Michelle Vu's PHYS 23 Blog

Star Trek and Faster-Than-Light Travel For as long as man could look up, the sky has fascinated the individual. The shower of stars across the night sky has enticed man to create myths, songs, and sonnets. The wonder has captivated a whole generation with science fiction movies and shows like Star Wars and Star Trek . What was once fiction soon became possible with the invention of space travel and the first man on the moon. What else could science draw from fiction? In the Star Trek franchise, a feature of the ship is warp drive, which is essentially a speed boost for the heroes to traverse the cosmos faster than the speed of light. Although it is a work of fiction, Star Trek has influenced actual scientific research on answering the question of whether or not this method of faster-than-light (FTL) travel is possible. Scientists like Miguel Alcubierre and Harold White have developed plausible theories for real warp drive. Although there are some logistical difficulties, warp dri...

Thesis/Intro: In the Star Trek franchise, a feature of the ship is warp drive, which is essentially a speed boost for our heroes to traverse the cosmos faster than the speed of light. Although it is a work of fiction, Star Trek is influenced actual scientific research on answering the question of whether or not this method of faster-than-light (FTL) travel is possible. Scientists like Miguel Alcubierre and Harold White have developed plausible theories for real warp drive. Although there are some logistical difficulties, warp drive is technically possible, which opens up the possibility of faster space travel and exploring new depths of space we could not reach before. What was once pure fiction is developing into nonfiction. Body Paragraphs: Miguel Alcubierre developed the idea of Alcubierre Drive in 1994, inspired by Star Trek’s warp drive. He proposed the warp drive was possible by creating a warp bubble around the ship, using energy to produce a wave that would contract the ...

Character Animation Stop Motion For this assignment, I felt like I improved from the falling stop motion assignment. I had a better idea of the process and I am happy with what I shot. I worked alone on this shoot. Most of the props and set went as planned, except for the clay model. I could not afford clay because money is tight right now, but I made do with a model made of paper clips. I used tape and kneaded eraser to pose the character and keep it in place. I used a DSLR camera to shoot and Adobe Premiere to edit. I used the straight-ahead animation method, "playing back" (i.e. scrolling through the pictures) every shot to make sure it flowed. I used tape and assorted boxes and books to prop the camera up and keep it still, however, there were some shakes, especially near the end.

Script: For the character animation assignment, I plan to shoot a character waking up from sleep. The setting will be a bedroom. The character will start laying down, under the covers of the bed, with its back to the camera. An alarm will go off, off-screen. The character will turn over and then push itself up to a sitting position. Then, it will throw its pillow to turn off the alarm. Then, it will stretch its arms above its head, let its arms drop, and push the covers away from its body. Finally, it will scratch/rub its back and its head will turn to the side. For props, I will make a small bed with a blanket and pillow and the character will be a clay figure. For the backdrop of the room, I will use the corner of a room and make a tiny poster to hang on the bedroom wall for scale. For shooting, I will use a DSLR camera and tripod that I check out from the school’s IRC. To record sound effects, I will use my phone. For editing, I will compile the shots in Adobe Premiere Pro. Bo...