“Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction.”

Link to doc version(better formatting):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1plIe2BNutzM2SnBFEulhUY7qyFethNWShEckjPHGo1E/edit?usp=sharing

The Fourth Down at Half Time is described as,”.. a rule that says for falling motion the breakdown drawing is a fourth of the distance from the apex”; essentially an object will a go a fourth of the way down to the “floor” at half the time it takes the object to fall to the “floor”. Combined with the odd rule(a rule that says ‘that the spacing between keys increases in the ratios 1:3:5:7, as seen the image below), this subtle physics animation law gives the ability to animate falling objects more accurately and efficiently. Disregarding the rule or including choppy animation of a falling object can ruin the realism to an animation, however more times than not animators purposefully violate the rule for comedic effect.

*Image to help visualize rule better

We can look at a video of a boy throwing a soccer ball as a reference video of what a “correct” falling motion looks like.

In the first violation of this rule, we can examine a video of wile e coyote falling off a cliff, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq_bjaI0NTo,. The video has wile e coyote gasping for air while he barely manages to get on top of a cliff only to be pushed off by roadrunner seconds later. The next few scenes follow with wile e coyote hovering in the air as he is looking towards the camera with startled eyes until eventually plummeting down to earth. The animation is in clear violation of the fourth down at half time rule, along with other laws physics and gravity as well. However the animation is done purposefully, the audience is expecting wile e coyote to fall and the hesitation in falling only creates more “suspense” to the animation. It is done for comedic effect, which we can see in his eyes as he’s falling and in the small cloud the audience is barely able to see as he hits the ground.

*The climb up to the hill is pictured as difficult and arduous

creating anticipation in the scene

*Seconds of wile e coyote hovering in air builds more on the animation,

 purposeful violation of the Fourth Down at Half Time rule

In the second violation of this rule, we can look at a video of Peter Griffin falling down a flight of stairs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wCLRBNB8ZU. Although the violation may be subtle it does create a dynamic change to the animation as a whole. The time it takes Peter to fall down each step is much faster than if the animators were trying to replicate a “realistic image”. At the time at which Peter should be a fourth down falling on to the next step, he has fallen down a few steps already, it is obvious that Peter is falling down faster than a normal person would. The style of animating was done purposefully for a comedic effect, even though it is in violation of physics laws. This is obvious between seconds 0:28 and 0:30 in the video when Peter is rapidly bouncing off both walls almost like a ball in a pinball machine. The animators want to portray that Peter is getting really hurt, and violating the Fourth Down at Half Time rule and increasing the speed in which he falls allows the animators to do this.

The final violation of the rule comes from a cartoon video a titled “What If You Dive Into A Tornado?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLJmmnA5a4I. The video has a cartoon tornado and it sucks a boy a through a tornado(and proceeds to give information about what would happen if you were to somehow dive into a tornado). The violation occurs at the end when the tornado vanishes and the boy is left stranded in the air, as other items stuck in the tornado begin falling down he is able to “hover” in the air for a few seconds until finally falling down as the last “thing” down to earth. The animation is done more to create suspense and entertainment to the audience, rather than portray correct physics rules, mainly Fourth Down at Half Time and Odd Rule.

In conclusion, I believe that most animations that violate the “Fourth Down at Half Time Rule” are done for comedic effect/entertainment. I was unable to find a “bad animation” with incorrect timing and spacing(violating odd rule), but it still important to know that falling for these errors will destroy the animation. It’s still possible to violate the rule and not be for comedic effect or entertainment. Understanding the rule and being able to apply it not only allows someone to create a more realistic falling animation but also makes the person more complete as an animator. More importantly, however, is understanding these rules well enough to decide when breaking them provides entertainment value or comedic effect.