The Science of Movies

The Science of Movies — page 1

The Science of Movies — page 2 — CHAPTER ONE A GRAND ILLUSION The boom microphone swings over the set just above the camera lens The camera is filming an actor dressed in futuristic clothing The actor runs across the set and leaps into the air He is attached to wires hanging from the studio’s ceiling The wires lift him up prolonging his hang time A blue screen covers the wall behind him Later a rocky otherworldly background will be added to the scene Filmmakers use many different tricks to make the unbelievable come to life on screen 5

The Science of Movies — page 3 — The Lego Movie used computer graphics to make it appear as though everything in the film were made of toy building blocks Today’s movies are filled with fanciful characters and heart-stopping action scenes There are magical monsters flying wizards and talking toys Creating movies is a complicated process It can take years to complete a full-length feature film Movie production is more than simply recording with a camera and microphone It takes human creativity and lots of technology to make the magical world of movies 6

The Science of Movies — page 4 — Moving Pictures The eyes and brain work together to produce what a person sees The eyes take in information that is then sent to and interpreted by the brain Sometimes what people think they see is not what is really there This is an optical illusion A movie is a series of still pictures But when we watch movies we see motion Two optical illusions make this possible First when we see a picture the image stays in our brains for a short time even after the image is taken away This is called persistence of vision It helps keep the world from going dark when we blink It also gives movies time to change the picture on the screen without us noticing The second illusion also helps us connect the pictures on-screen When we see a series of pictures our brains do not notice each and every one They connect the images Our brains interpret changes between the pictures as motion This illusion is called the phi phenomenon 7

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