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Live action

Live action is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Live action rather than just read about it. In short: Live action is the most common form of cinematography or videography, which uses a camera to record living actors, by a camera operator under the supervision of a cinematographer. Live action is used to define film, video games or similar visual media.

Live action — main illustration
Live action — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Live action belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Live action to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Live action from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Live action is the most common form of cinematography or videography, which uses a camera to record living actors, by a camera operator under the supervision of a cinematographer. Live action is used to define film, video games or similar visual media. Live action is in contrast with animations. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Photorealistic animation, particularly modern computer animation, is sometimes erroneously described as "live action", as in the case of some media reports about Disney's The Lion King (2019 remake). According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, live action involves "real people or animals, not models, or images that are drawn, or produced by computer".

Overview As the normal process of making visual media involves live action, the term itself is usually superfluous. However, it makes an important distinction in situations in which one might normally expect animation, such as when the work is adapted from a video game, a comic book, or an animated cartoon. The phrase "live action" also occurs within an animation context to refer to non-animated characters. In a live-action animated film such as Space Jam, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or Mary Poppins in which humans and cartoons coexist. In this case, the "live-action" characters are the "real" actors, such as Michael Jordan, Bob Hoskins and Julie Andrews, as opposed to the animated "actors", such as Roger and Jessica Rabbit. As use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in films has become a major trend, some critics, such as Mark Langer, have discussed the relationship between live action and animation. New films that use computer-generated special effects can not be compared to live-action films using cartoon characters because of the perceived realism of both styles combined.

Live action vs. animation In producing a movie, both live action and animation have their own pros and cons. Unlike animation, live action involves the photography of actors and actresses, as well as sets and props making the movie seem personal and as close to reality as possible. The only drawback is one's budget. On the other hand, animation works well in conveying abstract ideas but it generally takes much longer to produce.

See also Animation List of actors who have played animated characters Footage List of films with live action and animation List of live-action films based on cartoons and comics List of live-action puppet films

References

Illustrations

Live action: Live action movies, such as A Fistful of Dollars, use photography to depict settings and characters as they appear in life. In this example, Clint Eastwood and Marianne Koch appear in a real-world location.
Live action movies, such as A Fistful of Dollars, use photography to depict settings and characters as they appear in life. In this example, Clint Eastwood and Marianne Koch appear in a real-world location.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Live action

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Live action claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Live action before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Live action ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Live action

In research
Live action appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Live action in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Live action is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animation terminology, Film and video terminology, Television terminology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Live action outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Live action in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Live action means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Live action out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Live action in simple terms?

Live action is the most common form of cinematography or videography, which uses a camera to record living actors, by a camera operator under the supervision of a cinematographer. Live action is used to define film, video games or similar visual media.

Why does Live action matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Live action?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Live action.

Tags

  • Animation terminology
  • Film and video terminology
  • Television terminology

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