JUNE – JULY 2015 Sparks!A Newsletter for Members and Friends of the Museum of Science Adventures in Animation Go behind the scenes of your favorite Pixar films in this interactive exhibition! ovie theater audiences became witnesses to a filmmaking revolution Min late 1995 when Pixar Animation Studios released Toy Story. The movie was the first of its kind—a feature-length computer-animated production, and critics as well as the general public were enthralled to see something so fresh and groundbreaking on the big screen. Nearly 20 years and 14 highly successful films later, Pixar continues to impress and delight. While people throughout the world enjoy these films, the science and technology behind them remains a mystery for many. This will change in late June when the Museum hosts the world premiere of The Science Behind Pixar, our newest temporary exhibition. “The interactive exhibition gives people the opportunity to learn about the jobs our filmmakers do every day and tackle similar problems,” says Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. “It’s a great demonstration of how much creativity and imagination is involved in the science, technology, engineering, art, and math thinking essential to our filmmaking process.” Inside This Issue What It Takes to be a 3-D Animator! • Making Movie Magic The Science Behind Pixar takes you through the production pipeline as you see how your favorite characters like Buzz • Let’s Celebrate July 4th! Lightyear and WALL•E as well as the worlds they live in are • Big Fun on the Big Screen Continued on next page Continued from cover created. With more than 40 interactive elements, the exhibition’s eight sections focus on steps of the filmmaking process—Modeling, Rigging, Surfaces, Sets & Cameras, Animation, Simulation, Lighting, and Rendering. As you make your way through the exhibition, you’ll learn about riggers, which give your favorite characters the virtual bones, joints, muscles, and pivots that allow them to move and pose realistically. Not to be outdone, the simulation program- mers create the motion of hair, clothing, and even waterfalls. Plenty of hands-on activities are included, such as a stop-motion animation station that allows you to plan the movements of a jumping lamp like the one in Pixar’s iconic logo and then watch a short film showing what you produced. “ The interactive exhibition gives people the You can create your own robot worthy of standing next to opportunity to learn about the jobs our filmmakers WALL•E at another station. And don’t miss your chance to do every day and tackle similar problems.” design a set with props from a scene in Monsters University. — Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios Photos with the Stars The exhibition features numerous photo opportunities, famous characters from Pixar films, including Buzz Lightyear, including the chance to pose with full-size figures of WALL•E, Mike and Sulley from Monsters University, Dory from Finding Nemo, and Edna Mode from The Incredibles. Learning from the Experts End of the Line Informative, enlightening videos enhance your experience. A fun video at the entrance sets the stage—learn about the All of Pixar’s 15 feature films are included in The Science Behind Pixar process of turning an idea into a film and also how art, Pixar, including the newest one, Inside Out, which hits theaters June technology, and creativity are inseparable in animation. And 19. Directed by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (Up, Monsters, hear firsthand from members of Pixar’s production teams. Inc.), Inside Out brings you into the mind of 11-year-old Riley as she Perhaps one of them will inspire you to enter the field! struggles with the changes in her life after being uprooted from the Midwest to San Francisco. The film’s all-star cast includes Boston- “The Science Behind Pixar explores the creativity and artistry area natives Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling. of the Pixar filmmakers, highlighting how computers are used as a filmmaking tool,” says Ioannis Miaoulis, Museum The exhibition’s interactive Inside Out component focuses on the president and director. “The exhibition puts you into the role last step in the Pixar filmmaking process—rendering, of each aspect of the Pixar filmmaking process, and we hope when all the information is combined visitors will increase their knowledge and understanding of to produce the image that will appear on the core STEM content behind computer animation.” the screen. You can So get ready for a thrilling, interactive, and informative render an iconic scene experience with The Science Behind Pixar! from Inside Out as you transform a pixelated This exhibition was developed by the Museum of Science, Boston in collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios. image into a stunning, high-fidelity one. Pre- Local Sponsor pare to be wowed! The Science Behind Pixar Opens June 28 | Member Preview June 27 Celebrate July 4th with the Ultimate Rooftop Party! This members-only event features a perfect view of the fireworks above the Charles River. Event Details • The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. • Tickets are $28 for adults, $17 for children (3 – 11), and children under 3 are free. You must be a current Museum member to purchase tickets. • Tickets can be purchased at mos.org, in person at the Museum box office, or by calling 617-723-2500, 617-589-0417 (TTY). • Ticket availability is limited to the number of Exhibit Halls admissions permitted with your membership level. • All tickets are sold first come, first served. There’s no better place to be on our nation’s birthday than at face painting, and balloon artists in action. Bring your own the Museum of Science for the annual Let’s Celebrate July food for a rooftop picnic or purchase drinks and snacks at 4th! event, which features a rooftop party with live music, the party. Full meals must be pre-purchased by Wednesday, family-friendly activities, and an unmatched view of the June 3. You can watch the Boston fireworks above the Charles River. Pops concert on an enormous inflatable screen, weather Supporting Museum Programs permitting. And when the The Museum’s Volunteer Service League hosts this evening fireworks start launching event, which raises money for its grants program. Museum over the Charles, you’ll staff can apply for the grants, which pay for costs and materi- enjoy an amazing view. als for new programs or the enhancement of current activities. So don’t miss out on KIBO robots for the new Tech Studio, a pediatric wheelchair one of the biggest parties and foreign language guides for the Information Desk, a dolly of the year—get your tickets rig for the Planetarium’s 360-degree video camera, and a 3-D now for Let’s Celebrate July printer are just some of the items purchased with grant money 4th! at mos.org, in person from the program. Since 2000, this successful event has put at the Museum box office, nearly $600,000 back into the Museum, making the institu- or by calling 617-723-2500, tion a better place for all who visit. 617-589-0417 (TTY). Fireworks, Music, and More Festivities start at 5:30 p.m. on the Museum’s garage roof. In addition to live entertainment, various activities will be Visit mos.org/july4 for full details. available, including fun-with-science tabletop programs, Enjoy “Giant” Films on the Giant Screen Airplanes, dinosaurs, and whales take over the Mugar Omni Theater! he Museum of Science wants you to think big this summer when visiting the Mugar Omni Theater— really, really big. Three films now showing on the 180-degree IMAX® Dome screen feature some of the T largest creatures and objects ever to appear in the air, on land, and in the sea—airplanes, dinosaurs, and humpback whales! Celebrate the Aviation Revolution crossing continents and oceans at 500 mph has turned from fascination to frustration,” says Brian J. Terwilliger, People have been dreaming about traveling through the the film’s director and producer. “I want to reignite people’s sky since the dawn of civilization, and only in the recent wonder for one of the most extraordinary aspects of the past has fantasy become reality—most prominently with modern world.” airplanes. They have radically changed the world—cutting travel time once measured in days, weeks, and months to Indiana Jones and the Dinosaurs just hours. This revolution is explored in the new National Geographic film Airplanes: A World in Flight. While the man who played Indiana Jones in the film series narrates Airplanes: A World in Flight, the person who is Soar above 18 countries and seven continents—yes, even said to be the inspiration for the character—naturalist and Antarctica—in a journey guided by actor and pilot Harrison explorer Roy Chapman Andrews—is featured in Dinosaurs Ford along with an original score from Academy Award- Alive! winning composer and pilot James Horner (Avatar, Titanic). Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas, “Practically overnight, our the film takes you back to the 1920s with footage of Andrews perception of and his team from the American Museum of Natural History making landmark discoveries of dinosaur bones in the challenging conditions of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. Fast forward to the 21st century with paleontologists Mike Novacek and Mark Norell leading a group making exciting discoveries in the same area and in New Mexico. Watch as digitally animated dinosaurs fight for survival—often against each other—in a difficult Now Showing in the Mugar Omni Theater environment. “What better way to learn about dinosaurs than to experience them on the only movie screens that can truly show their size?” asks David Clark, the film’s writer and co-director.