Los Angeles Times Quotes Paul Debevec on Role of Science in Film Animation

Published: July 23, 2014
Category: News

A story about the increasing number of scientists involved in film animation quotes Paul Debevec.
“The physics behind what’s happening in these movies is incredibly complicated,” said Debevec, a computer scientist and chief visual officer at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. “You need real scientists to understand what’s going on. These are Ph.D.-level folks who could have been publishing papers in Physics Today. Instead, they are working on Hollywood blockbuster films.”
The story noted that film studios increasingly rely on the services of scientists to create complex algorithms to simulate realistic-looking water, fire, dust and other elements in movies packed with action and special effects.