computer science

Technological Threat

Technological Threat is a computer 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 Technological Threat rather than just read about it. In short: Technological Threat is a 1988 American animated short made by Brian Jennings and Bill Kroyer and was produced by Kroyer Films. It was an example of early computer animation, integrated with traditional animation, and is itself an allegory for the possibilities of combining the two.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Technological Threat is a 1988 American animated short made by Brian Jennings and Bill Kroyer and was produced by Kroyer Films. It was an example of early computer animation, integrated with traditional animation, and is itself an allegory for the possibilities of combining the two. The robots and backgrounds were drawn based on computer-generated 3D models, while the dogs and wolves were drawn by hand.

Plot The film takes place in an office staffed by wolves who hand-copy documents using pencils. One of them collapses because of overwork. The bulldog boss pushes a button that carries him through a trapdoor below the worker's desk, and replaces him with a robot that writes faster. Another yawns, and is also dropped through a trapdoor under his desk and replaced by a robot. Three more are eliminating for drinking water, sneezing and injury (one of them desperately plugs his nose with two pencils, but is unable to keep from sneezing, propelling the pencils into another's head). They are replaced by more robots. The remaining worker, madly scribbling away, is shocked to discover that his boss has been replaced by a boss robot. When the latter leaves, the last worker decides to take action, and begins destroying the robots in various cartoony ways (blowing one up with a stick of dynamite, dropping another through its desk trapdoor, yet another by hitting it with different objects, and electrically shocking another into a pile of cinders). As the worker and the one remaining robot are locked in a life-or-death struggle, they see the boss robot threatening to push the trapdoor button. In a sudden instance of cooperating, they shove the trapdoor beneath the boss robot, who falls in. As the two workers peer down the open trapdoor, the remaining worker becomes aware of the opportunity being presented and shoves the robot in thus ending the film with a cigar in his hand and eventually pushing the trapdoor button on the viewer.

Credits

Staff Producer/Director: Bill Kroyer Technical Director: Brian Jennings Character Animation: Greg Vanzo, Rich Moore, Susan Kroyer, Chris Bailey, Rob Minkoff, Alan Smart Computer Animation: Bill Kroyer Character Design: Bill Kroyer, Rich Moore, Brian Jennings Script: Bill Kroyer, Rich Moore, Brian Jennings Test Camera: Klasky/Csupo, Inc. Ink & Paint/Production Camera: Hanho Heung-up Co., Ltd. Production: Kroyer Films The film's credits give "special thanks to" Brad Bird, Yutaka Fujioka, Mike Giaimo, Masami Hata, Gábor Csupó, and Bill Hedge.

Accolades and legacy Technological Threat was featured on the VHS and DVD Computer Animation Festival, Vol. 2 and Computer Animation Festival Vol. 3 (renamed Computer Animation Experience in 2001). It also aired in the second third-season episode of Liquid Television, in 1993. At the 1988 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Technological Threat shared the prize for "Best film under 5 minutes" with Paul Vester's Picnic. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1989, but lost to a fully CGI short: Pixar's Tin Toy. It also won the Apollo Award at the Annecy Animation Festival. It was also part of the International Tournee of Animation alongside fellow Oscar nominee The Cat Came Back. The Academy Film Archive preserved Technological Threat in 2013.

References

External links Technological Threat at IMDb Technological Threat on MUBI Technological Threat on Amazon

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Technological Threat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Technological Threat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer 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 Technological Threat 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 Technological Threat 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 Technological Threat

In research: Technological Threat appears in computer 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 Technological Threat 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: Technological Threat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1988 American animated short films, 1988 English-language films, 1988 computer-animated films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Technological Threat 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Technological Threat” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Technological Threat in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Technological Threat in simple terms?

Why does Technological Threat matter?

Because it connects several computer 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 Technological Threat?

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 Technological Threat.