HPSC3046 Science and Film Production Course Syllabus 2014-­‐15 session | Dr Carole Reeves | c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk This module combines critical theory of the representation of science in cinema and television with practical p roduction that will enable you to gain skills in scriptwriting, production (filming, lighting, sound recording, interview technique, presentation, narrative, documentary and docudrama genres) and p ost-­‐production (paper, film and sound editing). The module establishes a social, cultural and intellectual context for production, and offers a strong critical foundation for the effective realization of production work. Style of teaching enables you to engage collectively with narrative theory in a critical and analytical forum. You will make productions that will engage with real audiences on the web and other media platforms. The module will be delivered via a one-­‐hour student-­‐led seminar and a one-­‐hour seminar/practical class per week. The seminars will focus on critical theory and context for production while the seminar/practical classes will be d evoted to skills-­‐based learning. The module will use Moodle for course management. STS has a sound recording and video-­‐editing studio which you can book through Connie Ekpenyong (c.ekpenyong@ucl.ac.uk), and which uses a Mac computer (software includes iMovie, iPhoto, Audacity and Photoshop Elements) and 27” high resolution Thunderbolt display. If you wish to use your own laptop but want to take advantage of the large screen, you can plug it directly into the Thunderbolt. Course Information Basic course information Moodle Web site: Assessment One group film project, 5-­‐6 mins (50%); one individual essay project, 2000 words (50%) Timetable: www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/hpsc Prerequisites: No prerequisites Required texts: See reading list below Course tutor(s): Dr Carole Reeves Contact: c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk | t: 020 7679 3160 Web: www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/sts/staff/reeves Office location: 22 Gordon Square, Room 1.1 Office hours: Monday 10.00 – 11.00 Tuesday 10.00 -­‐ 11.00 or by appointment HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Schedule UCL Week Topic 6 Theory: Introduction Date 01/10 01/10 Science at the cinema Activity Establishing the format of the module Production team one leads this discussion Unpacking and learning about your production kit, shooting footage, transferring it to your laptops 7 Workshop: What’s in the production kit? 8 Theory: The ‘documentary’ genre, transitions 15/10 from film to television Workshop: The cutting edge – editing theory 15/10 and practice Production team two leads this discussion Consideration of film theory in terms of editing as well as practical editing skills 9 Theory: Public, politics and propaganda 22/10 Workshop: Writing your film 22/10 10 Theory: Wildlife and the natural world 29/10 Workshop: Interview technique and documentary styles 29/10 Production team three leads this discussion Developing a script based on chosen genre. In this session you begin to pitch ideas for your production Production team four leads this discussion Explores documentary styles to tell a compelling story, and interview technique to get the best out of your participants / presenters / actors 08/10 11 Reading Week 3/11 12 Theory: Biological and environmental disasters Workshop: Creative Commons, sound and music 12/11 Theory: Heroes, nerds and villains – portrayals of scientists on film and TV Workshop: Guest speaker – a documentary filmmaker talks about his work Theory: Aliens, freaks and ‘others’ 19/11 Workshop: Guest speaker – ‘shorts’ filmmaker talks about his work 26/11 Production team five leads this discussion Considers categories of movie sound including incidental and featured sound Production team one leads this discussion Q & A session with documentary filmmaker Production team two leads this discussion Q & A session with shorts filmmaker 13 14 12/11 19/11 26/11 15 16 HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk A 90-­‐minute tour of studios, Behind the scenes tour of the BBC, Langham 03/12 sound and editing suites Place Each production team will Day of Judgement 10/12 screen its movie and offer a 15-­‐minute presentation on the movie. This will be assessed by the first and second markers 21 Essay due 12/01 Essay must be uploaded to Moodle by midnight on due date Assessment Summary Coursework Film (50%) Description Deadline Duration 5-­‐6 minutes (including roller 09/12 caption). Movie must engage with a science topic but may be of any genre. We will work through your ideas in class See below for essay topic 12/01/15 Word limit Scripts must uploaded to Moodle and movies uploaded to YouTube by midnight 09/12. 2000 words Essay (50%) Essay topic For this essay you will be required to write a critical analysis of a film or television programme that engages with science and that is not covered in the module. It can be a production from any era or indeed a new release but you must engage with critical theory and contextualization in the manner learned in the module. I will help you identify sources if necessary. You must also talk to me about the essay title because it needs to be such that you can write a critical analysis of the subject and not just a descriptive piece. Essays must be submitted via Moodle by midnight on 12 January 2015. Essay extensions will NOT be given unless for certified reasons of illness or other exceptional circumstances. Criteria for assessment The departmental marking guidelines for individual items of assessment can be found in the STS Student Handbook. Aims & objectives This advanced module aims to give you an understanding of how science is represented and communicated in film, television and other media platforms, and practical skills to produce your own programmes. It establishes a social, cultural and intellectual context for production, and offers a strong critical foundation for the effective realization of production work. HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk The teaching method for this module during contact hours will be student-­‐led seminars, practical production workshops, engagement with working filmmakers, and a behind the scenes tour of the BBC. A schedule of independent reading and research also is set. Module assessment is integrated into this programme. By the end of this module you should be able to: • Critically engage with representations of science in cinema and television • Understand elements of social, cultural and intellectual context for production • Apply critical tools for the effective realization of production • Be able to produce – from concept to YouTube – a short film which engages with a science topic • Demonstrate research and writing skills appropriate to year 3 STS modules • Demonstrate the ability to work in teams as well as independently • Demonstrate time and project management, working to tight deadlines, and with initiative Reading and movie list This is a list of readings and movies for each seminar and workshop session. All the readings will be downloadable from Moodle but are not exhaustive. You will be expected to read more widely during the research for your movie and for your essay. Links to movies are given where possible but most of the feature films are not on YouTube or other free streaming sites so you will need to subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes or another streaming service. I have included as many links as possible. The reading list appears formidable but the sessions will be organised as follows: each member of the production team leading the class discussion will need to read at least ONE of the articles or chapters on the reading list and watch at least ONE of the listed films. Work together so that you cover as much of the reading and as wide a range of the films as possible. Everyone else in the class should read at least ONE article and watch at least ONE film so that you can contribute to the arguments and critique. In this way you will cover most of the listed material. The workshop reading is minimal and is intended to help in your practical film production. Five books, which will be used extensively during the module, are listed below. They are not overly expensive and you may wish to purchase some of them if you find them particularly inspiring. Useful books to buy: Steven Ascher & Edward Pincus, The filmmaker’s handbook: a comprehensive guide for the digital age (PLUME, 2013) -­‐ £14.95 on Amazon. Tim Boon, Films of fact: a history of science documentary on film and television (Columbia University Press, 2008) -­‐ £17.97 on Amazon. David A Kirby, Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema (MIT Press, 2011) -­‐ £9.32 on Amazon. Sydney Perkowitz, Hollywood science: movies, science and the end of the world (Columbia University Press, 2010) -­‐ £16.06 on Amazon. Max Thurlow and Clifford Thurlow, Making short films (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013) -­‐ £11.99 on Amazon. HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Week 1 – Theory: Introduction and Science at the Cinema Readings: Andrew J Huebner, ‘Lost in space: technology and turbulence in futuristic cinema of the 1950s’, Film & History, 40.2 (2010): 6-­‐26. ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) in Howard Hughes, Outer limits: the filmgoer’s guide to the great science-­‐fiction films (Tauris, 2014). Bo Jacobs, ‘Atomic kids: duck and cover and atomic alert teach American children how to survive atomic attack’, Film & History, 40.1 (2010): 25-­‐44. Kirby, ‘Scientific expertise in Hollywood: the interactions between scientific and entertainment cultures’, in David A Kirby, Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema (MIT Press, 2011), pp. 1-­‐19. Kirby, ‘Cinematic science: scientific representation, film realism, and virtual witnessing technologies’, in David A Kirby, Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema (MIT Press, 2011), pp. 21-­‐40. Kirby, ‘Improving science, improving entertainment: the significance of scientists in Hollywood’, in David A Kirby, Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema (MIT Press, 2011), pp. 219-­‐234. Perkowitz, ‘Looking for science in the movies? Check out science fiction films first’, in Sydney Perkowitz, Hollywood science: movies, science and the end of the world (Columbia University Press, 2010), pp. 3-­‐16. Perkowitz, ‘Hollywood science vs real science’, in Sydney Perkowitz, Hollywood science: movies, science and the end of the world (Columbia University Press, 2010), pp. 213-­‐226. Web links: Indy Mogul – DIY filmmaking -­‐ https://www.youtube.com/user/indymogul Film directing tips http://filmdirectingtips.com Filmspotting – weekly film podcast/WBEZ radio show featuring reviews, interviews and top 5 lists http://www.filmspotting.net New Mediacracy – an audio podcast about the world of web video and new media featuring industry producers, directors, writers, and other content creators http://www.newmediacracy.com Films to watch: Metropolis (1927), 2.30.11 – German feature film depicting a dystopian futuristic city in which the idle rich fritter away their time while oppressed underground workers toil to provide the city’s power. When a scheming inventor creates a female robot with a mind of its own, chaos and revolution follow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4rI__TRvcY HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Duck and Cover (1951), duration 9.16 – US civil defence film produced at the beginning of the Cold War instructing children what to do in the event of a nuclear attack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFT8hLjHtuE The Atomic Café (1982) duration 1.25.32 – satirical documentary using archive footage, including that from ‘Duck and Cover’ that explores the coming of the atomic age and its impact on American life. Interesting for its juxtaposition of images and sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUtZOqgSG8 Dr Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb (1964) – feature film in which a gung-­‐ho US Air Force general orders a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union only to be informed by the Soviet ambassador that the USSR has a nuclear doomsday device programmed to detonate if it is attacked and which will render earth uninhabitable. 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) – feature film based on a novel by Arthur C Clarke and considered to be one of the most scientifically accurate films ever produced. Through evolution, technology, space travel, artificial intelligence and extraterrestial life, it explores the place of humans within the universe. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) – feature film in which an alien and a robot land in Washington on a peace mission to inform earthlings that residents of other planets have become alarmed at scientists’ development of atomic power. The alien warns that if humans persist in pursuing violence the earth will be destroyed. Making the Earth Stand Still (1995), 9.59. Short documentary about the making of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wCR93MNLYE Jurassic Park (1993) – feature film based on the novel by Michael Crichton in which a wealthy entrepreneur creates an island theme park populated with dinosaurs cloned from DNA discovered in mosquitoes preserved in amber. Gaps in the DNA sequences are filled with frog DNA. When a corporate rival bribes the park’s computer programmer to steal dinosaur embryos and he deactivates the electric fences, the dinosaurs go on the rampage Jurassic Park movie mistakes, 5.04. There are invariably continuity errors in movies and they are usually difficult to spot unless you deconstruct the movie shot by shot, as someone has done in order to produce this clip. The role of continuity is important in any production. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1D-­‐_BjYv_k Contact (1997) – feature film based on the novel by Carl Sagan in which a scientist working for the SETI (Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence) Institute at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, hears radio signals that when decoded allow her to travel through wormholes and make a first contact with extraterrestial life. Woman in the Moon (1929), part 1, 9.55 – German feature film in which a motley group of gold-­‐diggers journey to the moon in search of the precious metal, landing on the far side where the air is breathable. When they decide to return they discover that there is not enough oxygen for all of them so someone has to stay behind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaVLaD4vfBc HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Woman in the Moon (1929), part 2, 9.48 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo9nHXF6_UA Supersize Me (2004) – documentary featuring filmmaker Morgan Spurlock who undertakes to eat nothing but McDonalds for 30 days during which he and doctors monitor both his physical and psychological well-­‐being, which plummets alarmingly. Following the film’s release McDonalds discontinued its supersized portions. Here’s a 7-­‐min trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2diPZOtty0 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1916), 1.38.42 – silent feature film based on the novel by Jules Verne in which a US naval ship is sent to investigate a giant underwater creature that turns out to be the Nautilus, a submarine owned by Captain Nemo. Nemo introduces the naval crew to the wonders of the deep, attacks an old enemy and discovers his long lost daughter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsrXuyjci7U 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954 & 1997); the 1954 version was Walt Disney’s first sci-­‐fi film; there is also a 1997 made-­‐for-­‐television version, link below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLj_41DdRuQ 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954) – behind the scenes photos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4T5s270E_M Planet of the Apes (1968) – feature film in which the crew of a spaceship land on an unknown planet in the year 3978 CE and discover it to be governed by intelligent primates whilst humans are hunted for sport or used for experiments. The alien planet turns out to be post-­‐apocalyptic earth that humans have destroyed. WALL-­‐E (2008) – animated feature film follows the tales of WALL-­‐E, the only remaining robot of a fleet programmed to clean up earth’s polluted and waste-­‐littered environment while its obese inhabitants have been evacuated into space. When EVE, a robot probe is sent to check out the state of the earth after 700 years, WALL-­‐E falls in love with her and follows her to the mothership. Eventually, the robots and evacuated earthlings return to their planet to recolonize and clean it up. An Inconvenient Truth (2006) – filmed presentation by Al Gore in which he campaigns to educate citizens about global warming. Week 2 – Workshop: What’s in the production kit? Readings: Steven Ascher & Edward Pincus, ‘The lens’, in The Film-­‐maker’s Handbook (Plume, 2013): 141-­‐184. Ascher & Pincus, ‘Shooting the movie’, in The Film-­‐maker’s Handbook: 321-­‐353. Ascher & Pincus, ‘Sound recording techniques’, in The Film-­‐maker’s Handbook: 442-­‐459. Ascher & Pincus, ‘Lighting’, in The Film-­‐maker’s Handbook: 471-­‐520. HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Web links: Filmmaker IQ – Online courses, articles, forums, images. This is a site set up by ‘a group of filmmakers born in this new media wave but never forgetting the past’ http://filmmakeriq.com Creative COW – vast amounts of information on all aspects of filmmaking, with a free newsletter http://www.creativecow.net Glossary of film terms http://making-­‐short-­‐films.com/glossary-­‐of-­‐film-­‐terms/ Week 3 – Theory: The ‘documentary’ genre, transitions from film to television Readings: Tim Boon, ‘British science documentaries: transitions from film to television’, Journal of British Cinema and Television, 10 (2013): 475-­‐497. Boon, ‘The growth of television and the representation of science,’ in Tim Boon, Films of fact: a history of science documentary on film and television (Columbia University Press, 2008): 184-­‐208. Colin Burgess, ‘Sixty years of Shell film sponsorship, 1934-­‐94’, Journal of British Cinema and Television, 7 (2010): 213-­‐231. Comment, ‘Disease education by the BBC’, British Medical Journal, 1 (1958): 510-­‐511. John Corner, ‘Finding data, reading patterns, telling stories: issues in the historiography of television’, Media, Culture & Society, 25.2 (2003): 273-­‐280. John Corner, ‘What can we say about “documentary”?’ Media, Culture & Society, 22.5 (2000): 681-­‐688. Corner, ‘Documentary theory,’ in John Corner, The art of record: a critical introduction to documentary (Manchester University Press, 1996): pp. 9-­‐30. Corner, ‘Action formats: drama-­‐documentary and vérité’, in John Corner, The art of record: a critical introduction to documentary (Manchester University Press, 1996): pp. 31-­‐55. Caroline Dover, ‘”Crisis” in British documentary television: the end of a genre?’ Journal of British Cinema and Television, 1.2 (2004): 242-­‐259. Jo Fox, ‘From documentary film to television documentaries: John Grierson and This Wonderful Life’, Journal of British Cinema and Television 10.3 (2013): 498-­‐523. Kelly Loughlin, ‘”Your Life in their Hands”: the context of a medical-­‐media controversy’, Media History 6.2 (2000): 177-­‐188. HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Grace Reid, ‘The television drama-­‐documentary [dramadoc] as a form of science communication’, Public Understanding of Science, 21 (2011): 984-­‐1001. Web links: International Documentary Association – promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre http://www.documentary.org The Documentary Blog Podcast – documentary news and interviews, created by and for documentary fans and filmmakers http://www.thedocumentaryblog.com Films to watch: Night Mail (1936), 22.38 – classic documentary about the London, Midland and Scottish mail train from London Euston to Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with poetry by W H Auden, music by Benjamin Britten, and narrated by John Grierson. Produced by the GPO Film Unit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F0Fdz9pusM Oil for Aladdin’s Lamp (1949), 20.31 – documentary about the oil industry, uses of oil and its bye-­‐
products in lubrication and manufacture. Chirpy narration. Produced by Shell Film Unit, UK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l_EEQK2PoE The Changing Face of Australia (1970) – two clips (2.44 & 2.51) from a film produced by Shell Film Unit Australia exploring the geological history of the continent http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/changing-­‐face-­‐australia/ BBC Horizon – The World of Buckminster Fuller (2 May 1964), 45.00 – the very first Horizon which explores the work of Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01z2ltf/horizon-­‐19641965-­‐the-­‐world-­‐of-­‐buckminster-­‐fuller BBC Horizon -­‐ Where is flight MH370 (2014), 59.28 – the inside story of the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, with access to the key players on the frontline in the southern Indian Ocean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HlLtSfKShQ Schindler’s List (1993) – feature film based on a novel by Thomas Keneally, but treated as a documentary by the producer/director, Steven Spielberg. It tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German factory owner in Kraków during World War Two who is a member of the Nazi party as well as employing Jews. As the war progresses and more and more Jews are evacuated from the city to concentration camps, Schindler sets out to save as many as he can. An hour to save your life (2014), BBC Two, 57.42. In the second of three programmes, paramedics respond to a stabbing, a motorbike crash and a cardiac arrest. Is this documentary or a docusoap? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QCkCkwmGcI Great Ormond Street (2010-­‐2012), BBC Two. A series showing ‘everyday life’ in the children’s hospital. Here’s a short clip from series 2, episode 4. ‘Fly on the wall’ docusoap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYsAzBWOyGM HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Mad and Bad: 60 Years of Science on TV (2010), 1.20.45 – an overview of BBC science programming since 1950 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ed4v_2Lqsg Bang goes the theory (2009 -­‐), 27.41 – BBC One science magazine series. Here’s an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BUBmdF4AA Supervolcano (2005), BBC One, 1.59.04 – drama documentary about the speculated and potential eruption of the volcanic caldera of Yellowstone National Park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AjQvOWUJ2o Goodbye to steam (1958), British Pathé News, 6.51 – short documentary showing how British Railways are meeting the challenge ‘of the age of abundant power’ by phasing out steam trains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZf9uSaXwQc The March of Science – British Pathé News, 6.0 – short clips from science stories covered by British Pathé through the years http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00bw_JKDRLQ Week 3 – Workshop: The cutting edge -­‐ editing theory and practice Reading: Ascher & Pincus, ‘Picture and dialogue editing’, in The Film-­‐maker’s Handbook: 521-­‐543. Web link: Art of the Guillotine – a site all about editing for professionals, academics and students, with links to blogs, podcasts, journals, articles and more http://www.aotg.com Week 4 – Theory: Public, politics and propaganda Reading: Virginia Berridge, ‘Medicine, public health and the media in Britain from the nineteen-­‐fifties to the nineteen-­‐seventies’, Historical Research, 82: 216 (2009): 360-­‐373. Boon, ‘Documentaries and the social relations of science’, in Tim Boon, Films of fact: a history of science documentary on film and television (Columbia University Press, 2008): pp. 73-­‐109. Corner, ‘Cathy come home (1966)’, in John Corner, The art of record: a critical introduction to documentary (Manchester University Press, 1996): pp. 90-­‐107. Corner, ‘When the dog bites (1988)’, in John Corner, The art of record: a critical introduction to documentary (Manchester University Press, 1996): pp. 139-­‐154 HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Elizabeth Lebas, ‘Municipality and cinema in Britain 1920-­‐1980: Do films harm us?’ In Elizabeth Lebas, Forgotten futures: British municipal cinema, 1920-­‐1980 (Blag Dog Publishing, 2011). Elizabeth Lebas, ‘”When every street became a cinema”: the film work of Bermondsey Borough Council’s Public Health Department, 1923-­‐1953’, History Workshop Journal, 39 (1995): 42-­‐66. Kelly Loughlin, ‘The history of health and medicine in contemporary Britain: reflections on the role of audio-­‐visual sources’, Social History of Medicine, 13.1 (2000): 131-­‐145. Jack Newsinger, ‘The interface of documentary and fiction: the Amber Film Workshop and regional documentary practice’, Journal of British Cinema and Television, 6.3 (2009): pp. 387-­‐406. Martin S Pernick, ‘More than illustrations: early twentieth-­‐century health films as contributors to the histories of medicine and of motion pictures’, in Leslie J Reagan, Nancy Tomes, Paula A Treichler (eds), Medicine’s moving pictures: medicine, health, and bodies in American film and television (University of Rochester Press, 2008): pp 19-­‐35. John Parascandola, ‘Syphilis at the cinema: medicine and morals in VD films of the US Public Health Service in World War II’, in Leslie J Reagan, Nancy Tomes, Paula A Treichler (eds), Medicine’s moving pictures: medicine, health, and bodies in American film and television (University of Rochester Press, 2008): pp. 71-­‐92. Melanie A Wakefield, Barbara Loken, Robert C Hornik, ‘Use of mass media campaigns to change health behaviour’, Lancet, 376 (2010): 1261-­‐1271. Films to watch: Where there’s life there’s soap, Bermondsey Borough Council Public Health film (1933), 18. 21. This film, aimed at younger audiences, is all about cleanliness. http://film.wellcome.ac.uk:15151/mediaplayer.html?0055-­‐0000-­‐7045-­‐0000-­‐0-­‐0000-­‐0000-­‐0 The empty bed, Bermondsey Borough Council Public Health film (1937), 16.31. This film is about the consequences of not immunizing your children against diphtheria, a potentially fatal but completely preventable disease. http://tinyurl.com/my9u6u8 Cathy Come Home (1966), 1.16.52. BBC drama-­‐documentary about homelessness, which is considered one of (if not the) most influential TV programme produced in the UK. The charities Shelter and Crisis were set up following the broadcast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1RYVjlP0dM The making of ‘Launch’ (2011, 7.46), the documentary made by the Amber Film Workshop in 1974 shot in and around Swan Hunter's busy shipyards at Wallsend, North Tyneside. 'Launch' (1974) depicts the building and naming of two ships, the 'World Unicorn' and the 'London Lion' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK_ZbVSK90o When the dog bites (1988), Channel Four, 49.29. Drama-­‐documentary produced by Trade Films, Gateshead, exploring how the town of Consett fared following the closure of its main industry, the HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk steelworks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nENtT3lHkj4 Alice: a fight for life (1982), Yorkshire Television – documentary about Alice Jefferson, a 47-­‐year-­‐old woman dying of mesothelioma after working at Cape Asbestos mill, a in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. Here are two 6-­‐minute clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UalvPWdKhqY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zG_8a4bp88 Windscale: the nuclear laundry (1983), Yorkshire Television (1.00.12) – documentary and debate about Windscale (now called Sellafield), operated by British Nuclear Fuels, and the incidence of childhood leukaemia in the surrounding area. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQmFeAGCpC0 The Little Terrorist (2004), Alipur Films & Ritika Productions, 15.08 – a Pakistani boy negotiates his way through a minefield that separates the Pakistan/India border to retrieve his cricket ball, and is hunted as a terrorist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODUlvTx3FM Science under attack (2011) – BBC Horizon, 59.59 – documentary presented by Sir Paul Nurse explores reasons why scientists and scientific theories are increasingly mistrusted and becoming politicised. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00y4yql/horizon-­‐20102011-­‐10-­‐science-­‐under-­‐attack Eat, fast and live longer (2012) – BBC Horizon, 59.11 – documentary presented by journalist Michael Mosley who examines the science behind the ancient idea of fasting, as he sets himself the ambitious goal of living longer, staying younger and losing weight without changing his lifestyle. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01lxyzc/horizon-­‐20122013-­‐3-­‐eat-­‐fast-­‐and-­‐live-­‐longer Week 4 – Workshop: Writing your film Readings: Trisha Das, How to write a documentary script (UNESCO). Thurlow & Thurlow, ‘G.M.’, in Making short films: 273-­‐286. Thurlow & Thurlow, ‘Greta May’, in Making short films: 309-­‐332. Films to watch in conjunction with the scripts above: G.M. – a short film by Martin Pickles (8.37), inspired by the films of Georges Méliès https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-­‐at1WoOae4 Greta May – a short film written and directed by Clifford Thurlow (10.05) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rEPzG50GPw HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Web links: Internet Movie Script Database – the web’s largest movie script resource: everything from Alien to X-­‐
Men http://www.imsdb.com Week 5 – Theory: Wildlife and the natural world Readings: Boon, ‘Science, nature and filmmaking’, in Tim Boon, Films of fact: a history of science documentary on film and television (Columbia University Press, 2008): pp. 7-­‐32. Lauren E Fretz, ‘Surréalisme sous-­‐l’eau: science and surrealism in the early films and writings of Jean Painlevé’, Film & History, 40.2 (2010): 45-­‐65. Bienvenido Leon, Science on television: the narrative of scientific documentary (Pantaneto Press, 2007): pp. 49-­‐61. Perkowitz, ‘Our violent planet’, in Sydney Perkowitz, Hollywood science: movies, science and the end of the world (Columbia University Press, 2010): pp. 67-­‐90. Karen D Scott, ‘Popularizing science and nature programming: the role of “spectacle” in contemporary wildlife documentary’, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 31.1 (2003): 29-­‐35. Roger Silverstone, ‘Narrative strategies in television science: a case study’, Media, Culture & Society, 6 (1984): 377-­‐410. Web links: Wildfilm History – 100 years of wildlife filmmaking. Informative website with links to key events, oral histories of filmmakers, and clips from important films and television programmes. http://www.wildfilmhistory.org/index.php Films to watch: Cheese mites (1903), Urban & Duncan, 0.41. Silent British microscopy film showing cheese mites on a piece of Stilton. The film was the sensation of the first public programme of scientific films in Britain shown at the Alhambra Music Hall in Leicester Square, London, in August 1903. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiaWXmYh3EU L’Hippocampe (1934), Jean Painlevé, 13.49. Silent French underwater film exploring the behaviour of the sea horse, including a pregnancy and birth in which the female deposits her eggs in the male’s frontal pouch where they are fertilized and nurtured until he ejects them during violent contractions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNrFeL4i19g The private life of the gannets (1934), John Grierson and Julian Huxley, 10.39. One of the most famous natural history films of the 1930s, it explores the life and behaviour of a gannet colony on an HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk uninhabited island off the British coast. Check out the aerial photography – this was rare at the time and would have been expensive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_EKF-­‐NQfOk Meerkat Manor: the story begins (2008), 1.16.03. Discovery Channel/Oxford Scientific Films follows a meerkat named Flower from birth to her becoming the leader of a meerkat group called the Whiskers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYiDqzF1yYA Walking with Dinosaurs: Land of Giants (2003), 29’ 03”. Zoologist Nigel Marven takes a walk on the prehistoric side in Argentina. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJQAZGnstg Krakatoa: the last days (2006), 1. 24.46. BBC One docudrama based upon a selection of four eyewitness accounts of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, an active stratovolcano between the islands of Sumatra and Java, present day Indonesia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN7OVMuL1XY Krakatoa: East of Java (1969) – actually, Krakatoa is west of Java but here’s a 10-­‐minute clip from the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJLou10rQBk Volcano (1997) – feature film in which an unexpected earth tremor in the centre of Los Angeles is followed by a volcanic eruption, leaving the city’s Emergency Management office to divert the lava flow into the ocean. Twister (1996) – feature film in which two storm chasers researching tornadoes attempt to place a data-­‐gathering instrument called ‘Dorothy’ into the funnel of a tornado. Storm chasers on a US chat show talk about how the movie ‘Twister’ was made; this is an 18-­‐minute clip that is mostly chat but watch the section between 9.48 and 11.57 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxhX7HPhkY0 Ray Mears’ Extreme Survival: Alaska (2002), 50.14, BBC/Discovery Channel. Here’s episode 3 from series 3 in which Ray explores the Alaskan wilderness and meets indigenous Alaskans with survival secrets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGIFS3EI1KY Born Free (1966) – classic feature film based on the story of a British couple living in Kenya who raise a lioness cub, which they name Elsa, and reintroduce her into the wild. In filming Born Free, the decision was made to use lions that were not circus-­‐trained, and 24 were imported to Kenya from around the world. One lion knocked film star Virginia McKenna to the ground, shattering her ankle, and later, a lioness pinned her down by grabbing McKenna’s arm in her mouth. Since the film was screened, the lion population in Kenya has declined by over 90 per cent and there are now fewer than 2000. Elsa’s legacy: the Born Free Story (2011), PBS Channel/BBC – documentary about the film and the real story of George and Joy Adamson who raised Elsa. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in4cHOZgbWQ HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Gorilla’s in the Mist (1988) – Sigourney Weaver plays Dian Fossey (1932-­‐1985), the US anthropologist who studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda, funded by National Geographic, and who was eventually murdered, allegedly by poachers who resented her fight to stop the killing and trafficking of the animals she had come to love. A film that couldn’t be made today because animal behaviourists no longer spend their entire lives attempting to hold hands with potential killers. The lost film of Dian Fossey (2002), 47.23 – National Geographic documentary about the work of Dian Fossey, showing film shot over three years by photographer Bob Campbell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFndwaCDvF4 First Life (2010), 58.48 – BBC Two documentary presented by Sir David Attenborough in which he explores the origin of life on earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR-­‐yMiyquG4 A forest year (2013), breath-­‐taking time-­‐lapse movie that combines more than 40,000 images (in a 2.5 minute video) taking over a 16-­‐month period on a camera set up in one location and programmed to take pictures at intervals between every ten seconds to every ten minutes during key times of the year http://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2014/aug/09/a-­‐forest-­‐year-­‐video Week 5 – Workshop: Interview technique and documentary styles Web links: Video interviews with past production staff of BBC’s Horizon http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/horizon/index.shtml Week 6 – Theory: Biological and environmental disasters Readings: Jonathan Bignell, ‘Docudramatizing the real: developments in British TV docudrama since 1990’, Studies in Documentary Film, 4.3 (2010): 195-­‐208. Kirby, ‘Preventing future disasters: science consultants and the enhancement of cinematic disasters,’ in David A Kirby, Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema (MIT Press, 2011): 169-­‐192. Brett Mills, ‘Days of future past: documenting the future’, Journal of British Cinema and Television, 8.1 (2011): 81-­‐98. Michael Stewart and Richard Butt, ‘We had it coming: hypothetical docudrama as contested form and multiple fantasy’, Critical Studies in Television, 6.1 (2011): 72-­‐88. Neeraja Sundaram, ‘Imagining bio-­‐disaster, reproducing social order: epidemics in contemporary Hollywood,’ Journal of Creative Communications, 7 (2012): 135-­‐151. Web links: HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Horizon at 50 – Tim Boon describes how this science documentary series has changed since its first programme was broadcast on 2 May 1964. How, for example, it has gone from being highly respectful of scientists to questioning the social consequences and politics of scientific and technological innovation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/horizon/horizon_article.shtml Films to watch: The War Game (1965), BBC – drama that depicts a nuclear attack on a British town. It was intended for broadcast by the BBC on the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima but was banned as being too horrifying. It was not shown on British television until 1983. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geva0lLP-­‐Zs The China Syndrome (1979) – feature film released just two weeks before the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster and seven years before Chernobyl, in which a news-­‐gathering crew witness an emergency shutdown in a nuclear power plant but the men-­‐in-­‐suits try to cover it up. Threats and cover-­‐ups follow. Outbreak (1995) – feature film about the outbreak in Zaire of a deadly virus, which is transported to the US when a capuchin monkey named Betsy, is illegally imported. While virologists plan extreme measures to deal with the infected humans and track down the runaway monkey, it transpires that the virus had previously emerged in 1967 but its discovery had been hidden because of its potential as a biological weapon – think Ebola. Children of Men (2006) – in this feature film based on the book by P D James and set in 2027, an infertility epidemic has seen a total decline in human birth for two decades with an associated breakdown of society. Deep Impact (1998) – feature film in which a comet 11 km wide and on a collision course for earth, is intercepted by a team who land on its surface and plant nuclear bombs in order to knock it off course or destroy it. Unfortunately, the explosion merely splits the comet in two, both of which are headed for earth. Armageddon (1998) – this feature film was released at the same time as Deep Impact and did better at the box office although astronomers suggested that Deep Impact was more scientifically accurate. An asteroid the size of Texas is headed for earth and a team of deep-­‐sea oil drillers is sent into space to plant a nuclear device 800 feet within its core. Armageddon: Top ten ways to Doomsday (2014), Discovery Channel documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH1qKpkURSQ Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon (2002), 1.30.00, BBC drama documentary (or ‘mockumentary’) in which there is an outbreak of smallpox 22 years after it has been eradicated from the world. The programme was broadcast five months after New York’s twin towers attack of 9 September 2001 and the US anthrax episode in which anthrax spores were mailed to a number of media offices and politicians, killing some and seriously infecting others. So there was heightened awareness of the possibility of a bioterrorist incident. Britain’s Chief Medical Officer sent a notice to all General Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Medical Directors and Chief Executives in NHS Trusts, Chief HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Pharmacists, Community Pharmacists, all Consultants, Microbiologists, and Directors of Nursing warning that: ‘this film could result in a large number of patient enquiries about receiving smallpox vaccine.’ Contagion (2011) – feature film which imagines the outbreak of a deadly virus, MEV-­‐1, in the Far East from where it is rapidly globalised causing social breakdown. While the race is on to find the origins and identity of the virus, a conspiracy theorist blogs about a homeopathic cure, and a WHO epidemiologist is ransomed in exchange for a vaccine which turns out to be a placebo. The Day Britain Stopped (2003), 1.28.42 – BBC Two drama documentary (‘mockumentary’) in which a strike by rail unions at one of the busiest pre-­‐Christmas days of the year, leads to a chain of transport catastrophies that leave 100 people dead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6BxSbx1Fm0 Erin Brockovich (2000) – feature film dramatizing the true story of a legal clerk who uncovers evidence that for over three decades the Pacific Gas & Electric Company has been contaminating the groundwater in a Californian community with a carcinogenic chemical, hexavalent chromium, and lied to the inhabitants while paying some of their medical bills What’s killing our bees (2013), 59.11 – BBC Horizon investigates one of the biggest mysteries in the British countryside: what is killing our bees. It is a question that generates huge controversy. Changes in the weather, pesticides and even a deadly virus have all been blamed. Beekeeper Bill Turnbull meets the scientists who are fitting minute radar transponders on to bees to try to find answers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV30vODTkDw One night in Bhopal (2004), 53.30 – BBC drama documentary about one of the world’s worst industrial accidents when an American-­‐owned chemical factory, Union Carbide, that was meant to bring prosperity to the people of an Indian city, instead brought death, destruction and continuing health problems for survivors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJg19W8x_Ls Week 6 – Workshop: Creative Commons, sound and music Reading: Thurlow & Thurlow, ‘Music’, in Making short films: 155-­‐163. Week 7 – Theory: Heroes, nerds and villains: portrayal of scientists on film and TV Readings: Kirby, ‘Scientists on screen: being a scientist, looking like a lab’, in David A Kirby, Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema (MIT Press, 2011): pp. 65-­‐93. Perkowitz, ‘Scientists as heroes, nerds and villains’, in Sydney Perkowitz, Hollywood science: movies, science and the end of the world (Columbia University Press, 2010): pp. 167-­‐195. HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Josef Turow & Rachel Gans-­‐Boriskin, ‘From expert in action to existential angst: a half century of television doctors’, in Leslie J Reagan, Nancy Tomes, Paula A Treichler (eds), Medicine’s moving pictures: medicine, health, and bodies in American film and television (University of Rochester Press, 2008): pp. 263-­‐281. Gerhard Wiesenfeldt, ‘Dystopian genesis: the scientist’s role in society, according to Jack Arnold’, Film & History, 40.1 (2010): 58-­‐74. Films to watch: Frankenstein (1910, 1931, 1994, 2014) – various versions of this feature film exist, all of which are more or less based on the novel by Mary Shelley (1818) in which a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, creates a creature from dead body parts salvaged from graves and gallows, and reanimated by electricity. Shelley’s novel explored a number of contemporary issues including body snatching and the life-­‐giving forces of the newly discovered powers of electricity. The 1931 version introduced Boris Karloff to the screen. It’s worth seeing the whole film but here’s a four-­‐minute clip of the reanimation scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H3dFh6GA-­‐A Here’s the 1910 silent version, 12.42 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLxsOJK9bs Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2003), 1.36.50 – there have been many film versions of this classic tale by Robert Louis Stevenson about a sinister and morally depraved individual, Edward Hyde, who is in fact the alter ego of Dr Edward Jekyll who has spent most of his life trying to suppress an evil and lustful nature. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mQt5FreIiQ A Beautiful Mind (2001), 2.15.19 – feature film about the Nobel Prize-­‐winning mathematician, John Forbes Nash, a developer of game theory who was diagnosed with schizophrenia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOBsGIOCHl0 The Nutty Professor (1963) – feature film comedy about a nerdy professor, Julius Kelp, who invents a potion to transform him into the handsome, extremely smooth, cool, and obnoxious girl-­‐chasing hipster, Buddy Love. A 1996 remake has an obese professor create a weight-­‐loss serum that transforms him into testosterone-­‐fuelled hunk. Dr Kildare – ‘Twenty-­‐four hours’ (1961), the first episode of US TV series on NBC that aired until 1966 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG9Dxgs4054 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWKEyzWitnM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GZ4ieR7cUg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRP63j0-­‐B_k Dr Kildare – ‘The chemistry of anger’ (1962) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-­‐dua_P99T4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8BgKQGz3A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz9K5YVsEqk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5QGhUPKz_w HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Grey’s Anatomy (2005 -­‐), US hospital series that premiered on ABC in 2005, focusing on surgical interns and residents who have private lives as well as medical crises. Here’s a couple of episodes from series 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iknof05pQSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJJiAKCxh4 Einstein and Eddington (2008), 1.33 – BBC TV drama about Einstein’s theory of relativity, and his relationship with Eddington against the backdrop of World War One. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG2sDVjL1wg Copenhagen (2002), 1.56 – BBC TV drama, written by Michael Frayn, about a meeting between the physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in 1941, and which explores Heisenberg’s role in the German atomic bomb programme during World War Two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hGAq2kc6u0 The Fly (1986) – feature film in which a brilliant but eccentric scientist, Seth Brundle, builds ‘Telepods’ which are able to transport objects from one pod to another. He self-­‐experiments but fails to realise that a housefly has entered the transmitter pod with him. He and the fly merge at the molecular-­‐
genetic level with disastrous consequences. Here’s a clip of the movie’s ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH-­‐8L1iZq20 And two short clips showing how some of the effects for The Fly were achieved http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Knr9GrYbQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocyLuXGHCNE Week 8 – Theory: Aliens, freaks and ‘others’ Readings: Lisa Cartwright, ‘An etiology of the neurological gaze’, in Lisa Cartwright, Screening the body: tracing medicine’s visual culture (University of Minnesota Press, 1997): 47-­‐80. Robert Eberwein, ‘Disease, masculinity, and sexuality in recent films’, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 22.4 (1995): 154-­‐161. ‘The war of the worlds’ (1953), ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’ (1956), ‘Alien’ (1979), ‘The Thing’ (1982), ‘Independence Day’ (1996), in Howard Hughes, Outer limits: the filmgoer’s guide to the great science-­‐fiction films (Tauris, 2014). Robert Larsen and Beth A Haller, ‘The case of FREAKS’, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 29.4 (2002): 164-­‐173. Perkowitz, ‘Alien encounters’, in Sydney Perkowitz, Hollywood science: movies, science and the end of the world (Columbia University Press, 2010): 19-­‐48. Frank Pilipp and Charles Shull, ‘American values and images: TV movies of the first decade of AIDS’, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 21.1 (1993): 19-­‐26. HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Paula A Treichler, ‘Medicine, popular culture, and the power of narrative: the HIV / AIDS storyline on General Hospital’, in Leslie J Reagan, Nancy Tomes, Paula A Treichler (eds), Medicine’s moving pictures: medicine, health, and bodies in American film and television (University of Rochester Press, 2008): 93-­‐132. José van Dijck, ‘Medical documentary: conjoined twins as a mediated spectacle’, Media, Culture & Society, 24.4 (2002): 537-­‐556. Films to watch: Freaks (1932) – feature film about a beautiful circus trapeze artist, Venus, who seduces and marries the ‘midget’ Hans in order to gain his inheritance, while conducting an affair with the ‘strong man’. The circus performers with abnormal bodies gang up on the cheating pair and mutilate them so that Venus ends up as ‘one of them’. Here is a 5-­‐minute clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stXcSdV7IeU The Elephant Man (1980) – feature film based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who is rescued from a freak show by Sir Frederick Treves (1853-­‐1923), a surgeon at the London Hospital. War neurosis, Netley Hospital (1918) – instructional film showing First World War soldiers suffering from ‘shell-­‐shock’, symptoms of which include ‘hysterical dancing gait’, facial spasms and tremors, 26.48 http://film.wellcome.ac.uk:15151/mediaplayer.html?0055-­‐0000-­‐4163-­‐0000-­‐0-­‐0000-­‐0000-­‐0 Extraordinary People – Channel 5 series featuring individuals with unusual bodies or unusual gifts, but the focus is on the former. The first episode was broadcast in 2003 and continues. Here are some programmes in the series: The twins who share a body – Abby and Brittany Hensel, Dicephalus (Two Headed) conjoined twins, 45.28 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9h6JpXZ5N8 Extraordinary People – the 96-­‐year-­‐old schoolgirl, Hayley Okines is an English girl with the rare aging disease progeria, 44.52 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyvGM_anr6I Extraordinary People – the tiniest girl in the world, 44.12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=256XNMPLI18 Extraordinary People -­‐ The Mermaid Girl, 42.26 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuyylvCmPYs Extraordinary People – Growing up without a face, 44.46 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lybu_ZEFn6w Killer in the Village (1983), 57.50, BBC Horizon – In June 1981, the US Centre For Disease Control reported the deaths of five young gay men from a rare form of pneumonia. Around the same time, HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer usually seen only in the very old, started to claim the lives of a disproportionate number of gay people. By 1983, the numbers of deaths had become so large that Horizon, the BBC broadcast a documentary about them. This was the first programme on British TV about HIV/AIDS http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01z2lbp/horizon-­‐19821983-­‐killer-­‐in-­‐the-­‐village An Early Frost (1985) – feature film about a young man who confronts his family with the fact that he is both gay and has HIV. This was one of the earliest dramas to deal with attitudes towards HIV/AIDS by families and medical professionals. General Hospital – docusoap in which Robin gets her HIV diagnosis (1995). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caY-­‐7ss-­‐V3o General Hospital – docusoap in which Stone dies of AIDS (1995). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUxIiHczzYk The War of the Worlds (1953 & 2005) – feature film based on the novel by HG Wells (1897) in which Martians invade and take over the earth using fighting machines, heat rays and chemical weapons (black smoke). They lay waste to England but eventually succumb to human germs against which they have no resistance. Both films are set in the 20th century rather than in Wells’ day. Creating the special effects for War of the Worlds, 1953, 15’ 02” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_q2dtVgfI4 Alien (1979) – classic feature film in which the crew of a commercial spacecraft respond to a distress call from a planetoid on which they find thousands of eggs, one of which releases an alien creature onto Officer Kane’s face. Returning to the ship another creature bursts through Kane’s chest, killing him instantly, and scuttles off to wreak havoc for ship and crew. The beast within: The making of Alien, 1.57.43 – how the effects were achieved. Well worth watching for a behind the scenes glimpse into effects before the sophistication of CGI. Great to watch the puppeteer shoving the ‘alien’ through Kane’s chest whilst drinking a mug of tea under the table! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TNjpb8O5LY Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1.20.40) & (1978) – feature film based on a novel by Jack Finney (1954) about the invasion of extraterrestials which replace humans with duplicates that emerge from large seed pods. As the pods reach full development, their ‘seed’ assimilates the physical characteristics, memories and personalities of the humans but are devoid of emotion and a sense of individuality. A local doctor uncovers what is occurring and ultimately tries to stop the invasion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIdjA-­‐uu-­‐nY Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978 remake, 1.55.36 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z-­‐UYzqmXA4 The Thing (1982) – a shape-­‐shifting extraterrestial that lands by flying saucer in the Antarctic where it infiltrates the bodies of scientists in a Norwegian research station, which is destroyed. The Thing, in the guise of an Alaskan Malamute, moves on to a US research station. The making of The Thing (2011) HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glYnBybLTEg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoHAKzxGwQ The Thing – 5-­‐minute clip showing the work of the final creations on set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBzpT7VmSaU Independence Day (1996) – feature film in which a vast alien mothership enters earth’s orbit and deploys a number of destroyer spacecraft to exterminate human life and take over the planet’s natural resources. Fighter jets and human weapons fail to penetrate the aliens’ force field, and it falls to an IT specialist to attempt the introduction of a destructive computer virus into the mothership. Course expectations A lecture schedule and abstract is published on the module Moodle page. Classes are related to specific required reading and films, and critically survey key content relevant to each theme. You are encouraged to come to classes having reflected on readings and films set for the class. I expect you to actively engage module themes. I take a class register and will follow up any student who begins to miss classes. UCL requires that you attend 70% of classes to qualify for a module pass. I do everything I can to help you including reading draft essays. Additional information You must footnote and reference scripts and essays using the citation guide on the module Moodle page. I prefer Chicago style because it was designed for humanities but if you are accustomed to using another referencing system you may do this as long as it is consistent and thorough. Essays must be submitted via Moodle. The type of assessment sheet I use while marking essays is also available via the module Moodle page, for guidance purposes. Marks generally follow the departmental criteria for assessment. In sum, essays will be assessed on the following terms: • The depth of scholarship and use of resources beyond those in lecture and required reading • The ability to identify both major and subtle points of the subject • The extent of your critical assessment • The evidence you provide for having reflected on and extended module content and themes • The general scholarly presentation of the work performed Common criticisms on student essays relate to: • Too much description/summary of readings and not enough analysis • Not developing your own argument • No evidence of independent research • Terrible organisation, careless spelling and sentence construction, and poor referencing techniques • Minimal use of source or poor choice of sources (such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica or Wikipedia) HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk A useful tip if you are unsure of your writing technique is to read aloud your sentences, preferably to someone who has not read your essay; if you or your listener is confused, you can be sure that your marker will also be head scratching. Markers hate reading sentences over and over to make sense of them. The assessment sheet for film production is also available via the Moodle page but will be assessed on the following terms. Your film may not include all the categories listed below depending on the genre you have chosen. Markers will be looking for: Category Script Editing Sound Narration/voiceover Performance Presentation Cinematography Direction Visual effects A well-­‐written script that flows naturally and carries the story. Editing that complements the genre, whether documentary, drama, presenter-­‐led, etc. Edits should not be ‘seen’ by the viewer – they should not jar on the senses. Any discrepancies in colour balance and other visual anomalies between shots should be corrected at the editing stage. Sound that brings the movie to life. Music and live action sound levels will rise and fall appropriately with the visual content and also convey the emotive qualities of the movie. Good, clear, well enunciated narration. The narrator’s voice should match the style of production, for example, ‘newsy’, ‘mysterious’, ‘confident’ etc. It should carry the story and should not be the dominant feature of the production. Good narration is ‘easy listening’. The use of more than one narrator, for example, a male and female voice can be very effective and powerful but should match the genre. Performance, as in drama or drama documentary that reflects the script. Overacting or underacting can be uncomfortable to watch. Presenters who appear comfortable, confident and fluent in front of the camera and put the audience at ease. Use of a presenter can be a very effective way of linking movie scenes. Presenters can also interview expert witnesses. Camera work that interprets the script, and is creative, visually exciting, emotive, and lit in a way appropriate to the mood of the action. Direction that interprets the script sensitively and intelligently. A good director visualises the script and plans shooting accordingly. Visual effects that complement the genre and are not being used for the sake of ‘effect’. Library film footage, still images, graphics, captions, and other ‘bought in’ material should fit naturally into the production as if they were shot to order. Overall creativity HPSC3046 Science and Film Production 2014-­‐15 session c.reeves@ucl.ac.uk Overall creativity (often termed production design) that demonstrates production planning so that the whole movie comes together as a structured and well designed piece. Important policy information Details of college and departmental policies relating to modules and assessments can be found in the STS Student Handbook www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/handbook All students taking modules in the STS department are expected to read these policies.