Computers
in
Film
Alexandra
Morley
CS
110
Section
Time:
Computer
animation is the art of creating moving images via the use of the
computers. It
is a subfield of computer graphics and animations (Computer Animation).
It is
created through the use of 2D and 3D computer graphics. This technique
is
becoming increasingly popular in the world of the film industry.
Several
animated features are now being created by the use of computers.
Special
effects are being created by computers as well.
Movie companies that are becoming
famous for using computers are Pixar, Dream Works, Paramount Pictures,
20th
Century Fox, Square Pictures and Walt Disney. Dream Works developed the
computer animated movies, “Antz”, “Shark Tale” and “Shrek” (1 and 2). Paramount Pictures created, “Jimmy Neutron:
Boy Genius”, Square Pictures created, “Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Within”, and
Walt Disney created the recent animated feature, “Dinosaur.” The most
inventive
and successful company is by far Pixar with their creation of “A Bug’s
Life”,
“Finding Nemo”, “Monster’s Inc.” and “The Incredibles.”(List of
Computer-animated films)
In computer animation an illusion of
movement is created by an image being displayed on the computer screen
which is
then quickly replaced by another image that is very similar but shifted
slightly. One may wonder, how do these movies create images to look
like smooth
moving figures? The pictures must be drawn as 24 frames per second or
faster.
Some movies these days are putting 70 frames a second which makes it
impossible
for the eye or brain to process to notice the break between objects.
Computer
animation requires high frame rates to reinforce the realism of the
picture.
There is no jerkiness seen as the higher speeds due to “persistence of
vision”
(Computer Animation). Humans’ eyes and brains help out with computer
animation,
they automatically smooth out minor breaks because they store a picture
for a
fraction of a second and it creates the illusion of continuous movement.
After an image is sent to the screen
to a back buffer, a computer can draw the image and make any changes
needed
before it is complete. Once the image is correct the computer tells the
screen
to draw from the back buffer either by copying the image from the back
buffer
to the primary buffer or making the back buffer the new primary buffer.
In 2D computer animation, moving objects
are called,
“sprites” which are images that have location associated with them;
this
location is changed a little each frame and displayed to make the
sprite appear
it be in motion. In 3D computer animation – developed in 2001 –
complicated
math is used to make three dimensional polygons and apply “textures”,
lighting
and other effects are added to complete the image (Computer Animation).
Choreography is arranged and soon the picture is complete but first the
view
point must be defined and scene must be drawn from that point for the
audience
to see it from that point.
To make certain things like the
appear in real life, such as a wooden wall, a technique called,
“texture
mapping” must be used, whish is basically matching an image with a
texture and
stretching it like computer-wallpaper to fit the image. Spotlighting is
also
used where images need to be seen as bright or dark. Colors are
lightened or
darkened in certain spots to show contrast and shadows and soon the
image begins
to look realistic. After this process is repeated several times,
pictures will
start to look as if they are real and moving, eventually a scene will
be
created and even farther down the road the scenes will add up to a
featured
film.
Three movies that had exceptional
use of computer animation and special effects were Pixar’s, “Finding
Nemo”,
Columbia Picture’s, “Spiderman” and Tom Hank’s, “Polar Express.”
Pixar
animation studios is an award winning computer generated imagery
animation firm
(Pixar). They specialized in high-end computer graphics technology. It’s creation of “Finding Nemo” was a huge
leap in the computer animation world; the movie became the highest
grossing
animated film of all time and it received an Academy Award for Best
Animated
feature film in 2004 (Pixar). To make
this underwater tale look life-like, computers were used. The lighting
of the
underwater sea world and the characters were accomplished through use
of
computer animation. The movement of all the fish, from the stroke of
their fins
to the movement of their mouths was all computerized. There was also a
3-D
water simulator which allowed the water to look as if it was
interacting with
itself (Pixar How We Do It). All of these things put together with
years of
labor created an award winning film.
In the movie,
“Spiderman”, many computer generated graphics were used and needed to
make the
city and its superhero come to life. The scenes showing Spiderman
jumping from
building to building or flying through the city were all animated by
computers.
Also many of the fight scenes between Spiderman and other “bad-guys”
had
computerized special effects added to them, such as explosions and
moves done
by the characters. This movie and its sequel both had scenes loaded
with computer
animation and the movie would not have been as great with out them.
Castle Rock
Entertainment’s, “Polar Express” is the newest of the computer animated
films.
This movie is based upon live-action motion-captured technology. Where
sensors
are placed on actors such as Tom Hanks in this case. The motion sensors
record
and send expressions and movements to a computer, which can then
produce
computer animated characters onto the screen. This movie which is based
on a children’s
book used computer animation to bring the story to the 21st
century
and put it on the big screen. Everything was done through computers in
this
film, the wiping of the steam from the windows, showing slight
reflections,
framing shots around reflections were all believable-looking by the
computer
animation techniques used.
Computer animation is a strong force
taking over the
film industry, especially the children’s movies industry. Computer animation has become regular and
popular in
special effects. The best animated films over the past few years have
all been
computer animated. One wonders if eventually it will be impossible to
distinguish between computer generated films and those that were filmed
live. Whether
its computer toys, rampaging dinosaurs, superheroes, or a magical train
driving
through the North Pole, computer animation has become more and more
prevalent
in movies and TV today. As technology evolves and computers become faster and faster, the animation will
become more and
more convincing and realistic. Given the record-breaking amount of
money
computer animated films generate today, it's easy to conclude that
better
technology has captured moviegoers
telling
what the future has in store for us.
Works Cited
Computer Animation. Online.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation
List
of
Computer-animated Films. Online.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer-animated_films
Movie Photos:
Spider-Man. Online.
http://www.allmoviephotos.com/photo/2002_Spider-Man_photo2.html
Movie Photos: The
Polar Express. Online.
http://www.allmoviephotos.com/photo/2004_The_Polar_Express_photo.html
Pixar.
Online.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar
Pixar How We Do It. Online.