Outline for the Second Term Paper

Title: Movie Physics – Twisting Laws to Suit Scenes

I.                    Introduction

a.       The law being discussed: The Law of Acceleration

b.      Films being discussed:

                                                              i.      Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010)

                                                            ii.      Aladdin (1992)

                                                          iii.      Sherlock Holmes (2009) 

II.                 Body

a.       Alice in Wonderland (2010)

                                                              i.      Scene – “Alice falls down the rabbit hole”

                                                            ii.      “When a force pulls in the direction that an object is already moving, the object slows out”

                                                          iii.      During certain parts of the scene, Alice’s speed increases and decreases, usually dependent on what the director wants the audience to experience in this scene.

                                                          iv.      The fall does no harm to her, apart from a hard landing which she emerges from uninjured.

b.      Aladdin (1992)

                                                              i.      Scene – “A Whole New World”

                                                            ii.      Acceleration and its relationship/effect on speed

                                                          iii.      During the course of a three minute song, Aladdin and Jasmine travel halfway around the world, while travelling at a very moderate and comfortable speed.

                                                          iv.      In order to get where they end up (the Imperial City), Carpet would have had to accelerate at a faster rate than it did to a speed far greater than they were traveling.

c.       Sherlock Holmes (2009)

                                                              i.      Scene – “The fight in the dry dock”

                                                            ii.      Objects always change their velocity in the direction of the applied force.

                                                          iii.      Although supported by numerous massive posts and a heavy chain, it only takes knocking down four posts to get the boat to start moving.

                                                          iv.      The chain becomes a massive spool that seems to have a mind of its own.

III.               Conclusion

a.       Quote:

                                                              i.      “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories rather than theories to suit facts.” (Sherlock Holmes)

                                                            ii.      Filmmakers are notorious for “twisting facts (laws of physics) to suit theories (scenes of film)

                                                          iii.      In each scene described, the laws are broken only in order to raise the stakes:

1.      Alice travels to Wonderland

2.      Aladdin and Jasmine fall in love.

3.      Holmes and Watson deal with more than just a human adversary.

                                                          iv.      We as an audience accept a less-than-realistic take on the physical world if the world is somewhat magical, whether it takes place in Wonderland, Agrabah, or Holmesian England.