Released - November 01, 2017
On the surface, no two things could seem more different than the field of mathematics and the art of filmmaking. This is because they seem to consist of markedly different things. One the one hand, you have mathematics, which requires rigor, keen analytical skills, and an ability to deal with abstractions. On the other, you have an art that seems intuitive and visionary in nature, one that requires creation instead of analysis.
But if you dig deeper down, into the areas of intersection mathematics and filmmaking, you'll see that they fit together better than you might think. We'll explore these areas of intersection after we clarify one of the most damaging misconceptions about the discipline of math.
Misconceptions of Math
Far too many people feel that math is a dull and lifeless field. They think that it's tedious and remote from their everyday life. Additionally, some of them think that math is only associated with egghead, scientific types, not with dynamic and sometimes intense personalities.
Of course, these are all misconceptions. Anyone who's ever reached the level of calculus knows that math is anything but dull and lifeless. The field of mathematical knowledge comprises a (more or less) self-contained and elegant system, one that reveals its mysteries only to the strong and persistent. Moreover, mathematicians are often fascinating and difficult personalities, as you'll see when we discuss math-themed movies below.
Math and The Creative Process
But out of all these misconceptions, one of the worst is the idea that math is diametrically opposed to creativity somehow. Many people, especially students, are under the mistaken impression that mathematics is just memorization, computation, and following an abundance of hard to understand rules.
While it is true that mathematics requires all of these things at various times, taking only these facets into consideration gives an incomplete picture of math and its creative possibilities. It's strange this misconception still exists, especially since no one advances far in the field of mathematics without a great deal of creativity.
In order to clear up this misconception about math and creativity, we're going to have a look at the close relationship between math and the movies. It goes without saying that moviemaking is an inherently creative endeavor, but the art itself would be virtually impossible without mathematics. Read on to find out precisely what this means.
Math and Movie Equipment
We'll begin with a brief discussion of the role math plays in the making of the equipment that filmmakers use to work their magic. Hopefully, you'll see pretty quickly that much of this magic relies on the discipline of math.
In a very important sense, almost every aspect of filmmaking is heavily dependent on math. This is because the process of filming a movie involves the use of equipment that is based on different forms of science and technology, which in their turn are founded on the strict application of mathematical principles. In other words, one of the many ways that math is involved in filmmaking is through its equipment.
For instance, can you imagine making even the simplest video camera without a deep understanding of optics, geometry, and trigonometry? How about light meters, sound equipment, and the incredible amounts of electricity required to make a single movie? This is just scratching the surface, but even a little reflection will tell you that none of this equipment would be possible without math.
So right off the bat, before production actually begins, we see one of the many ways that math enters the realm of filmmaking. And this is just the beginning, as you'll see in the next section.
Math and Movie Production
Now that you have an idea how much math goes into movie equipment, let's have a look at the myriad ways that filmmakers apply during and after production. Here's a partial list of various crew members and the ways they use math on and off the set.
- The producer. Many of the producer's everyday duties require the use of math. Though most of these duties involve creating and adjusting the movie's budget, the constant recalculations require more than a cursory knowledge of accounting practices and math.
- Animators. Not surprisingly, animators use math more than anyone else in the industry. While much of this work is sometimes done by a computer, animators are still required to have practical knowledge of many advanced mathematical concepts. Depending on the film's complexity, this can include anything from basic algebra and trigonometry tointegral calculus, geometry, and harmonics.
- Cinematographers and cameramen. A great deal of math goes into the work of the cinematographer and their cameramen. Much of this work has to do with the video camera itself, which requires the use of math to choose the appropriate aperture speeds, the location of focal points, and to decide on the best camera angles for a given shot.
It's important to keep in mind that this is only a small sampling of the ways movie crews use math to fine-tune their creations. There simply isn't enough space here to do this subject justice, but you can hopefully see the crucial role that math plays in the actual production of films.
Math-Themed Movies
Consider the general public's level of interest in it, there are enough movies that involve math in one way or another to demonstrate the field's universal appeal. While there are perhaps many reasons for the genre's appeal, two immediately spring to mind. First, numbers have seemed mysterious and powerful throughout the course of our history, beginning with the numeric mysticism of Pythagoras. Given the enigmatic nature of math, it's not surprising that filmmakers focus on it so often in their work.
The second reason lies in the dramatic potential of the ambitious mathematician's driven personality. This is a rich source of narrative and lends these math-based movies an added layer of emotional depth. With that said, we now present Our Top 5 list of math-themed movies.
A Beautiful Mind
No list of great math-related movies is complete without mentioning director Ron Howard's masterpiece A Beautiful Mind. Released to both critical acclaim and box-office success in 2001, A Beautiful Mind tells the story of genius mathematician John Nash's groundbreaking achievements in systems theory, economics, and game theory, as well as his triumphant recovery from a debilitating mental illness that forced him in and out of psychiatric hospitals for over a decade.
This film sits at the top of every math-themed movie list and rightfully so. It explores the life, work, and struggles of a mathematical genius with honesty, compassion, and sensitivity. And it was this combination of intellectual and emotional depth that made A Beautiful Mind one of the best movies of the decade.
The Imitation Game
One of the most recent (and most successful) entries into the math-themed movie genre, The Imitation Game was equal parts enthralling biopic and suspenseful wartime thriller. It depicted the life of groundbreaking mathematician, computer scientist and cryptanalystAlan Turingespecially the codebreaking work he did for the British government during World War II.
Turing was a fascinating and brilliant man. The Imitation Game explores some of his internal complexities — his hom*osexuality chief among them — but the meat of the film's story lies in Turing's dramatic attempts to decrypt The Enigma Machine, which was the chief tool the Nazis used to send coded messages.
In an illustration of another of Turing's complexities, he rejects the help of his team and builds a machine that can decrypt the Enigma Machine all by himself. Initially, Turing and his team make progress, but they are stymied again and again by the daily resetting of the Enigma Machine, which makes it virtually impossible to decipher enough of its codes to do the Allies any good.
Turing's eventual triumph over the Enigma Machine and the loathsome treatment he received because of his sexuality comprise the rest of the film. Both Turing himself and The Imitation Game are definitely worth multiple viewings.
Fermat's Room
Fermat's Room, a mindbending Spanish thriller made in 2009, probably has more math-related elements than any other film on our list. In fact, there's very little in the movie that doesn't somehow draw upon math or mathematicians. For starters, three of four main characters are brilliant mathematicians who have complicated relationships and rivalries with one another.
These four characters are invited to a house in the woods by a man named Fermat — after the influential French mathematicianPierre de Fermat— who eventually tricks the group into a room whose walls are slowly shrinking together. In the meantime, the characters have also assumed the names of famous mathematicians and must solve complex math puzzles to prevent the walls from crushing them to death.
To reveal anything more would spoil it for viewers, but suffice it to say that there are math references galore as the mystery in the film begins to unravel.
Pi
Pi is likely one of the strangest math-based films you'll ever have the good fortune to see. Made on a shoestring budget and released in 1998, Pi is the story of a computer genius named Max Cohen and the intrigue he becomes involved in after he accidentally discovers a mysterious 216 digit number that has both predictive and mystical powers.
What ensues after this discovery is a plot that's full of cinematic genius. Eventually, Max realizes that the mysterious number has some sort of governing power over tangible and mystical reality. Soon after, Max becomes obsessed with the significance of the number even as he is pursued relentlessly by stockbroker types who want to use the number's mystical powers to corner the market.
The movie is claustrophobic throughout and explores the relationship between man, numbers, and the universe. Pi is a film that you don't so much watch as experience.
Proof
The last math-themed movie we'll mention is Proof, a 2005 release that explores the relationship between a father and daughter pair of brilliant mathematicians. The story starts just after the death of the father, a man whose mathematical genius was eroded by years of mental illness and insanity. Eventually, we learn that the daughter might have inherited her father's illness in addition to his mathematical genius.
Though there is a bit of intrigue in the movie as well — an unethical former grad student trying to steal the deceased father's work — most of Proof is concerned with the daughter's struggle to retain her sanity and the difficult relationship she has with her uptight sister. Although Proof does not place math at the dead center of its plot, viewers do get a sampling of the competitiveness and drive that so often forces mathematicians to leave their field at a relatively early age.
Conclusion
As you can see from our discussion, math is essential to every aspect of filmmaking. It's intimately involved every step of the moviemaking process, from the design of the video equipment filmmakers use to the production of the film itself. Math is also used extensively in the editing process, as well as in many other parts of the post-production phase.
These things alone should be enough to humanize the field of mathematics and demonstrate its proximity to the human spirit. Math is more than just a useful expedient; it possesses intrinsic beauty and elegance as well. Demonstrating its necessary relationship to filmmaking — one of mankind's most popular form of artistic expression — is just icing on the cake.
All that being said, the existence of so many math-based movies is perhaps the best evidence we have about the essential humanity of mathematics. If mathematics were as tedious and remote from life as its detractors claim, then why has it inspired so many visionary screenwriters and directors to explore it on film? The creation of all these films suggests at least two important things about this supposedly cold discipline.
First, these films demonstrate the innate fascination that human beings have with mathematics, especially when it's presented in a narrative form. Second, they show the passion and desire for ultimate truth that mathematics conjures in so many incredible minds. Taken together, the many ways that math is involved in filmmaking that this uncreative discipline might be one of the most creative and inspiring of them all.
