find around my house. For my monster, I ripped and cut a couple of shapes out of construction paper for the head and the tongue and drew on an eye and nostril, then used a magnet to act as a hinge where both jaws meet. For the little food bit, I used another magnet. After that, it was just a matter of taping the papers to my refrigerator. I used my ball toss reference from a few assignments ago to time and plan my animation. I then shot it on the Stop Motion Studio app. After that, I added a title card and looped my animation on Adobe Premiere.