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2nd Term Paper: Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Stunts are a large part of action movies, yet in the course of creating visually impressive scenes directors usually get caught up in a tangled web of wires, computer graphics and physically impossible or incorrect stunts, of which turn into cinematic fiction. Jumps are an amazing tool that can be used to create suspense and show character, yet they are often skewed and exaggerated for that same reason. Based on the physics of a jump; action and reaction, jump push time and height, and path of action the movies: Bolt, Fearless, and Kill Bill Vol.1 bend these principals to do many stunts of which can only be explained as cinematic fiction, yet these examples can be easily fixed with some application of basic physics. Sometimes the drama created by a long slow motion jump can allow for the breaking of the rules of physics.

In the movie Bolt, a Disney Animation film, we are met with a problem in jump magnification and path of action. In the First scene of Bolt the main character bolt, a super charged dog, is being chased around the city at high speed by a group of technologically advanced henchmen bent on his capture and or destruction. In this scene, Bolts path is blocked by a helicopter hovering in a large cement crevice constructed near a harbor, and in order for bolt to get past and destroy the helicopter, he must take a leap of faith over the hovering, Black Hawk like, machine and gracefully land on the other side on the cement crevice, in doing so; bolt takes advantage of the heat seeking missile that was once trailing him destroying the helicopter in a single leap. Unfortunately, in the act of creating a compelling and visually stunning scene, the directors bend the laws of physics in order to get the character over to the other side. One of the ways they break the physics of a jump is in the jump magnification of the initial take off, according to the footage bolt approaches the jump yet only takes a 1 to 2 inch dip before he leaps 12 to 13 feet in the air. According to the principal of jump action reaction dealing with jump magnification and push force, bolts push time is short about 2 frames and push height being around 2 inches there is no way that he can leap as high as he actually does. In order for bolt to leap as high as he does he should have a push time of at least 2 frames making his push factor 9 and making his push height about one foot. This must be done, in order to get him at least 9 feet in the air and even then his path of action would have to be at the right angle to get him over the helicopter. Yet even with the incorrect action and reaction, bolts path of action is incorrect due to editing and need for a longer more dramatic jump sequence. In this jump Bolt leaps at an angle of about 80 degrees and lands at an angle of about the same angle, yet it is in the center of the arch that we have a problem. In between cutting between angle we get an up shot at Blot Leaping about 2 feet above the cockpit of the chopper which then flattens out his arch making his decent earlier and shorten then the one in the scene. In order to correct this parabolic arch Bolt take off angle should be earlier and at about 45 degrees in order for him to get the maximum airtime for him to leap over the chopper and onto the other plat form. Jumps in a straight line can be often skewed in action movie, yet in kung fu style action movies they can take forms in almost magical ways.

Jet Li is an amazing kung fu action movie star, and in the movie Fearless he is just that an amazing kung fu artist bent on being the best fighter in world. Throughout his journey he encounters many opponents on of which is a man who was once his childhood adversary, a bully who would terrorize him and mock his father’s fighting style. In this scene the two fight to settle the dispute of which fighting style is best, which in tales the two fighting atop a humongous tower constructed in the middle of the city. During the battle, many exiting acrobatic stunts are put n on display, yet one stood out above all. Just as the fight begins to turn; Jet Li in stuck on the edge of the pedestal, many stories above the city, coming closer and closer to descending to the city floor. Jet Li is then attacked with a sweep to his leg, but at the last moment Jet Li Jumps in the air with a crescent style jump, fanning his legs into the air off of the edge of the pedestal and swinging him back into the center of the fighting stage. It is here that we are met with cinematic fiction; in no way can this jump be physically possible, first of all his weight in completely off of the pedestal when the kick is attempted, yet he finds a way to erect in time to push off for less than a second propelling him about six feet in the air and fanning his legs in such a way that changes his path of action from landing back on to the edge of the pedestal to magically propelling him back into the center of the pedestal. With little to no push time the push factor of the jump could not be combined with the push height of fractions of an inch to create such a spectacular jump. In order for this jump he would have to have a push time of about 2 and a half frames and a push height of about on foot to get him as high as he got in the scene. Even then he would have to correct his path of action by flipping over his adversary in order to get out of the way of danger. Yet without this stunt his character would be lacking in depth, for his strength and power would not be displayed in his defeat of his long time enemy. Many Movies borrow from the style on wire fu which is a form of kung fu movies where wires are used in access in order to give magical superiority of a character, yet this can be used in excess to the point of being unbelievable.

Quinton Tarantino is a huge fan of classic kung fu movies and being a director there is no doubt that he would barrow from these movies to make one of his wonderful films. In Kill Bill Vol.1 Tarantino makes use of many fight scenes, the most recognizable the massive fight scene where the main character named Beatrix Kiddo battles dozens of bad guys, ending in the biggest gory massacre allowed on a rater R picture. In this scene she has to also take on the gang leader, the stronger and most formidable opponent in the gang, in order to show this Tarantino makes use of wires and other elements to show his superiority over the other lackeys. In doing so he breaks the laws of physics in a section of the fight scene where Beatrix climbs onto a catwalk where she awaits her next opponent, this is when the gang leader somehow takes a step on a box and is then suddenly propelled 24 feet into the directly onto the catwalk. Without any form of push time or push height, there is no physical believability to this stunt. One a way to correct it is in the same manner as the other jumps discussed in order to get at anywhere near 24 feet I the air he would have to have a push time of about 2 and a half frames and about a 3 foot push off height, only then could he even get close to landing upon the catwalk. Even after the take off, his path of action is such that he would have slammed directly into the railing before reaching the top of his arch. To correct this he should take off at an angle of about 80 to 85 degrees and an incredible jump magnification, just to get over the railing. Yet in the movie world the ability to display character through action is a powerful tool in storytelling.

In all three of these movies the rules of a jump are greatly distorted, yet with some simple tweaking we can make these jumps physically possible, yet we would lose the drama and amount of character revealed by the single jump. Without the bending of these rules we would lack the storytelling tool provided by the physically wrong jump and lack the amount of texture in the pacing to the story, so why correct them.

Science fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Intro

• Thesis: Based on the action reaction concept along with jump magnification and path of action, mainly principals dealing with jumps these three movies break these principals in many ways.
• Introduce movies: Kill Bill Vol.1, Fearless, and Bolt

Bolt

• Introduce Scene:
  
• Bolt Jumps over a hovering helicopter
  

• Explain Broken Principals: Jump Magnification, and Path of action
• When Bolt approaches the jump he merely crouches down about 2 inches before his leap, yet manages to traverse the hovering chopper.
• Bolts path of action seems to jump during the cut making him leap futhere then his original path
  

• Explain how these conflicts can be resolved:
• having his pause before the jump a little longer
• and following through the path during the cut
  

Fearless

• Introduce scene:
• fight scene on a towering platform in the middle of the city.
  

• Explain Broken Principals: Path of Action,and Action Reaction
• During fight the protagonist leaps from the edge of the tower fanning his legs out and and returning back to the platform in a crescent path parallel to the floor.
• his original jump does not hook up with the reaction to the rest of the stunt

• Explain how the conflicts can be resolved:
• By tracking his path of action and changing the jump completely
  

Kill Bill Vol. 1

• Introduce Scene: Large fight scene gang boss chases the protagonist onto high catwalk.
  

• Explain broken Principals: Jump magnification, path of action, and action /reaction
• The Boss runs up the wall in a matter that's physically impossible with no preparation for the leap
  
• his path of action is severely flawed
• the action of his foot grazing the wall does not match his reaction propelling him on to the catwalk
  

• Explain how these conflicts can be resolved:
• he needs a push factor in order to leap as high as he does
• his path of action should require more pedestals for him to reach the top

Conclusion

• restate thesis
• digress
  

Rubber Romper

sorry for some technical difficulties but here it is in all its glory





this was done with kneaded eraser and a little bit of planning but tons of fun