The Shadow Knows
Gotham City is a dark and mysterious plce in the movie Batman. How did the director create that shadowy world? It's not as easy as it looks. Let's go "on location" to film a movie in the park and see what happens with light and shadow. Yesterday, you were filming at about noon. Today you're ready to go again, but suddenly, at 12:15, the sprinklers go on and you have to wait until 3 p.m. to get started again. What's the problem? Try this and see.
- You will need: a newspaper, some action figures and dolls, a marker, a black cloth, a white cloth, a bright flashlight, and a sunny day!
- Go outside at noon. Put the newspaper down on the ground and set up your action figures and dolls like they're acting in your scene. Use your marker to draw where they're standing on the newspaper. Trace around their shadows.
- At 3 p.m. go back to the same spot and set up your scene again. Now where are their shadows?
- Try different ways of using the black cloth, white cloth, or flashlight to change the shadows. What works best? How can you aim the flashlight to make the shadows look really weird?
- Why are the shadows different at noon than they are at 3 p.m.?
- What would happen if it were cloudy or rainy? Why is Los Angeles such a good place to make movies?
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