Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

        “What goes up, must come down!” That's a straightforward statement for a very convoluted and complex force that has been a riddle for hundreds of years. The term "gravity" connotes the notion of weight. Gravity is the force of attraction between any two objects with mass. It is considered much weaker than any of the other fundamental forces, thus neglected in relation to simple particles, which take place at short distances; in contrary to large scale settings like in space. This could explain why the laws of gravity in films and video games are manipulated so frequently and appear unnoticed to the general populace. Gravity, through creative dispensation, is frequently portrayed improperly whether it is too illustrate a battle or to extend the performance of a scene. In the anime, Naruto, An Anbu assassin executes an attack that ultimately defies the fundamental nature of gravity. In the film Kung Fu Hustle, Sing is able to achieve powers beyond comprehension and perform nonsensical yet compelling maneuvers. In Super Smash Brothers Melee, the game characters are able to carry out jumps that defy gravity altogether. In most cases gravity as well as other laws of physics is exaggerated in films and video games for the sheer purpose of carrying out the storyline or for artistic reasons. With motivations like these backing it up, the viewers neglect the seemingly unrealistic situations and regard them as plausible occurrences.

        In the ninja anime Naruto, there is an elite group of assassins for the Nation of Konoha. They are called the Anbu. The ANBU Black Ops, take orders directly from the Kage who is a leader of one of five most powerful hidden villages (nations), partaking in difficult assignments, such as assassinations. Apparently in one scene of the anime during a battle between an Anbu assassin and his foe, there is a point where an ANBU assassin simply blinked his eyes and vanished with the use of Hirashin, which is a hidden flying thunder God technique (As demonstrated below by the 3rd Hokage of Konoha.)


          He reappeared a few dozen feet away but still on the path of the wave and began forming hand signs of Gravity Discharge: Gravity Field technique. According to a Naruto Fan page dictionary, “the Gravity Discharge is a technique that allows the user to manipulate, control, and produce gravity.” These techniques can apparently be used to take a person's physical mass to zero, generate gravitational fields, and draw in and drive back objects. It can also be used to enhance a person's physical strength and potency. By reducing the draw of gravity below him, the user can run or fly at any velocity or elevation at which he can still respire.

          Through a logical perspective, if you were to release the force of gravity acting on your own body completely and tried to run, the fact that there is nothing drawing you to the surface of the earth, it would mean that you would instantaneously launch off frantically into space, where you would then be subjected to raw space or vacuum, causing your insides to burst out before you can reach the top of the stratosphere. As a matter of fact, the release of gravity would in principle not increase your speed neither because resistance of speed is caused by resistance and friction, which is maneuvered by electromagnetic force, not gravity. Therefore liberating yourself from the force of gravity is firstly, not a practical realistic way to increase your speed and secondly instead of an awesome technique that allows one to manipulate space and time and the laws of physics itself, it would just cause an involuntary act of suicide. Though physics do apply in Naruto, they are bent to certain a point but since it is merely an anime and the conception of gravity manipulation has already been established and kept consistent throughout the entire series, it has been widely accepted and even appreciated.

          In the world of Kung Fu Hustle, there are no regulations. Some characters cannot be eradicated. Some can soar through the sky. Some can run exceptionally fast. Some can endure extreme punishment. Some can alter space and time. In an actual animated cartoon, these things are taken for granted, that anything is feasible and the hilarity is literally not having any boundary on what might happen next. This being a movie with real life people, one may take the time to consider and notice the unrealistic effects occurring within the story line. Sing who is the movie’s key hero and kung fu master, has an ultimate move called the Palm Move That Falls From Heaven. It consists of him “skyrocketing above the clouds”, stepping calmly on a bird, and then making a slow but lethal descent to earth for the big attack called the Buddhist Palm.


          The issue in this scene begins with the unexpected speed and distance Sing is launched into the sky. First of all it’s silly enough to perceive a launch that sends a person a few hundred feet into the air. But what becomes very absurd is the fact that as he slows into the apex he manages to jump onto a bird and ascend once more for another few meters up in a very serene manner like a balloon. Then eventually when he finally begins to descend, he falls at a much slower rate than when he was ascending. This very sluggish increase in acceleration as he falls is a bad representation of the odd rule.


          The director obviously disregarded the concept of correct spacing between each frame when this scene was put together. In actuality Sing would have fell at the same speed as he ascended but in this case he is descending at an exponentially slower speed. Even so it ties in well with the rest of the movie and though it doesn’t make sense from a realistic perspective, the error is easily overlooked and compensated for dramatic/aesthetic reasoning. Furthermore, the character’s ability to fly and control speeds is already an accepted condition within the genre of Kung Fu movies. Fantasy abilities therefore become an accepted aesthetic value. In the world of the martial arts film, mysticism, and heroism are available to all its inhabitants this insinuates that it is okay to break rules for the purpose of art if it corresponds with storyline content.

          Smash Brothers Melee is an all out brawl amongst familiar Nintendo characters, including Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Link. Super Smash Brothers Melee is a 2d platform fighting game where you attack rack up percentage damage on your opponent. The higher their percentage, the farther back they'll be pushed. Players can recover by jumping and executing other special moves. And although it completely challenges the laws of gravity and whatever other laws are out there, the characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee can leap while in the middle of the air. Whether you got into the air by jumping once or by plummeting off an upper ledge, tapping the X/Y buttons will allow you the choice of jumping again. This is a pretty basic move that goes against all logic since one is being propelled upward without any sort of force. This actually defies Newton’s third law—the action-reaction principle.


          But what is even more ridiculous is that you can gain even more height to your jumps by performing a third jump after the double jump. Most of the characters B and Up combo attacks will propel them in an upward motion. This permits you to give you one last effort to get back to the ledge or platform. Not sure where to begin with this one. First of all to explain in a deeper level, the double jumping mechanic is one of the most vital actions of the game's controls. It allows the hero to do a second jump while in mid-air that works the same way as the first jump (offers many possible trajectories). This second jump thus allows the player to vary his/her course of action or give him more distance and/or height. It can also be used to reach seemingly unreachable spots (platforms located beneath ledges as an example). The second jump is, in itself, as non-limited as the first jump in its capabilities and possibilities and can be executed at any instant during the first jump's trajectory, thus permitting an almost infinite number of possible trajectories when combining the two jumps.

          To broaden one’s jump's length, height or otherwise change its path after being lifted from the ground, is just physically impossible unless some other force acts on your character upon time of the second leap (i.e. platform, item, another character). Essentially while in mid-air, gravity (plus minor air resistance) are the only two forces acting on the player if there are no other objects in the vicinity; this is a very inconceivable procedure but many turn the other cheek because in most cases double jumping in video games is a very beneficiary maneuver.

        Character jumps and falls, of course, in a video game from a mass scale point of view would not be expected to follow the laws of physics. There is something special about it, something that we can recognize and accept even if it isn’t realistic. As in the case of Super Smash Bros. Melee, or films and cartoons like Kung Fu Hustle and Naruto, they are essentially a simulation designed for entertainment. With entertainment and simulation combined in such an informal manner, any exaggerated readjustment in physics if executed properly can still seem believable.












Since I have changed certain topics from my original outline I have chosen to rewrite it to suit the needs of my final draft of the second term paper.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Intro - Laws of physics are dynamically broken to attain a more amusing result in today’s gaming and cinema. The law of gravity is one rule in which is typically disregarded or broken.

• Naruto: For the sake of awesome dramatic affect characters have special moves that can defy the laws of gravity altogether.

• Kung Fu Hustle: Sing can alter his falling speed in relevance to his initial speed.

• Super Smash Brothers Melee- Players have the option of having their character jumping in the air.

A) In the anime, Naruto, ninjas can disappear and reappear and commence attacks that ultimately can lead to suicide

• Anbu assassin is capable of using hand signs to do an attack that utterly defies the law of gravity.

B) Kung Fu Hustle, a Stephen Chow film, Sing has special powers that allow him to be launched into high altitudes and control the speed of his fall for dramatic effect

C) In the video game Super Smash Brothers by Nintendo, the characters have the capability to alter their movement patterns depending on buttons you press; for the sake of game play and control.

• When fighting in an arena, the players can double jump and control the direction of movement of a character while in the air for the sake of avoiding their foe’s next attack.

Conclusion

• In order to progress the storyline, laws of gravity will be broken to give a sense of story development.

• Even though there is a sense of unrealism, it helps make the narrative or story convincing and absolute.

• Restate Thesis