ISSN 2399 -2840
THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!
TA K E AIZ F IL M QU
Make trick food
Shrink a friend!
Make a mini movie
Th e s c ie n c e of mo vie s
our Create y
own
cts
ffe e l a i c e p s
CRA ANS P I F T A IMAN N IN G Y TION TO WHIZZPOPBANG.COM ISSUE 101
EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS
WELCOME!
We’ve rolled out the red carpet to celebrate movies!
Winter evenings are perfect for cosy family movie nights, but have you ever wondered how films are made? This edition Whizz Pop Bang is all about of the magic of movies, from hig h-tech special effects to clever trick s with props! You’ll be able to get in on the action at home too creating realistic-looking fake by making pretend ice cream, pictures and engineering a pa cuts, drawing your own moving rp tube for some silly sound effects!
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Welcome to WHIZZ POP BANG – the magazine bursting with enticing articles, mind-boggling facts and hands-on experiments to get your child hooked on science! Whizz Pop Bang is a gender-neutral magazine with plenty of inspirational male and female scientists and content that appeals to all children.
The magazine is ideal for home educators and it’s linked to the national curriculum too, for use in schools. Whizz Pop Bang will help with literacy development as well. Transform science teaching in your school with our hands-on science and reading resources. Our downloadable lesson packs link fun science experiments and reading with key curriculum topics for years 2-6. Subscribe at whizzpopbang.com/schools
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All experiments have been tried and tested by our team. The activities should be done under close adult supervision and are done at your own risk. Launchpad Publishing Ltd cannot accept liability for damage done.
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ESOME
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ily Da
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tern
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© Wes
As well as our writers, we also have a team of science advisers who help to ensure that our content is accurate, up-to-date and relevant. Our advisers include: palaeontologist Steve Brusatte; molecular microbiologist Matt Hutchings; robotics engineer Abbie Hutty; mechanical engineer Aimee Morgans; GP Dr Cathy Scott; astronomer Mark Thompson; physicist Dr Jess Wade; child psychologist Dr Naira Wilson. To find out more, go to whizzpopbang.com/about
I’ve made some amazing special effects!
Where you see this symbol, use a QR code reader on a phone or tablet to visit a relevant web page.
©
Editor-in-Chief: Jenny Inglis Editor: Tammy Osborne Assistant Editor: Tara Pardo Designers: Rachael Fisher and Simon Oliver Illustrator: Clive Goodyer Staff writer: Joanna Tubbs Contributors: Sarah Bearchell, Anna Claybourne, Joe Inglis, Owen Inglis and Hannah Wood
Merry Christmas everyone!
Gakk
Riley
CONTENTS
4
AWESOME NEWS AND AMAZING FACTS
How were sphinxes made? Did dust kill the dinosaurs? And how have seals been helping scientists?
CINEMA SCIENCE
6
Discover the secrets of movies as you create your own special effects, make trick food, shrink a friend and make a mini movie!
ANIMAL ANTICS
Meet the feathered farmyard friends who provide the UK with 35 million eggs a day – chickens!
12
©
SILLY SCIENCE
a
Take a film quiz and discover amazing stories about the making of some classic movies.
.com
EMMI’S ECO CLUB
16
Use empty loo roll tubes and brown paper to make unique Christmas wrapping paper!
PULLOUT
17
tern
ily Da
INTERVIEW
e Pr
Meet an art director and set dresser who helps to make stop motion animations.
s
lP
o st
HOW STUFF WORKS
22 Shutterstock.com
© Wes
Craft a spinning animation toy to see a tiny Christmas film!
s/ Br ist o
24
Find out how motion capture technology makes movie and video game characters move realistically.
TEN AWESOMELY AMAZING…
26
Movie technologies! Find out how new tech is changing the way films are made and watched.
SENSATIONAL SCIENTISTS
28
Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the incredible cinématographe, a machine that recorded, developed and projected film.
Atom
Y’S WONDER CLUB
Ask our robot, Y, your burning science questions and share all of your adventures in science with the club.
32 34
14
©
/
ut te rst ock
Ho do i mg /
jn Ma
Sh
30
QUIZ POP BANG AND COMPETITION
Test your knowledge with our super-duper science quiz and win a Build Your Own Wallace and Gromit Techno Trousers kit!
JOKES AND ANSWERS
Laugh out loud at some awesome jokes and find the answers to all of our quizzes, puzzles and riddles.
35
SPECTACULAR SCIENCE
See what a water-filled balloon looks like as it pops!
I’d love to see pictures of your experiments! Send them to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag
FIND THE CHRISTMAS PICTURES Hidden on each double page is a Christmas picture. Tick each one to find them all!
s Awesome New cts and Amazing Fa SMILE!
Scientists studying cat communication have counted no less than 276 different facial expressions that cats use with each other. The researchers spent months filming cats in a cat café then analysing the footage, cat egorising the expressions into friendly (45%), aggressive (37%) and unknown (18%). They think some cat expressions might have been picked up from humans during the 10,000 years they’ve been living with us.
All cat photographs © Shutterstock.com
Recent research suggests that dust was responsible for the global winter that followed a massive asteroid smashing into Earth 66 million years ago. Scientists in Belgium used computers to simulate the effects of the impact on the climate. They found that the trillions of tonnes of dust kicked up by the impact could have blocked out the Sun for years, stopping plants from photosynthesising and eventually leading to the extinction of 75% of species on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs.
4 whizzpopbang.com
© kamomeen / Shutterstock.com
DID DUST KILL THE DINOSAURS?
SEAL SCIENTISTS © AlexAnton / Shutterstock.com
SECRETS OF THE SPHINX
Could nature have played a role in the creation of the Great Sphinx of Giza? Sphinxes are enormous stone statues made in ancient Egypt, 4,500 years ago. Archaeologists have always thought they were made entirely by humans, but researchers at New York University in the US wondered if erosion (the wearing away of rock by wind-blown sand or water) might have played a part. To answer this question, they made mounds of soft clay mixed with harder materials and blasted them with fast-flowing water (to mimic the wind). The mounds turned into a shape that looked a lot like a sphinx, suggesting that a similar process might have created the initial shape, which was then carved by humans to look more like sphinxes.
© NYU Applied Mathematics Laboratory
Most of the ocean floor remains uncharted, but some unlikely explorers are helping to change that. Southern elephant seals in Antarctica have helped researchers find a hidden underwater canyon. More than 200 seals were fitted with trackers which showed when they dived deeper than expected, according to existing maps of the seabed. Scientists then confirmed the canyon’s depth using sonar measurements. Mapping the Antarctic seafloor is important because canyons like these affect the speed at which ice melts by allowing warmer water to reach the coast.
A sphinx shape is carved in the lab using erosion
© Clive McMahon, IMOS Animal Taggin
A NEW VIEW OF THE CRAB NEBULA
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered new information about this supernova remnant, located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. The Crab Nebula is our closest example of what remains after the explosive death of a massive star. This expanding cloud of gas and dust surrounds a rapidly rotating neutron star – one of the densest objects in the universe, whose strong magnetic field shapes the nebula. The milky smoke-like material around the neutron star is the pulsar wind nebula which pushes the remains of the exploded star outwards. The Crab Nebula was first spotted by astronomers in the 11th century, but only now, thanks to Webb’s infrared camera, are we able to see these new details.
Neutron star
© NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University)
g
CINEMA SCIENCE
By Anna Claybourne When you watch a film in the cinema, what’s actually happening? You’re looking at a flat screen, yet you can see people moving around and talking. HOW?
This is great! But how does it WORK???
MOVIE MAGIC
Films are often called movies (short for ‘moving pictures’), but the pictures aren’t really moving at all! Instead, you see a series of still pictures on the screen, one after another. They flash by very quickly, 24 ‘frames’ (pictures) per second. It’s so fast, you don’t notice it. Instead, your eyes and brain join the separate pictures together, so it seems as if you can see movement.
© Wirestock
Creators / Shutterstock.com
MOVIE CAMERAS
Nowadays, most movies are made with digital video cameras instead.
To make a movie, you need a special movie camera. It works like a normal camera but takes 24 pictures every second. There are two main types.
F ilm cameras use a long
reel of thin film. (That’s why films are called films!)
They store the light patterns as a digital code.
The camera opens 24 times a second to let in light as the film moves past. Chemicals in the film react to the light and change colour.
This captures a series of images to make a movie.
When light shines into the camera, it hits electronic light sensors.
Later, it can be turned back into pictures to be played in a cinema or on TV.
ain Movie cameras cont at film or other parts th . are sensitive to light on When light shines d them, they record an s. rn store the light patte
Movies are made up of a series of still pictures on a screen. They change so quickly that our eyes and brains see them as moving images.
E
You’ve probably seen lots of animated movies (cartoons) too. Instead of photos of actors, they use drawings or computer art – like Disney’s ‘Wish’. Or they’re made by taking photos of little models, moved into different positions for each frame – ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of The Nugget’ was made this way (see page 22).
e
?
h
MAKE A MINI-MOVIE!
ANIMATED MOVIES
You can make a simple animated movie at home with this awesome flip book!
Yo u will need small, thick pad of A paper or sticky notes A pen
My favourite films are moo-sicals!
What you do
1. Turn to the last page and draw a simple picture in the bottom right corner, such as a stick person. 2. Turn the next page – you should see your drawing faintly through the paper. Draw another picture over the top, but in a slightly different position. 3. Keep going, changing the person’s position each time so they wave, dance or jump.
ON THE SCREEN
When you watch a movie in the cinema, a machine called a projector beams the images onto the big screen from behind you, while speakers around the room play the sounds. Have a look behind you and see if you can spot the projector next time you’re in the cinema!
The longest movie ever made is 5 weeks long!
4. When you’ve drawn all the pictures, flip through the pad from back to front to watch your movie!
Answer on page 34
Rearrange these animation frames into the right order to show a Christmas tree being decorated. Check your answer on page 34.
a
b
c
e d
f
Answer:
Watc h a fl ip a n im at io n b o o k h b it .ly /4 7 k e re ! W Ix r
What else could you animate? You could try drawing a plant growing, a rocket taking off or a ball bouncing! whizzpopbang.com 7
Sp ec ia l e ff ec ts Sp ec ia l e ff ec ts
If you go to see a movie and it features dinosaurs or aliens, people flying or a talking dog, you’re seeing special effects! These are effects that can’t just be filmed from real life, so they are added to the movie using things like invisible wires, make-up, robotic models or computer images. In fact, almost all movies use special effects to make everything look and sound realistic. Special effects are extra effects added to films to create images, sounds or characters that can’t be captured from real life.
Yoda, an alien character in the ‘Star Wars’ movies, was first created using a puppet, and later using
computer-generated imagery (CGI).
MAGIC MAKE-UP
As well as making actors look good, movie make-up artists can create fake wounds, burns and skin diseases. They also make things like alien faces or an extra-large nose or chin, using masks or stick-on parts called prosthetics.
An alien look created by a movie make-up artist
An actor having a bald cap fitted
tterstock.com
© Nejron Photo / Shu
MAK E A FAK E WOUND
Mix some skin-coloured foundation and Vaseline with enough cornflour to make it into a rollable ball the size of a marble. Put some foundation around the area of skin where you want the fake wound. Put the putty onto your skin and smooth it into a gently sloping mound using a blunt butter knife or similar (don't use anything sharp!). Cut a curved slash into the putty and open up the wound slightly. Fill the gap with fake blood made from red food colouring mixed with golden syrup.
8 whizzpopbang.com
© Sun Shock / Shutterst
ock.com
FAKE FOOD
The food and drink you see in movies often isn’t real. Why? Some foods, like ice cream, would melt during filming, which can take a long time. Fish or cheese could get smelly, and a big banquet or lots of cakes in a bakery would be very expensive if they were real. So film-makers often use fake food instead, made by special food artists.
© RSTPIERR / Shutterstock.com
SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT!
When a film is being made, sound recordists record the characters talking. But it can be hard to capture all the other sounds clearly, like footsteps or creaky doors, so people called Foley artists create convincing sounds to add to the movie. They also make sounds for fictional things like sci-fi spaceships, monsters and ghosts.
PARP TUBE Make your own sound effects with this cheeky tube!
Yo u will need
cardboard tube about A 30 cm x 5 cm A latex glove A paper drinking straw Scissors Sticky tape
What you do
Foley artists made the swishing sound of a light sabre using a film projector motor.
1. Fit the wrist of the glove over the tube and tape it securely in place. 2. Cut a very small hole in the end of the thumb and push the end of the straw into the hole, taping it in place. 3. Pull down all the fingers so that the glove’s palm is stretched tightly over the tube, as in the picture, and tape in place.
A merry Christmas you must have!
4. Blow into the straw to make a rude noise… PARP!
Match up these movie sounds with the Foley technique that made them. Check your answers on page 34.
Someone breaking a bone
Crinkling some cellophane wrap
Thunder
Snapping a piece of celery
A crackling wood fire
Bending a large sheet of metal
Flapping bird wings
Gloves being flapped around
Turn the page to have a go at making some fake food of your own!
How do Foley artists greet you? With a sound wave!
How It All Started
Movies were only invented around 140 years ago – not long, compared to other kinds of art like painting, music and books. But in that time, the world of film has changed a lot…
IN THE BEGINNING…
The movies were born!
Films were invented by combining two different inventions: moving image toys and photography.
1830 s
In the 1800s, people invented moving image toys that made pictures seem to move, such as the zoetrope.
The zoetrope only showed a very short, simple animation, but it was fun!
Make a zoetrope on page 17.
Soon, people were flocking to see the amazing new moving pictures being shown in theatres. But what were these early films like?
1880 s
Inventors designed cameras that could take several photos per second, on a reel of film that passed through the camera as you turned a handle.
They were short, often less than a minute! They were black and white. Most had no sound – instead, words on the screen showed what characters were saying.
I’m BORED!
1830 s
Meanwhile, photography was invented. A camera collected the light from a scene and recorded The chemicals the image using took a long time to react, light-sensitive so having your photo taken chemicals.
meant sitting very still for several minutes! Special neck stands held your head still.
10 whizzpopbang.com
1890 s
Inventors such as Louis
and Auguste Lumière
perfected film cameras and projectors that could play the movie back by shining light through the film onto a big screen.
Find out more about the Lumière brothers on page 28!
The first movies for the public to watch were shown in the 1890s.
ge Some chemicals chan when light shines on them. They’re called
photosensitive
chemicals and they’re used in photography.
Film firsts
MAKE TRICK ICE CREAM
As time went on, more new inventions brought big changes.
Early 1900 s
Colour films started to be made. John Logie Baird invented the first video camera.
1920 s
3D films were made, which you watched with special glasses. The first ‘talkies’ (movies with talking) were released.
Instead of real ice cream, film-makers sometimes use fake ice cream made from mashed potato so that it doesn’t melt.
1930 s
The first full-length animated films came out.
Yo u will need
1950 s
Films started to use CGI
(computer-generated imagery).
otatoes or instant mashed P potato powder Red or pink food colouring (optional) Ice cream scoop or large spoon Ice cream cone or small bowl Sprinkles or ice cream sauce, if you have them (or you could use a savoury sauce)
What you do 1. Ask an adult to help you make a small amount of thick mashed potato and leave it to cool. 2. If you like, stir in a few drops of food colouring to make strawberry ice cream (or leave it potato-coloured for vanilla). 3. Scoop out balls of mashed potato and put them on the cone or in the bowl. 4. Add some sprinkles, sauce or other decorations…
Early 2000 s
Film-makers began using AI (artificial intelligence) for things like making characters look older or younger.
Shrink A Friend
Even without a computer, you can make a person shrink! In a big open space, ask someone to stand about 20 metres away from you. Position your hand so the person is between your finger and thumb, then take a photo! This is an example of an optical illusion technique called forced perspective which is often used by film-makers.
See if you can make it realistic enough to trick someone! Hey Gakk, try this ice cream!
Try some other illusions using toys!
© Shutterstock.com
AL ANIM S TIC
AN
Chickens
Our vet Joe Inglis is on set this month, finding out about the feathered film stars of the ‘Chicken Run’ movies.
Chickens are a domestic species of birds that have been bred by humans over many thousands of years, a process known as artificial selection. This is different to natural selection, which is when natural forces like the environment and competition from other animals affect how species change.
Fowl to farm It all started with a species of wild birds from India called red junglefowl. They were gradually altered by people selecting their favourite birds, usually the tamest, fattest or best at producing eggs. Over hundreds of generations, this artificial selection has turned wild junglefowl into all the different domestic chickens we see today.
8,000
years ago When scientists think the first chickens were domesticated.
© Majna / Shutterstock.com
12 whizzpopbang.com
Chicken-o-saurus Like all birds, chickens are descended from dinosaurs, and even today’s modern breeds have lots of similarities to their ancient ancestors. These include lightweight, hollow bones, internal air sacs for breathing, three forward-facing toes and feathers (yes, many dinosaurs were covered in feathers!).
Hen-pecked
Pass the comb…
Why was the chicken always telling jokes? It was a comedi-hen!
Adult chickens have some fleshy, flappy bits on their heads which are known as their caruncles – they include the comb on top of their heads and the wattles hanging down either side of their beaks. Male chickens, called cocks or roosters, usually have larger combs and also have brighter feathers and longer tails.
There are three chickens for every person in the world.
© Djenev / Shutterstock.com
Chickens are omnivores, which means they can eat lots of different types of food. Their wild jungle relatives eat everything from seeds and insects up to small lizards, snakes and mammals. Most domestic chickens have a very different diet, being fed processed pellets of grain, soya and mineral and vitamin supplements.
Factory farming Most chickens are reared for meat – more than 1 billion every year in the UK. These chickens are called broilers. Other chickens, called layers, are kept for egg production. They each lay around 300 eggs a year.
Answer on page 34
35 million The number of eggs eaten in the UK every single day!
Find the other half of this chick’s eggshell.
Write your answer here and check it on page 34.
whizzpopbang.com 13
s or movie myths? Are th ese film fa ct e test and find out! th to e dg le ow kn Put your
T R U E OR FAL SE
MOVIES EDITION
There are 27 differen t emotion characters in the movie 'Inside O ut'.
1
T RU E
FALSE
It would take 2,000 balloons to lift Carl's house in 'Up'.
2
TRUE
3
FALSE
Buzz Lightye ar fr Story' was ori om 'Toy ginally going to be called L arry Lunar.
T RU E
4
FALSE
ted ology dedica A new techn ated feet im to making an tic was first alis look more re nto'. used in 'Enca
T RU E
FALSE
14 whizzpopbang.com
5
Animators w on 'Shrek' orking po m u d o n th u r e d em to test how selves it moved.
T RU E
FALSE
6
od sign was The Hollywo a wood named after lly bushes. filled with ho
T RU E
FALSE
as
es.
ANSWERS
7
at crawls The tarantula th e in over Marv's fac as real. 'Home Alone' w
T RU E
FALSE
1. FALSE – there are five emotion characters in ‘Inside Out’ (Joy, Disgust, Sadness, Anger and Fear). A stu dy in 2017 suggested that humans experie nce at least 27 different emotions, including envy, pride and amusement. Other emotio n chraracters (including Trust and Surprise) wer e originally going to appear in the movie, but were cut. 20,662 the in se balloons lifting the hou te how many scientists have tried to calcula ded to lift a nee be helium balloons would y came up The se. real, average-sized hou ,000 and 100 n wee with various answers bet ns! loo bal 23.5 million
2. FALSE – the animators showed film. Many
3. TRUE – and the space-travelling toy was
8
also called Tempus of Morph at one stage. His final name was given in honour of Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut who walked on the Moon in 1969 (just after Neil Armstrong!).
Chewbacca fr om 'Star Wars' was in spired by George Luca s's dog.
T RU E
4. FALSE – but a new eye shader was k s loo ped that makes animated eye
develo hnology more realistic than ever. This tec adds and y is based on human eye anatom speckles to the iris.
FALSE Fit the movie characters’ names into the grid, then copy any letters that are in coloured boxes into the matching boxes here. You’ll reveal another character hiding there!
5. TRUE – the team behind ‘Shrek’ studied real mud to make their animation look as realistic as possible. 6. FALSE – the original sign said
GRU LUCA RAYA ARIEL MARIO WENDY PETER PAN MIRABELLE
up in 1923 ‘Hollywoodland’ and was put elopment. dev sing hou to advertise a new people and ken bro s By 1949, the sign wa was tion sec d’ ‘lan complained until the el ste new ndbra a removed. In 1978, ded fun d, cte ere s wa version of the sign in film mainly by people who worked . ent inm erta and ent s ps pro told that the fake tarantula the realistic department made didn’t look s made enough. When ‘Home Alone’ wa puter (more than 30 years ago) com today, as technology wasn’t as advanced fear The . so a real spider was used instead ! too l, on Daniel Stern’s face was rea
7. TRUE – the actor, Daniel Stern, wa
8. TRUE – George Lucas said his dog, an
Alaskan Malamute called Indian a, was “bigger than a human being and very longhaired… She inspired me to give Han Solo a sidekick who was like a big, furr y dog.”
b... clu O C E
Emmi’s
In the UK, we throw away 400,000 km of wrapping paper every Christmas. Why not make your own recyclable wrapping paper, and tie it up wtih string instead of plastic tape so you can reuse it!
rown wrapping B paper or packaging paper Loo roll tubes
1
PRINTED WRAPPING PAPER
You will need Paint P aintbrushes S aucer
For the snowman S cissors Elastic band Glue
Christmas tree Squash a loo roll tube into the shape of a triangle with a narrow base to make a Christm as tree stamp.
3
2
r onto a ece of brown pape Spread a large pi paint or. Squeeze some flo e th g on al or e tabl the the tree stamp into onto a saucer. Dip en lift th r, pe ess it onto the pa r is pe paint. Carefully pr pa e on printing until th it up again. Carry outlines. covered with tree
16 whizzpopbang.com
Use a paintbrush to add details. We filled in some of the outlines with green paint and added tree trunks and stars to each tree .
Continued on page 21 ➜
Snow m an
e tube, then Cut down the side of on it together roll it a little tighter. Stick owman’s with tape – this is the sn another head. Stick the head to ld them loo roll tube with glue. Ho band together with an elastic . es dri e while the glu
MUSHROO M
n. Squash a loo roll tube into the shape show red, e shap the of Paint the edges of the top and the bottom of it white. Print onto the paper, then add details with a paintbrush.
STAR
I’d love to see your printed paper! Take a photo and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag and email it to Y@whizzpopbang.com
Continued from page 16
whizzpopbang.com 21
➜
What yo u do
1. Cut out the two circles and place circle 2 face down with the arrow pointing up (away from you). Cover the back of circle 2 with glue. 2. With the picture on circle 1 facing you and the arrow on the back pointing up, stick circle 1 onto circle 2. The picture of the hat should look upside down.
4. Loop the string through the holes as shown. 5. Now roll the strings back and forth between your thumbs and forefingers to spin the disc.
3. Punch two holes into the sides of the circles where indicated, or make the holes with a sharp pencil.
Yo u should find
You’ll see a reindeer with a red nose and a Santa hat! When the thaumatrope (meaning ‘spinning wonder’) turns quickly, it looks like the two pictures become one. This is because of persistence of vision. When you see an image, the image is held in your eye for a fraction of a second. If you see another image quickly enough, the two pictures appear to make up a single image.
CIRCLE 1
CIRCLE 2
pay How much did Santa for his sleigh? Nothing, it was on the house!
PULL OUT pages 17-20 and get making! ZOETROPE SPINNER
Make an awesome animation toy that makes still images appear to be moving!
Yo u will need
The template over the page Some thick corrugated cardboard Scissors A pencil Glue Clear sticky tape Sticky tack
What yo u do 1. Cut out the template. 2. Make a small hole in the middle of it using a sharp pencil. 3. Cut a circle of cardboard 11.5 cm in diameter and make a hole in the middle using the pencil. 4. Stick the bottom of the template onto the cardboard circle with glue. 5. Fold up the sides of the zoetrope along the dotted lines and stick them together using sticky tape. There should be a small slit still open near the top of each tab. Continued on page 18 ➜
whizzpopbang.com 17
6. Push the pencil through the hole. It may feel nice and secure but if not, add some sticky tack around the pencil to secure it to the cardboard.
This clever device was invented in 1834, long before movie cameras. The same sort of visual effects are still used today, for example to create animated GIFs.
7. Now hold the pencil between your palms and roll it to make your zoetrope spin. Make sure it’s at eye level and look through the gaps as it spins!
Yo u should find You can see Atom gobbling up a doggy mince pie! This is because you’re seeing a rapid succession of still images as you look through the small gaps between the tabs. The images are changing so quickly that your brain interprets them as moving. You get the same effect when you watch a movie, which is also made up of lots of still images.
We’d love to see a photo of your zoetrope! Send your photos to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag
Riddles
Check your answers on page 34.
1. I cannot be burned by fire or drowned by water. What am I?
18 whizzpopbang.com
2. What can go up a chimney down, but cannot go down a chimney up? 3. What do reindeer have that no other animals have?
TWIRLING PICTURE Trick your eyes with this festive thaumatrope!
Yo u will need Scissors Glue Hole punch or sharp pencil Two pieces of string
Find a printable version of the pullout here: bit.ly/3FOK65Z
Interview with a SCIENCE HERO
In my job I get to... help make movies and TV shows
“ Bridget Phe art director and lan, set dre
sser
“
I design and make sets and props.
”
Bridget is an art director and set dresser working on stop motion animation movies at Aardman Animations.
I’ve always loved making and fixing things.
”
As a child, I would make dolls’ houses from cardboard and make dolls’ clothes. Then as I got older, I began making my own clothes too. I still like sewing and I also make jewellery and enjoy fixing my motorbike.
The director will tell me how they want things to look. As an art director, I then produce drawings and provide reference pictures. I choose the correct colours and work out what would be the best materials to use. For example, if a puppet needs to hold a prop in its hand, it has to look like the real thing but be lightweight.
tables and plants for Bridget designed all the vege The Were-Rabbit' se of ' Wallace & Gromit: The Cur t
“
© Wes tern Daily Pre
ss/Bristol Pos
I have worked on lots of movies and TV shows…
Bridget working on a set 22 whizzpopbang.com
”
…including ‘Chicken Run’, ‘Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit’, ‘Shaun the Sheep: Adventures from Mossy Bottom’, ‘Coraline‘, ‘ParaNorman’ and The ‘Boxtrolls’.
Interview with a SCIENCE HERO
“
The technology we use is always changing and improving. Even though we are filming physical puppets, CGI (computer-generated imagery) can help too. If a puppet needs to jump, a metal rig is made to support the puppet in mid-air. Afterwards, CGI is used to remove the rig from each frame (and there are 24 frames per second) so when you watch the movie it looks like the puppet has jumped on its own! The CGI team can also add steam to a kettle or flames to a gas stove.
“ Bridget with the helter skelter from ' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit'
“
© Wes tern Daily Pre
ss/Bristol Pos t
We also use 3D printing.
”
We might need the same prop in different sizes for filming at different scales, for example a wide shot and then a close-up. We make the prop and then scan it so we can 3D print an exact replica in a different size.
Set dressing is a huge part of my job.
”
That’s when all the puppets’ surroundings are put into place and glued solid so nothing moves while the animation takes place.
“
My favourite thing that I have made was for 'Chicken Run'.
”
It was an old-fashioned radio in Tweedy’s office. It was turned into merchandise and became a clock radio that you could buy! I also really enjoyed designing and making the vegetables and gardens in ‘Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit’.
“
I had so much fun working on the new movie 'Chicken Run: Dawn of The Nugget'.
”
It is about to be released on Netflix, I really hope you enjoy it! If you’re interested in working in stop motion animation one day, keep making things and photographing them. Maybe one day you’ll be working on a movie set! Find out more about xxxxxx
‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’ is out on Netflix on December 15th.
”
HOW STUFF
WORKS
Motion Capture Suits Motion capture technology (usually known as mocap) has transformed films and video games by allowing actors’ movements to be used to animate computer-generated characters. Here’s how it works…
1
2
3
To film mocap scenes, actors wear special motion capture suits which are body suits made out of fuzzy velcro-friendly fabric.
The actors are fitted with lots of reflective markers, attached with velcro. Each actor has differently coloured velcro pads to make it easier to see who’s who.
Some technologies use LEDs that shine light from each marker, but most just reflect light – these are known as passive systems.
24 whizzpopbang.com
4
Special infrared cameras film the action from every angle, recording the movement of the reflective markers.
5
Mocap technology is also starting to be used in other areas of science, including medicine. Researchers have recently combined mocap technology and AI to spot certain genetic conditions by analysing how people move.
To record an actor’s facial expressions, many suits have a
head-mounted camera which is pointing at the actor’s face to capture every movement of their mouth, eyes and nose.
6
7
Instead of reflective markers and infrared cameras, some mocap systems use accelerometers and other sensors to measure how the actor moves without using cameras. This type of system is usually cheaper and is mainly used by video game developers.
The data captured from the cameras is fed into high-powered computers which process it and create a 3D wireframe model.
We were lucky enough to visit ILM Studios to see their awesome movie technology. Watch our young reporter using a mocap suit to morph into a dinosaur! bit.ly/3QnopyR
8
The earliest mocap technology – rotoscoping – was actually developed more than 100 years ago. It involved animators painting over the image of an actor on every single frame of a film to create animated characters that moved realistically. With 24 frames for every second of film, you can imagine how long this technique used to take!
The wireframe model is used by animators to create the CGI version of the actor in whatever form they need, from alien beings to superheroes.
.
g.. in z a m A ly e m o s e w A 0 1
O N H C E MOV I E T ing ever y element of mak Technology is used in a ng stor ylines to cinem movies, from planni is how some new tech screenings. Discover the film industry. changing the face of
2
4
3D printing is changing how
1
Personalisation technology
uses artificial intelligence (AI) to tailor content to viewers’ tastes. It’s used for targeted adverts already, but in the future, entire personalised films may be generated in real-time!
props and sets are created. These printers can create intricate objects much more quickly than a human.
3 ILM StageCraft is a new
hi-tech version of green screen technology (where a background image is added after filming). It’s a high-definition LED screen that can be curved right around the actors. The screen can show a moving backdrop with perspectives that change to match the camera angles.
The screen (called ILM StageCraft LED volume)
26 whizzpopbang.com
Have you ever been to an IMAX cinema? They have gigantic screens and special surround-sound systems to make the viewer feel like they’re a part of the action. New IMAX cameras that are lighter and quieter mean that more films may be produced using this amazing technology.
An astronaut uses a heavy, bulky IMAX camera to film on the space shuttle Challenger in 1984.
5 Behind the scenes on the set of ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi.’
Laser projection
is already available in lots of cinemas. A laser light is used instead of an ordinary projection lamp, which results in brighter, higher-resolution images with more colours.
! S E I G N OLO
6
8
AI can trawl huge amounts of data from old films and use this to generate plot ideas, characters and scripts. This can make it much faster to develop ideas for new movies, but AI-generated screenwriting has sparked debate about the impact on writers and led to the recent writers’ strikes.
Rendering can be used to create g images of anythin in a huge variety of styles.
7
Rendering is when a computer creates a 2D or 3D image based on a rough outline (a model). Real-time rendering is when this is done extremely fast – it’s used a lot in video games and virtual reality, but also helps movies come to life.
9
AI uses age transformation technology to make actors look older or younger. It can add wrinkles and change skin texture and hair colour. This technology can even bring actors who have died back to the screen.
10
Immersive cinema technologies,
including seats that move and tremor, gusts of wind and different smells filling screening rooms, could all make watching movies feel even more exciting. You may have experienced some of these at theme parks already!
Glasses-free 3D screens are already available in smaller sizes – but if they become more popular, movies may be shot especially for them! Watching 3D effects without glasses or a headset is more effective and enjoyable for the viewer. © 1. Mr.Note19 / Shutterstock.com, 2. Hodoimg / Shutterstock.com, 3. NASA, 4. 2023 Industrial Light & Magic. All Rights Reserved. © Lucasfilm Ltd. Used With Permission. 5. faak / Shutterstock.com, 6. Chris Long CC BY 2.0 DEED / Wikimedia Commons, 7. Darren Baker / Shutterstock.com, 8. 3D Gear FOTO / Shutterstock.com, 9. Master1305 / Shutterstock.com, 10. Serhii Bobyk / Shutterstock.com.
whizzpopbang.com 27
Sensational Scientists
By Joanna Tubbs
Louis and Auguste Lumière
The Lumière brothers created the cinématographe – a projector, camera and printer that they used to film the first movie. They also made important developments in e. photography, art and medicin
Louis experimented with new ways of taking photographs and made lots of amazing discoveries. The family became famous, and Auguste was invited to Paris to see an exciting new invention: Thomas Edison’s peephole kinetoscope.
In 1895, the brothers held their first public film screening in Paris. As 17-metre lengths of film were cranked through the cinématographe, movies of about 45 ds seconds long were projected for the crow to watch. People were so amazed and e alarmed by this new technology that som of the audience screamed and ran n! when a film of a speeding train was show
Yo u ca n watch th Lu m iè re brot he e rs fi rs t fi lm he re : '
28 whizzpopbang.com
b it .ly /4 6 5 T FJ m
Over the next 10 years, Louis and Auguste trained many people to use the cinématographe to make films. Their team travelled around the world, making more than 1,400 movies and opening several cinemas. They came up with many more film and photography inventions.
AUGU ST E AN D LOUIS LU MI ÈR E WE RE BORN IN 1862 AN D 1864 IN BR ES ANÇON, FR ANCE .
N D
s
N,
© Wikimedia Common
S
re surrounded by Auguste and Louis we technology for art, photography and father owned their entire lives. Their photography a company that made ys learned about equipment and the bo Both boys were how cameras worked.
w excited about this ne
technology.
worked in the As they grew up, they ste was a family business – Augu s a physicist. manager and Louis wa
This kinetoscope was a machine that allowed one person at a time to watch a short film through a small hole. Auguste told his family how it worked and how it could be improved. They started developing their own version: the cinématographe.
Long strips of film were run through the machine using a hand crank. A moving image was then projected onto a screen so that it could be watched by several people at once. This incredible invention could also be used to shoot films, plus it was portable, which meant that footage could be shot anywhere in the world – not just in a studio.
Despite this huge success, Louis and Auguste abandoned film-making as they thought it was just a fad. They developed a practical way of developing colour film and continued making photography equipment for many years. Louis worked on 3D-film-making and Auguste focussed on medicine, The cinema is researching serious illnesses including tuberculosis and cancer. an invention without
any future.
While their successful film-making career was very short, the brothers made many significant developments that altered the history of movies.
Email me at Y@whizzpopbang.com
der Club! Welcome to Y’s Won to share your This page is for you with our adventures in science hizz Pop Bang robot, Y, and other W atured on readers! Everyone fe an this page will receive e! enamel pin badg
Dear Y, Why does clay dry in the sun, but if you put it in the freezer it doesn’t go soft again?
From Sunshine, aged 10
F oR
CURIoUS K I DS
Jake, aged 5, had fun making his rock pool (from the Coasts edition, Issue 96).
Clay is made from sheets of mic roscopic minerals with water molecules between the layers . When clay dries, the water evaporates – so the sheets get closer together and bond more firmly. This sets the sha pe of your creation, but also shrinks it! The air in a freezer is too dry to re-soften air-dried clay, but patient and repeated spraying with water should make it workable again. When you fire clay in a kiln, the heat evaporates off all the remaining water and turns the minerals into a hard glassy form which can last for thousands of years! Georgina, aged 6, painted and crafted some extra sea creatures to add to her rock pool.
Chitrangada, ed aged 8, match nd u fo e the shells sh ell h as se to her e guide from th t. u o Coasts pull
Jesse, aged 9, ed 7, and Q uinn, ag e m sa e used th make technique to c ti as these fin-t ! ts T-shir
7, Charlie, aged 5, ed ag , n yn Fl and each made these b the in d re bags featu b to lu C o Ec Coasts ckets carry their bu . es and spad
enamel badges Y’s Wonder Club Badges Collectable for you to earn! Help local wildlife to earn your Wildlife Watcher badge.
Investigate scientific questions to earn your Super Scientist badge.
Help save the planet to earn your Eco Hero badge.
E
We’re wild about your watering hole scenes (from the Safari edition, Issue 97)…
Dear Y, How do sound waves travel through the air?
Yisroel, aged 5
Amelia, aged
9
Ismah, aged 10 All sounds are made by vibrations – tiny backwards and forwards movements. You can see them when you strum a guitar string. As the string moves, it crashes into air molecules, giving them energy and making them vibrate. As it moves one way, the string pushes the air molecules together (a compression) but as it moves back the other way, it makes an area with fewer air molecules (a rarefaction). A repeating pattern of compressions and rarefactions is what makes a sound wave. The sound energy passes from one air molecule to the next, until it reaches your ear!
Austin, aged 8
Joshua, aged 8
Knox, aged 6
Olive, aged 8
Joshua, aged 5
Harris, aged 7, and his sister Ada made this awesome bug hotel!
Audrey, aged 7, added bits from her garden.
Dear Y, If you were to dig to the Earth’s core, what elements would you find?
From Ben, aged 8
No one has ever been there, so we can’t be certain! But studying the way earthquakes move through the Earth has taught us that its core has two layers. We can guess which elements these are made of by studying the movement of Earth’s magnetic field and by looking at meteorites formed at the same time as Earth. Scientists think the inner core is a very hot, solid ball of iron and nickel. The outer core is a liquid version of the same mixture, which also contains tiny amounts of elements which were around at the time of the Earth’s formation: hydrogen, carbon, oxyge n, silicon and sulphur.
Get problem solving to earn your Epic Engineer badge.
Write a report or a review to earn your Science Reporter badge.
Neil, aged 7, made a pterosaur plane.
Send your experiments, ideas, photos, reviews and questions to Y@whizzpopbang.com or Y, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. We can’t return any post, sorry.
To find out how to earn your badges, go to whizzpopbang.com/wonder-club. Schools can get involved too! Find out how here: bit.ly/39xNQ Q qV
whizzpopbang.com 31
How much can you remember from this issue?
e um/dad/th Test your m fan in your biggest film e what street to se
Test your knowledge with our super-duper quiz. Just tick the answers you think are correct, mark them using the answers on page 34 and then add up your score. If you need some help, check out the hints at the bottom of the page.
they know!
1
3
a) motion capture
a) Lightning strikes
c) movie captions
b) Volcanic eruptions
cle? What is a carun
y bit on a) A fleshy, flopp a chicken’s head
4
boil
c) 4 5 minutes
6
a) Make fake food for movies b) F it bald caps to cover c) C reate convincing sounds to add to movies
a)
orn
ieces of popc b) P
c) Frames of film
What is used in the movie technology StageCraft in place of green screens? a) Blue screens
actors’ hair
Different colours
About how long were the Lumière brothers’ first movies? b) 4 5 seconds
What does a Foley artist do?
, In a normal film 24 of what are nd? shown per seco
c) Erosion
a) 4.5 seconds
is keen
l c) A large, painfu
7
What natural process helped ancient Egyptians to create the sphinxes?
b) more capybaras
b) A relative who on his car
5
2
MOCAP is short for…
I just saw that new movie, ‘Trampolines’. It has its ups and downs!
8
b) LED screens c) AI screens
Computer-generated imagery is also known as…
Answers on page 34.
I scored: ..........
a) CGI
1-3: Off to a première!
b) compgenery
4-6: Walking down the red carpet!
c) clever pictures
Need a hint? Find the answers by reading these pages… 1) Page 24 2) Page 5 3) Page 13 4) Page 28 5) Page 9 6) Page 26 7) Page 6 8) Page 8
7-8: Award-winning performance!
Film fun! We’ve got three ‘cracking’ Wallace & Gromit kits to give away! To be in with a chance of winning one, find six differences between the two images on the film reel. Circle the differences and then send in a photo of your answer.
! IN
ie, . s
W
Build Your Own Wallace & Gromit Techno Trousers Slot together the cardboard parts to create Wallace’s iconic trousers from Oscar®-winning Aardman short film ‘The Wrong Trousers’. Twist the paddle on Wallace’s back to bring him to life with a wonderful walking and stomping action! The kit, from Build Your Own, also includes the villainous penguin ‘Feathers’ McGraw and his chaos-causing remote-control panel. Children under 10 will need help from an adult. Send your entry to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘Movies competition’ as the subject of your email. Alternatively, post it to Movies competition, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please don’t forget to include your name, age and address. Deadline: January 12th 2024. UK residents only. Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com.
WINNERS
Issue 99 competition winners Thank you to all of you who sent in your entries to our Fungi competition. Your photos were fantastic! These five lucky winners will each receive a copy of Chews Your Own Tasty Adventure by Dr Sai Pathmanathan from faber.co.uk
Seamus Read, 10
Thomas Franklin, 12
Evie Mogg, 8
Iqra Manzoor, 9
Jess Salmon, 7
whizzpopbang.com 33
JOKES
What did the movie director say when she finished her burrito? “That’s a wrap!”
Did you hear about the Why was ock. Knock Kn Harry Potter s Minecraft movie? ad? ? e r e h t Who’s He was going t It’s a block-buster! hrough ! in d d la a difficult spell! A ? o h Aladdin w e street h t in d la Awith you! d r o w a How do you wants keep someone in suspense? I’ll tell you later!
Page 7 – True/Untrue
Answers
TRUE! The film, called ‘Logistics’, is the story of how a gadget gets from a factory in China to a shopper in Sweden. Take plenty of popcorn!
Page 13 – Eggshell puzzle
Page 7 – Frame game puzzle
Shell 6 is the other half of the chick’s egg.
The sequence of frames is b, f, d, a, c, e.
Page 15 – Catch the character puzzle The movie character’s name in the coloured boxes is Matilda.
A M
A
R
I
I
R
E
Someone breaking a bone ➜ Snapping a piece of celery
A
L
Thunder ➜ Bending a large sheet of metal
B
Page 9 – Foley puzzle The techniques that made these movie sounds were:
W
E
A crackling wood fire ➜ Crinkling some cellophane wrap
Page 18 – Ridldles
Flapping bird wings ➜ Gloves being flapped around
1) Ice
L
Page 13 – True/Untrue
2) An umbrella
L
TRUE! There are around 25 billion chickens in the world, which is just a bit more than three for every one of the 8.1 billion humans – and more than any other bird species on the planet!
3) Baby reindeer
P
E
Page 32 – Quiz 1) a 2) c 3) a 4) b 5) c 6) b 7) c 8) a
I
O R
U
C
A Y
N
D
Y
A
G T
E
R U
P
A
N
© Jose Luis Stephens / Shutterstock.com
See a slow-motion video of a balloon popping here: bit.ly/45VrzQ0
science
SPECTACULAR These images show what happens at the exact moment a water-filled balloon is popped! They were captured using a high-speed camera, which can take 1,000 images every second (ultra-high-speed cameras are even faster!). When the images are played back at the normal rate of 24 frames per second, you see the action in mesmerising slow motion. This technology is really useful to scientists. It has helped them work out how droplets spread when you sneeze, how materials react to impacts and how lightning strikes. Engineers have been able to see how insects and birds fly, helping them design better planes, helicopters and drones.
Slow-motion pop!
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