Archery in movies

Printable View

03-22-2012, 10:52 AM
JasonEvans

Archery in movies

For those of you who have not seen it, Wired Mag has been running a series of really interesting articles on how realistic or fake the archery is in some big upcoming movies. Archery plays a significant role in Hunger Games, Brave, and The Avengers.

The article on Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Avengers is the best of them, because it just rips Renner's form and says he probably really hurt himself every time he released the string.

Quote:

If the soldiers in the battle scene were dressed as Royal Canadian Mounties and carrying their rifles upside-down, it would be as accurate as Hawkeye’s archery.

I’ve been told that this is all just nitpicking; that it’s absurd to worry about accurate archery in a movie featuring a god, a flying armored guy, a shield-flinging WWII super-soldier, and a radioactive monster battling aliens and giant reptiles. It’s not supposed to be realistic, it’s supposed to be cool. The only thing that matters is that it look awesome. Well, okay, which one looks better? Which looks cooler, more athletic, more believable, more awesome? I think the answer is obvious. I also think Mr. Renner would have very much liked to have made the film without bruises and welts on his right arm.

If you care to read it, here are the articles on Jennifer Lawrence's excellent form in Hunger Games and by the folks at Pixar in the animated film Brave. I am not even mildly surprised that the animators at Pixar studied actual archery form in order to draw their characters shooting bows. That kind of thing is par for the course at detail oriented Pixar.

--Jason "if only they had also studied Martians when making John Carter..." Evans
03-22-2012, 01:24 PM
BlueDevilBaby

Very interesting. Glad to know why I was always killing my forearm in archery gym class!
03-22-2012, 01:55 PM
Tom B.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonEvans

For those of you who have not seen it, Wired Mag has been running a series of really interesting articles on how realistic or fake the archery is in some big upcoming movies. Archery plays a significant role in Hunger Games, Brave, and The Avengers.

The article on Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Avengers is the best of them, because it just rips Renner's form and says he probably really hurt himself every time he released the string.

If you care to read it, here are the articles on Jennifer Lawrence's excellent form in Hunger Games and by the folks at Pixar in the animated film Brave. I am not even mildly surprised that the animators at Pixar studied actual archery form in order to draw their characters shooting bows. That kind of thing is par for the course at detail oriented Pixar.

Wow, I think I just learned more about archery in 10-15 minutes than I did actually shooting a bow and arrow at camp over the course of four or five summers when I was growing up. Love how the Pixar folks threw in a slo-mo sequence to show a quirk of physics that's inherent in archery, which I never even knew existed.
03-22-2012, 02:15 PM
JasonEvans

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom B.

Love how the Pixar folks threw in a slo-mo sequence to show a quirk of physics that's inherent in archery, which I never even knew existed.

I know!

When I first read, "When the string is released, the back of the arrow is moving faster than the front," my mind said, "whaaaaaaat?!?!? How is that even possible?!?!?" And then it explained about the arrow bending to allow this to happen. That is some of the coolest physics around if you ask me!

-Jason "movie news that makes you smarter... very cool!" Evans
03-22-2012, 02:28 PM
BD80

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonEvans

For those of you who have not seen it, Wired Mag has been running a series of really interesting articles on how realistic or fake the archery is in some big upcoming movies. Archery plays a significant role in Hunger Games, Brave, and The Avengers.

The article on Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Avengers is the best of them, because it just rips Renner's form and says he probably really hurt himself every time he released the string.

If you care to read it, here are the articles on Jennifer Lawrence's excellent form in Hunger Games and by the folks at Pixar in the animated film Brave. I am not even mildly surprised that the animators at Pixar studied actual archery form in order to draw their characters shooting bows. That kind of thing is par for the course at detail oriented Pixar.

--Jason "if only they had also studied Martians when making John Carter..." Evans

Appears to me that Scarlett Johansson has perfect form.
03-22-2012, 03:21 PM
Tom B.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonEvans

I know!

When I first read, "When the string is released, the back of the arrow is moving faster than the front," my mind said, "whaaaaaaat?!?!? How is that even possible?!?!?" And then it explained about the arrow bending to allow this to happen. That is some of the coolest physics around if you ask me!

-Jason "movie news that makes you smarter... very cool!" Evans

The Pixar gang is nothing if not detail-oriented, right down to the little mark that one of the fletches leaves on Merida's face as she releases it in the slo-mo sequence.