Explore
the science and psychology of fun and people’s
need for thrill seeking by tracing the history
of thrill rides, beginning with early roller coasters.
Thrill
Ride: The Science of Fun shows how ride film
animators use CGI by first "constructing"
a wire frame version of the ride on a computer
screen. Higher resolution textures and colors
are added to the environment along with lighting
and other atmospheric effects to heighten the
illusion of reality.
The film also takes viewers behind the scenes
of high-tech motion simulators, showing how technology
originally developed by the military and NASA
as a flight training device, evolved into the
ride simulators of today. The ride film designer’s
ultimate challenge is to combine this technology
with the excitement of the rollercoaster and the
latest in computer graphics imaging and filmmaking.
Thrill Ride takes the audience on rides
that some viewers would never dare to attempt,
including trips on Big Shot at the Stratosphere,
Las Vegas and the roller coasters Kumba and Montu,
located at Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida.
Projected
on a screen six stories tall, Thrill Ride:
The Science of Fun puts every member of the
audience in the front seat of some of the wildest
rides ever created.
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