What primary school student has not ever wondered what physics, mathematics and all those rolls that force you to sink your elbows are for? CosmoCaixa will now give you an indisputable answer: mathematics, geometry, physics, optics and many other disciplines that are boring a priori are used to make movies as entertaining as those by Pixar.
Without those clumsy subjects that most students have disowned on occasion, Nemo would not have had a thousand adventures trying to escape from his fishbowl, Woody and Buzz Lightyear would never have become friends, Remy would not have a reputation as one of the best chefs from Paris, Mister Incredible would still be a boring insurance salesman with a few extra pounds and Miguel Rivera would not have entered the world of the dead to play the unforgettable Remember Me on his guitar.
The science of Pixar , the exhibition that can be seen at CosmoCaixa from tomorrow until September 3, covers the process of creating all these films and many more with interactive installations that will allow children, and many adults, to immerse themselves in the world of computer animation cinema.
"CosmoCaixa invites you to observe, touch and get to know formats, movements and settings", explained this morning the deputy director general of La Caixa Foundation, Elisa Durán, during the presentation of this exhibition promoted by the Boston Museum of Science, which has already it has passed through Philadelphia and Los Angeles before landing in Barcelona.
Durán also predicted that "it will be the children who take their parents" to discover the world of Pixar, whose creative work is developed through eight phases visible in the exhibition. It all starts with the modeling that "is done manually," according to Peter Garland, manager of production and installation of exhibitions at the Boston museum, who accompanied the press during a tour of the sample.
WALL·E, for example, is born as a clay sculpture. This model is then scanned and a 3D model is created, a digital structure of connected dots. That happens thanks to... mathematics. But the virtual character is still static. In order for him to move, he needs – just like people – bones, joints and muscles. This is achieved in the second phase, called rigging, a technique that gives life to the protagonists of Pixar films such as Mike Wazowski, one of the heroes of Monsters, Inc.
Body and movement. The animated figures already have the chassis, but they are missing something fundamental, the heart. Through the animation process, the Pixar creators give them soul and feelings, make them laugh, cry, suffer or love. Actions that always happen somewhere. The company's artists create movie sets by drawing inspiration from real-life locations. For example, they saw enough castles to design the DunBroch castle for Brave. Those landscapes have just taken shape thanks to cameras.
But that's not all, friends. The appearance of the characters can be qualified, especially when it comes to objects. Lightning McQueen evolves throughout the footage of Cars until he becomes a jalopy thanks to shadow programs. And another process, that of simulation, allows the hair of the girls to wave in the wind, for the fire to burn or for the rain to fall.
With lighting and rendering, which creates the final image, concludes the long journey for the production of a cinema that has led the box office on many occasions, which has been praised by critics, demanded by children, enjoyed by parents and that has produced titles that are already considered classics.
CosmoCaixa will offer guided tours that can be completed in its restaurant with tasting tapas or a menu inspired by the theme of the exhibition.
