Elisa Duran, Deputy Director General of the “La Caixa” Foundation; CosmoCaixa Science Museum Director, Valenti Farras, and Boston Museum of Science Exhibition Production and Installation Manager, Peter Garland, today presented ‘The Science of Pixar,’ an exhibit created by the Boston Museum of Science and Pixar Animation Studios. , which now arrives at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum as the first stop in Spain and the second stop in Europe, after passing through the Experimentarium in Copenhagen.
The exhibit provides a unique look at the film-making process in the Pixar universe. In the exhibition, which can be seen in Barcelona until 3 September, visitors will be able to learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) concepts through fun interactive elements.
The art and creativity in computer-animated films are inseparable from science and technology. This is the third collaboration of the “La Caixa” Foundation with Pixar Studios. In 2015, Pixar. 25 Years of Animation was an in-depth review of work over the 25-year history of this pioneering company in computer animation. Then Pixar. Building Characters (which has visited five Quaxaforums since 2020) focuses on the visual design process for Pixar characters that allows them to fit in with the rest of the film’s elements and convey the plot in the best possible way . Now, The Science of Pixar reveals the steps of the technical process used by artists and computer scientists at Pixar, through its eight domains.
The new exhibit aims to explore the scientific, computer and mathematical concepts behind our favorite Pixar characters, layer by layer, in an engaging way for all audiences. For this reason, the exhibition is organized into eight areas, each of which explains in depth a specific step in Pixar’s technical process: modeling, which allows characters to be created in 3D; rigging, with which virtual bones, muscles and joints develop; surface and platform design; animation, which brings the story to life; emulation, which provides automatic motion; lighting, which achieves greater emotional impact, and rendering, which converts 3D scenes into two-dimensional images.
In the more than 1,000 square meters of exhibits at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum, visitors will be able to learn about all the steps Pixar takes to bring its world and its heroes to life, taking care of every detail. From the first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, released more than two decades ago, to the release of Coco, dozens of interactive and audiovisual elements will help them discover what’s hidden behind Pixar movies.
To better understand the science and math involved in the making of Pixar films, visitors will be able to view a variety of audio-visuals, in which they will be able to hear direct explanations from members of the studio’s production team. They will also be invited to experience different roles within the production channel through not only physical but also virtual interactive elements.
For example, in the ‘Scenario and Camera’ area, visitors will find out how they found camera placement and angles to create a bug scene for the bugs; In “Modeling”, they will attempt to create a digital sculpture from an artist’s sketch, and in “Lighting” they will use lighting to solve similar challenges that Pixar faced with virtual lighting in Buskent in Nemo. To make underwater scenes together. Exhibition tours also include human-scale recreations of many Pixar characters, such as Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story), Dory (from Finding Nemo), Mike and Sulley (from Monsters, SA), Edna Moda (from D’The Incredibles ) and WALL•E (from the film of the same name).
