Week 13 Exercise 4

1)  Apart from their different sizes, it is obvious from Luxo Jr. that the big lamp is “older” and that the small lamp is “younger”.

How is this communicated by the animation? Give at least THREE examples.

Do NOT say because the small lamp is playing with a ball, or that its name is Luxo Jr. – you should be looking at the animation, how the lamps move and emote (emote means to express emotions).

The big lamp is shown as being older by its slow movements and curiosity over the ball, displayed by it look at the ball for a while before interacting with it. Unlike the small lamp, the big lamp simply looked at the small lamp playing with the ball, apparently watching over the small lamp and only playing with it when the ball comes to it. Even then, it does it with lesser enthusiasm and does not shake erratically. The big lamp also shake its head when the small lamp plays with the big ball, probably an alternative to a sigh as the big lamp may be tired entertaining the more active small lamp.

The small lamp is shown as being younger by its tendency to jump and its rather quick movements, implying youth. Its different parts sometimes move independently, like its base, and unlike the big lamp, who stays in place, the small lamps moves around and jumps a lot. It also poses more joints which allows it to move more frantically. When the ball bursts, the small lamp turn to the big lamp, seemingly trying to see the big lamp's reaction, an action typical with children when they break stuff.

2)  Give an example from Luxo Jr of how timing is used for comic effect. Explain how the timing decisions contribute to the humour.

The timing of the small lamps sudden stop in movement after its consistent jump on the ball gives the illusion that something just happened and the slowness of the ball's squash motion makes it appear funny. The big lamp's quick, though startled, reaction before the appearance of the balls also gives anticipation and adds humor at its reaction to the ball's appearance.

3)   When you create a joint chain, these form a hierarchy, with the first joint at the top and the last joint at the bottom. Explain why this is necessary for the joints to work properly.

Selecting the first joint affects the rest of the joints while selecting the last joint only affects itself. Hence, it is necessary to place joints in the proper place.