Have you ever wondered what lies behind the confused yet tender Dory’s humanized fish expression? Or what makes Monsters & Co. James P. Sullivan’s fur coat so soft and natural despite its turquoise and violet polka dots color? Behind all this there are science, technology, engineering and mathematics, mixed with a little bit of art and creativity. Pixar has created a complicated but fascinating world, and it finally decided to show it to the public.
“The Science Behind Pixar” is a traveling exhibition, inaugurated for the first time on June 28th, 2015 at the Science Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. Since January 10th, 2016, the exhibition was extended to a US national tour at other museums, where it lasts for six months, and it then moves to another location in the US.
The goal of “The Science Behind Pixar” exhibition is to discover the backstage world in Pixar Universe, and let the visitors explore the technologies that allowed the cinematographic and animated design house to realize some of the most appreciated cartoons in the history.
The exhibition is built around the eight phases of the cinematographic production, to which a section of the show itself is dedicated. Visitors are invited to take the role of Pixar artists and scientists, and to experiment the different phases in the production process, like modelling, animation and rendering. Here are some examples:
- In Sets & Cameras section visitors can find out how the insect-perspective in A Bug’s Life was realized, through shots and big computer-designed sets.
- Modeling explains how digital sculptures in Toy Story were created, starting from raw drawings by artists.
- Lighting allows visitors to discover the challenges faced by Pixar creatives when they animated water with virtual light in Finding Nemo.
- In Rigging the virtual skeleton that makes characters silhouettes move is showed, the same that made Monsters & Co.’s Sulley walk and gesticulate, with the help of 30 thousands anchor points.
- Surfaces reveals the techiques of adding colors and texture in every movie surface, while designing Cars’ champions characters.
The show is dedicated to everyone who loves Pixar, both adults and children. The preparations are equipped with interactive elements that have the purpose to entertain and educate at the same time: while playing with different kinds of activities on screens, people of all ages may learn the secrets of avant-garde techniques and advanced 3D animation processes.
To engage and involve even more visitors in the Pixar world, large scale sets and life-size statues with the most famous Pixar characters were specially created.
Who would miss the chance to take a selfie with Buzz Lightyear, after all?
For everyone who will have the luck to pass by Los Angeles in the following months, from October 15th 2016 to April 2017, the exhibition “The Science Behind Pixar” will be at California Science Center.
Everybody else can feel close to Disney Pixar and their favorite characters thanks to wonderful Pixar USB Flash Drives by Tribe!
