Start of Paper

Okay Here is the start of my paper I still have to fill in major details and continue to elaborate. I don't know how I feel about adding images to my thesis. To be honest it feels very 8th grade.


So here it is sans images.

Introduction

Fitness is a part of cultural and social expectations for the embodiment of physical perfection. A body that can perform at its peak under extreme conditions is considered to be healthy and strong. While countries promote physical fitness, most people have become less and less fit due to the advances made in technology to make life more convenient. There are fewer jobs that require physical prowess and more that trap an individual behind a desk all day. (Dishman,Rod, Physical Activity Epidemiology, Pg 260-263) A sedentary lifestyle is becoming more normal. With the distractions of television, video games and the computer, people are becoming more and more lax in their lifestyle. Instead of going out, more people are inclined to stay in for their entertainment.

The decision to become fit is a rough one. It is hard to stick with a physical program and even tougher to make the first step. The point of this thesis is to identify with that feeling and make fun of it by exaggerating the problems one faces when first stepping into any new environment. The equipment can seem daunting and when an inexperienced user first walks on, they may experience a surprising number of mishaps through trial and error. The angle of this thesis will be on a slapstick manner where the main character’s bad luck and ineptness seems to get in her way. The comedic approach will try to adhere to the general rules of physical comedy while taking from classical examples from Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. It will hopefully immolate the classical animated approach from the old Disney cartoons.

HISTORICAL OVER VIEW

A. Research on fitness.

The relevance of fitness within our society has been traced back as far as 10,000 bc.(Dalleck Lance, Kravits Len, The History of Fitness, http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/history.html) The early nomadic tribes needed to be in top shape in order to survive long hunting excursions. Frequent physical activity was a vital part of their lives. In early China, the teachings of Confuscius encouraged fitness. The Chinese linked health problems to physical inactivity and prescribed exercise programs to keep the body in peak physical condition. Of course in the ancient Grecian society, physical fitness was held with much esteem. Throughout the timeline of human existence physical fitness has been encouraged to the masses. Physical activity has been critical to survival.

As advancements have been made to make survival easier, the physical component to surviving has become smaller. The problem became very evident when recruitment for the Army came post WWII. More people had to be turned away due to lack of physical fitness. John F Kennedy became an advocate for physical fitness. He was concerned with the phenomen and dubbed it ‘the soft American’…the American that has become too soft due to lack of physical exercise. He urged Americans to get into shape. “Physical fitness is the basis for all other forms of excellence”. ( Kennedy, J.F. (1962). The vigor we need. Sports Illustrated. 17:12-15)

One of the biggest advancement to exercise and fitness came from Jack Lalanne. Jack Lalanne is single-handedly responsible for creating health clubs and incorporating resistance training into a regular exercise program. He also encouraged females to work out, which back then was considered taboo. His health clubs are spread throughout America and are now known as Bally’s Health Clubs. Jack Lalanne was a pioneer in shaping the American consciousness on the importance of fitness. He was able to identify key exercises to aid in cardiovascular health as well as weight loss. He pushed the concept of living healthy without having to go without. He created a myriad of machines to help aid in exercise. Jack Lalanne is over 90 and still encourages physical fitness.

While the treadmill was invented in 1875, it wasn’t used as a part of human exercise. The first treadmill was used as a way to harness animal power. It wasn’t until 1952 that a doctor named Robert Bruce used it as a tool for stress diagnostics for people. The treadmill was used to diagnose and target different heart problems. The treadmill eventually evolved into a tool for human fitness. Its popularity soared in the 1960s and treadmills became an important staple in the army, at gyms and even in NASA space stations. Treadmills are considered important tools in combating the lack of gravity astronauts face. (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2238)
Treadmills are basic staples at the gym. They provide a solid workout that one can do inside regardless of weather conditions and provide cardiovascular training and a variety of different programs a user can chose from. Treadmills keep advancing in options and monitor the heart rate. Older treadmills do not have motorized engines.
A treadmill consists of the following parts: A treadmill motor, treadmill belt, rollers, deck, frame, console and electronics.

The treadmill motor is an electrically powered device. It turns the treadbelt. It includes a flywheel, motor drive belt and front roller. The power by the motor is transferred through the drive belt which runs around the flywheel to the front roller, which turns the treadbelt. Most treadmills power runs between 1 horsepower to 3.5 Horsepower. 1-2 horsepower is good for walking 3.0 and higher is used for serious running athletes. Treadmill belts are what the runner runs on. The type of belt that the runner uses can define the runner. Runners and taller individuals tend to have a longer wider belt. It is advisable that the treadmill belt be no smaller than 52” x 18”.

Treadbelts are composed of numerous composite materials that are up to 4 ply. The layers strengthen the belts and are stretch-resistance to compensate for the friction, which is a major cause of wear and tear in treadmills. The degradation of treadmill belts can be dangerous as stretching causes the belt to slip as it moves. The rollers support the belt, and create the surface over the running belt. The frame of the treadmill is made of steel or aluminum. Aluminum is light strong and resistance to rust and corrosion. The console, is the least important part of the treadmill. It contains detailed information on the progress of the workout, including your heart rate the length of the work out, the course and other options. These interfaces can be cumbersome and are often unneeded. A treadmill can provide resistance to a runner by creating an incline. The incline allows for a good calf workout as well as extra cardiovascular exercise.

Physical Comedy

In this thesis however, the treadmill and the concept of fitness will be a medium for the physical comedy. Physical comedy is the comedic approach to induce laughter through pratfalls, absurd body movements and facial takes. This is also known as slapstick comedy. Physical comedy does not rely on words. It relied on the body to tell the joke and the story. A good physical comedian can engage the audience through physical play and often rely on falls to be the punch line. While physical comedy seems easy, it is extremely difficult to accomplish. A good physical comedian has a great sense of timing and knows exactly how and when to go for the laugh.

When one thinks of physical comedy, one naturally goes to the old banana peel gag or the pie in the face. Physical comedy goes beyond the trite connotations associated with it. Physical comedy isn’t an antiquated form of comedy. Many comedians rely on physical comedy today. Comedians such as Jim Carrey, Jackie Chan and Leslie Nielson still use this form of comedy to get the biggest laughs. Silent film comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton defined the genre with precise timing and physical mastery. Buster Keaton was born into vaudeville and has been practicing pratfalls since the age of four and he still had numerous injuries(Buster Keaton, Charles Samuels, My wonderful World of Slapstick, pg 11-13). Charles Chaplin would redo the same scene over and over and over until he was satisfied with the take. He would often go way out of budget and would risk his health to get the right take. Comedy isn’t something that is done in one take. It is often harder to film than any other genre. Comedy is the hardest to accomplish, but the least respected.
“Dying is easy, Comedy is hard.” (Sir Donald Wolfit, British actor and director)

There are many different forms and gags to physical comedy. The most well known is the pratfall. The pratfall is a type of fall where you usually land on your butt. Buster Keaton was best known for them. The pratfall is a dangerous practice and it is considered one of the essential parts of physical comedy. The pratfall is the basics of harming your body to make comedy. If the timing is off or the stunt looks too forced the whole bit falls apart. A pratfall needs to be seamless. There are different types of pratfalls, which include the Scissor kick fall, head slams, the backward fall the forward fall and the corkscrew.

The take is another important weapon of the arsenal of the physical comedian. Comedy is often felt in the pauses. Pauses allow the performer to show the audience that he is thinking. It builds the character of the comedian and it keeps the audience in cue with the performer. The audience is able to almost empathize with the character. Being able to get into the psychology of a character is crucial for the audience to get into the performance. Pauses can build a scene and give a time out to the action.

The law of three in comedy is usually the right amount of repetition in a joke before it gets stale. Three is a power number and it goes for comedy as well. If a joke is repeated once…they expect it to be repeated again. However 4 or more times and the joke just drags and the audience loses interest. In newer comedy skits the jokes seem to be grounded to death. Saturday Night Live and even the Family Guy often fall victim to ignoring the rule of three and the jokes fall flat.

The Secret of Good Comedy is ---- Timing.

Timing devices are invaluable to making comedy. Takes, stops, deciding the natural flow and rhythm to a routine are what can build the audience’s laughter. Building suspense in a joke, Timing the fall just so, makes the joke more believable. Too fast and the audience might miss it. Too slow and it may seem to be too forced.

Animated physical comedy has an advantage that no live action comedian can replicate. The advantage is of course that the rules of physics need not apply. Cartoon characters can take more abuse and can move, squash and stretch easier than their live action counterparts.. GIVE EXAMPLES HERE

RESEARCH ON MOTION

RESEARCH ON ANIMATION TECHNIQUES

THE NITTY GRITTY or the APPROACH

Putting it all together

So how does one take the elements from the topics and create something enjoyable? Hopefully by trying to take a character that is empathetic, it will draw the audience in. The biggest obstacle is mastering the timing so that no gag is too long, or wasted. The hope here is to create something that the audience can enjoy. By understanding the subject of fitness and physical comedy better it will hopefully give an understanding to the approach that will be made.

The premise of the thesis is that the main character, Tracy is lethargic and out of shape. In the first scene the audience sees her on the couch. She is sloppy and barely moving. She is shamed by a television commercial who chides her lack of energy. It encourages her to get to the gym and get back into shape. In the next scene the audience sees her nervously approach the treadmill at the gym. It is a seeming normal treadmill, but Tracy can’t seem to be able to have any luck operating it. Everything within her environment becomes an obstacle at her becoming fit. Even her own headphones tie her up. She keeps falling and to her perspective, it feels like the treadmill, which is an inanimate object is out to get her.

The piece will be animated in a 3 dimensional environment. There will be three simple sets. The first set is her home, which will consist of minor items such as a remote, a bag of chips a wall, floor, and a couch. The second set will be nothing more than a windowed wall and a floor. The third set will be a couple of treadmills, a wall which may possibly be mirrored, the windowed wall in the front, a ceiling and a floor with a rug on it. The character, Tracy will be modeled in NURBS and then converted to polygons. She will be rigged. Her hair will either be a polygon mesh or actual Hair nodes. She will be wearing a pair of baggy pants and a t-shirt. The animation approach will be done through





Bibliography



Physical Activity Epidemiology, Rod K. Dishman, Richard A. Washburn, Gregory Heath, 1999

The History of Fitness: Lance C. Dalleck, M.S. and Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/history.html

The History of Treadmill, http://www.treadmilllife.com/history.htm

My Wonderful World of Slapstick, Bustor Keaton, Da Capo Press, 1960

Why’s that So Funny? John Wright, Limelight Editions, 2007

The Physical Comedy Handbook , Davis Rider Robinson, Heinemann, 1999