Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

Much of entertainment from movies, television, and games are used as a way to create new and different universes. We as audiences escape into worlds that are not possible in reality due to the laws of physics. From seeing impossible feats of strength, flying, and alternate worlds, certain laws are pushed or broken to make these fictional stories and action happen on screen. Animation, and the use of CGI for special effects are the way that filmmakers can break these laws of physics, purposefully or not. Films full of action, and alternate states or reality have many instances where these laws are not followed, such as Newton’s 3^rd law. Newton’s 3^rd law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Live action films such as Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, and Inception are both very different types of films, but both rely on CGI and alternate realities, while The Iron Giant is an animated film, all of these have instances where Newton’s 3^rd law is not followed.

Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is a movie based off a series graphic novels about a young man trying to date a girl, Ramona, who has 7 evil ex-boyfriends, all of who Scott has to defeat, to be able to be with the girl. The film making style chose to keep the feel of a graphic novel with weird action and camera cuts; while also making it look and feel like a video game throughout the whole movie. It is clear from the beginning that the world these characters live in is not the same as ours, yet it is never explained why, or how it is different. However it is more evident in the action of the fight scenes, when characters suddenly have super powers, such as incredible strength. One scene in particular Scott ends up face to face with one of the evil exs a petite young women named Roxy. Many of the actions in this scene do not follow Newton’s 3^rd law. For majority of the scene the Ramona fights Roxy, in a style similar to one seen in a video game. Both characters take out large magical like weapons, that in reality would be too big to use, but they are used with ease. Many times in the fight time slows down and the characters seem to stay in the air until their move is complete, like in an old Kung Fu movie. Regardless of all the other laws that are being broken Newton’s 3^rd law is, when the characters hit each other with a large force and weight and they are able to stop it in mid action with no reaction. Ramona grabs a foot in mid kick, and then after a moment throws the other character back. Later in the scene there is an unequal reaction when Scott gets thrown up towards the ceiling and hits a steel supporting beam, as he hits in the entire beam gets bent by his body hitting it. Due to the make-up and weight of Scott and the beam the amount of damage to the steel is much more than what the action of Scott hitting it would be.

The Iron Giant is an animated movie, which also breaks and bends Newton’s 3^rd law of action and reactions. In this film a young boy named Hogarth finds and befriends a giant robot from space. This movie is obviously fictional, and by being completely animated it is accepted that there are actions or scenes that cannot be done in reality, which is a great reason to animate a film in the first place. Even though it is expected that there are impossible acts in an animated film, these scenes still have to be believable and make sense to the audience and fit in its own universe. The Iron Giant does a great job in doing so, it does not have scenes or moments that take the audience out if the moment or distract from the rest of the movie. However because it is animated with science fiction action scenes there are times when laws of physics are broken. Another reason why the laws are not closely followed is because how animation works, it is a pushed version of reality, and the use of holds and anticipation do not allow Newton’s 3^rd law to be followed closely. Such as in the scene where the giant robot does a cannon ball into the lake. The robot is very heavy and as he jumps into the lake, there is a moment of anticipation as the audience wait for the inevitable huge splash a giant cannon ball would cause. The forces action and reaction that are normally simultaneous have a few frame delay to let the audience see and wait for what is about to happen.

Inception is an interesting film that addresses ideas about alternate realities, where people can enter other’s dreams and create their own world. This movie and the special effects that were used allowed audiences explore new worlds and ideas that are impossible to see in reality. Rules were purposefully broken in this film in the dream world, to illustrate abstract realities that do not really exist. The dream worlds looked very similar to reality but changes in how the world worked it what made them different and feel dream like. In the movie characters who travel into dreams create their own totems, a small object that only they know how it is supposed to work. The main character, Cobb, uses a top. If he is not in a dream spinning the top would act like any other and eventually start to loose energy and fall, but if he is in a dream the top will never stop spinning. The infinitely spinning top is a purposeful break from Newton’s 3^rd law. The dream world cannot act and have the same physics or reality, so changing the laws is a way to show what is a dream or not. The top spinning endlessly is an unequal reaction, the forces are not equal, as they should be in reality.

There are many films that do not pay attention to reality as closely as they should, many laws of physics are broken and take away the believablity of the film. However when done right, and with a purpose pushing reality into impossible acts can further the entertainment, or help illustrate a point. Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The Iron Giant, and Inception are all films that do not closely follow reality and do not always follow Newton’s 3^rd law, but many of those times it is done on purpose and for a reason.