Math in the Movies

Reported May 2007

RICHMOND, Calif., (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Most students in high school dread their math classes and wonder when they will ever use the information in "real life." Now, with so much work being done on computers, the algebra and trigonometry learned in high school is actually being put to good use.

The animation industry is one that can be a math teacher's best friend. It is high school math that can actually help bring animated movies to life. Tony DeRose, a computer scientist at Pixar Animation Studios, realized his love of mathematics could transfer into a real world, real interesting job by bringing the pretend world of animation to life. He told Ivanhoe, "Without mathematics, we wouldn't have these visually rich environments, and visually rich characters."

Advances in math can lead to advances in animation. Earlier math techniques show simple, hard, plastic toys. Now, advances in math help make more human-like characters and special effects. DeRose explains the difference a few years can make, "You didn't see any water in Toy Story, whereas by the time we got to Finding Nemo, we had the computer techniques that were needed to create all the splash effects."

How exactly do the high school math classes help with the animation? Trigonometry helps rotate and move characters, algebra creates the special effects that make images shine and sparkle and calculus helps light up a scene. DeRose encourages people to stick with their math classes. He says, "I remember as a mathematics student thinking, 'Well, where am I ever going to use simultaneous equations?' And I find myself using them every day, all the time now."

The American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Pixar Animation Studios
Emeryville, California 94608
510-922-3000
http://www.pixar.com

American Mathematical Society
Providence, RI 02904-2294
1-800-321-4267
http://www.ams.org

Mathematical Association of America
Washington, DC 20036-1358
1-800-741-9415
http://www.maa.org

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