Outline for the Third Term Paper

Third Term Paper Outline: Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

Special/Visual Effect: Zero Gravity/Floating

The simulation of zero gravity is and will always be a challenge in the film industry. The two films on topic for discussion are productions that received generous amounts of praise for the dedication to their subject. Inception(2010) and Gravity(2013) both went to great measures to bring zero gravity to Earth.

Inception(2010): Corridor Scene

-Director wanted to keep CGI to a minimum

-Sets built in a hangar in England in order to film the scenes that used rotation and tilts

-Two versions of the corridor were built: one with rotation and the other was stationary

-Actors such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt acted the scenes within the stationary version with a harness and wires so that he could fly and jump from one wall to the other

            -Hallway shown as normal in playback, giving the illusion that the actors are floating           in zero gravity

            -Clothes were also taken into careful consideration. Ex: wires in shoe strings

            -All wires/harnesses were erased for final

-Rotating version of corridor 100 ft long: suspended by large rings and powered by two electric motors.

-A camera was stationed on a plate that ran on a track beneath the floor of the rotating corridor

-Camera was remote controlled

Gravity(2013): Scenes in Space

-Director wanted realism and therefore wanted animators to get close and personal with people that have experienced zero gravity first hand in every situation. Ex: tethered astronaut is accelerated — or two spacewalkers, tethered together, jerk one another around

-Sandra Bullock suspended with a 12-wire rig that resembled a marionette.

-The production brought in the most talented and detail oriented puppeteers in the business to simulate zero gravity

-Computer animation was used to blend what was called the Light Box(simulation of light in space) and the wire rig

-Technological process was very intricate and allowed for little spontaneity. Actors were under extreme time constraints.

Conclusion:

After comparing the two films, I have found that the simulations were done quite well and with generous amounts of precision and accuracy. Being that gravitational forces will always play a role in every action of the human body imaginable, it was quite impressive at how believable these moments were such as the fight in the corridor of the film “Inception” or the dead silent moments in space of “Gravity”. This goes to show that with careful observation and the power to educate oneself of an otherwise improbable experience of an average Joe, any effect can be created.