Last Friday I had the incredible chance to go to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia for the Science Behind Pixar exhibit! This is the same exhibit that was in Boston last year, which I had always planned to go to (since Boston is only about 2 hours north of me), but just never got the chance. So once I found out it was opening up again, this time in Philadelphia (only about 2 hours south of me), I knew I couldn't miss out on the opportunity.
Today and tomorrow I'll be giving you an in depth look inside the exhibit as well as some additional info on some of the good food we enjoyed and what to overall expect there in the "City of Brotherly Love." Hopefully this will help you with your planning if you're looking to take a trip there as well!
Let's get to it-
My wife Brita and I left around 4 a.m. so that we would beat all of the harsh NYC and NJ traffic going down. Our tickets were for the 9:30 a.m. slot (you pick you time frame when you buy your tickets), so we needed time to get there, pick up my mother in-law (who was able to join us!) from the train station and go to my favorite doughnut place of all time.
Banners (like the one above) for the exhibit were all over the city. It seemed very hyped up there and people definitely seemed into it! On a different note (just as a warning), be prepared for lots of crazy city driving if you end up taking a car there. It was nuts! It was very busy with lots of morning traffic, tight roads, pedestrians everywhere, constant one way streets and very minimal parking- I guess you expect nothing less from a big city though, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. I'm totally fine with city driving but many are less than comfortable with it.
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| Reading Terminal Market |
I was so happy when my wife told me that the doughnuts were "life changing." I had talked about them for a year and apparently I didn't over hype them!
We then made our way over to the institute while we partook of the sugary, doughy deliciousness above. When we arrived, we found out the institute's parking was $18 (for 1-4 hours) and they did not have any kind validation; so Brita was determined to find free parking (she's always trying to "beat the system" ;). There were other parking lots and garages nearby, but they were all about the same price. After driving around the block a couple times, we had the best of luck when we found a random spot in a free three hour parking zone on the street! If you have the time and want to save a few bucks, try that out. It worked for us!
Now for what you're really here for (though I hope my recommendations and insights above helped)...Let's go inside!
Man, I have to say, it was very hard deciding which of my hundreds of pictures to feature here. There was so much to see and do! Below is only a small taste of what you can expect.
Before you get into the main exhibit show floor, you watch a fun little introductory video from the folks at Pixar letting you know what to expect inside (ultimately it's a brief rundown of the Pixar pipeline process). And if you were wondering, yes, photos and videos are allowed the whole time!
The whole experience was just so cool; and as you can see, there was hardly anyone there at the start! That changed later on of course, but it was nice having the place [relatively] to ourselves for the first hour or so. By the way- The funniest moment of the day award has to go to the family who, right from the get-go, was frustrated and disappointed that there weren't any Minions there. That actually happened and we just couldn't help but laugh about that one.
Anyway, I know many of you have wondered if this is just for kids. The answer is a resounding no. While many of the activities and and interactive stations have things that kids could touch and interact with (plus they'll love seeing all their favorite characters around), the actual content is quite advanced. Yes, it's simplified a ton (comparably), but even I didn't grasp all of the math and scientific concepts that were being presented. We kept saying that it should be called "The Math of Pixar."
For example- check this station out! Here you learn how modelers sculpt 3D characters and objects by using digital grids and plotting points at very specific x, y and z coordinates. Wow, it was hard enough making a 3D cube; imagine everything else the modelers at Pixar create! You really have to know your stuff.
Mike and Sulley ready to learn about rigging!
3D maquettes.
Learning to mix, match and reuse pieces to create different robot characters.
Experimenting with digital lightning in Carl and Ellie's house.
To infinitity and beyond!
Playing with Wall·E and camera depth of field (focus).
Trying out different lighting techniques with Dory!
This next station was one of my favorites. Here, you pull the different levers to see how the digital modelers make 3D objects by stretching basic 2D geometric shapes! See how the triangle becomes Remy's cheese?
There was SO much more beyond what you even see here. I can't go into detail about everything, but that's why you have to go experience this amazing exhibit for yourself. There is so much to learn and so many interesting animation and filmmaking concepts to grasp. It was incredibly enlightening, even for a Pixar diehard fan!
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| Working with 3D animated textures, colors and surfaces |
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| Scale and place objects around a virtual set |
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| A Bug's Life camera angles on Ant Island |
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| Matching digital creations with real life items |
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| Playing with surfaces |
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| The official Dan Taylor Pixar Action Figure. Available for $19.99 ;) |
And this was only the first floor. Yup, there was a whole second level filled with more of these fantastic learning activities. Be sure to check out Part 2 right here tomorrow for our continued adventures at the Science Behind Pixar!
Any questions or comments so far? Shoot them off in the comment section below or send me an email! I would love to hear from you.
UPDATE: Check out PART 2 HERE.
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