Science, Entertainment and a Digital World

Overview Part I: The History of Science in Entertainment Part II: Jurassic Park and the Dawn of the Internet Part III: The Good, the Bad and the Influential Part IV: The ScriptPhD Philosophy: L.A.B.

Timeline I: 1900-1930 1902: Le Voyage Dans La Lune 1910: Frankenstein The Silent Film Era: An Era of Firsts 1912: Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde 1916: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1926: Metropolis 1929: Frau im Mond

Timeline II: 1930-1950 1933: King Kong The Invisible Man 1949: Captain Video 1936: Flash Gordon The Man Who Changed His Mind Feel Good + Propaganda Movies 1945: Strange Holiday 1930: Just Imagine

Timeline III: 1950-1970 1961: Dr. Kildcare 1969: Marcus Welby 1963: Dr. Who (BBC) The Outer Limits 1966: Star Trek 1950: Buck Rogers 1959: The Twilight Zone The Cold War and the Nuclear Age 1950: Destination Moon 1953: War of The Worlds 1956: Forbidden Planet 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey

Timeline IV: 1970-1980 1972: M*A*S*H Solaris (USSR) 1978: Battlestar Galactica 1974: NOVA Space Travel 1971: The Andromeda Strain 1979: Alien Mad Max Star Trek (Motion Picture) 1975: The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1977: Star Wars Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Timeline V: 1980-1990 1982: St. Elsewhere Blade Runner ET 1983: V 1989: Star Trek TGN Doogie Howser, MD 1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1984: 1984 GhostBusters Terminator Rise of Gadgets 1985: Back to the Future Cocoon Weird Science 1987: Spaceballs

What Science Entertainment Used to Be
Sparse content compared to today’s era (many more science-oriented films and shows)
Heavy on science FICTION, light on science
Thematic in nature – very little corellation to scientific vs. social/political advances of the time
Nothing that revolves around technology save for nuclear destruction and outer space travel
Hopeful, unrealistic, meant to titillate not really engage

Jurassic Park: Before + After
Assumed audience knew or would understand cloning – complex science
Written by a medical doctor (Michael Crichton)
Thematic Elements: Reprecussions of bioengineering and technology revolution
Game changer for future film and television content
Jurassic Park – 1993 Universal pictures $900 million gross – still in top ten Dolly the Sheep cloned in 1996

The Dawn of the Internet Internet visualization map for routes of information exchange Number of internet users: 1995-2010 The internet is exploding and there’s nothing to stop it! Nasdaq Hosts Sites The market might go up and down, but the Internet grows forever • Late 1994: Mosaic released, WWW is born • 1996: The word ‘Internet’ is common

Science is EVERYWHERE
Academic, government and industry labs have websites
Most newspapers/magazines have a science + technology section
The birth of the blog
Twitter, Facebook, other social media – news travels fast
2008: At least 2,000 science blogs written by PhD scientists (Technorati)

Science + Technology in Entertainment post-Internet
More science/sci-fi/technology/medical content on television (and movies)
Better (more) informed audience
More sophisticated content
The Internet # of Zombie movies (from io9)

The Good
ER Surgical Checklist scene from Season 15, episode 19 – based on WHO recommendations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IG8ItaTTzY
‘ Breaking Bad’ chemistry
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsgGEgkNZ1E&
Accurate
Doesn’t dwell on the Big Picture, rather inserts details that contribute to story

The Bad
‘ Outbreak’ – opening scene during title credits where government agent walks through BSL labs
Access to BSL3 and BSL4 labs is EXTREMELY restricted
No personal protective equipment
Takes tube with bare hands – never!
‘ Impact’
People around the world can’t all see it in the dark at the SAME time
Meteor that desctructive could NEVER hide behind another body – the asteroid would have to be enormous
Energy required to move the Moon from its orbit is… well… astronomical
Dishonorable mentions: ‘Armageddon’ ‘Deep Impact’ and ‘The Core’ (unobtainium?)

Misconceptions/Positive Effects YES NO

‘ The CSI Effect’
The belief that juries demand more physical evidence
Police collecting more physical evidence, in turn inundating crime labs
More forensic programs in colleges and universities
Jurors wanting DNA tests performed more frequently
The problem?
About 40% of the forensic science on
CSI doesn’t actually exist!
CSI premieres

Medical Shows Affect Your Health
Epidemiological studies conducted by the Kaiser Foundation
Presence of blogs amplifies this effect
Study in journal Resucitation : Med students copy bad intubations from TV
Purposefully embedded a health message in an episode then tested select group of viewers Health on Prime Time Television 947 episodes 33 series 2204-2006

Geek Chic To Reality I Flying Cars Communicators Dick Tracy’s wrist phone eBooks from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Geek Chic to Reality II

L.A.B.: The ScriptPhD Philosophy “ People bring ideas to life” Media+Entertainment Science The Public Building Relationships Exchanging Information

L.A.B.: Listen
Scientists
Watch movies and TV
Know how your material is being represented
Make yourself visible!
Give and write feedback
Keep it simple: small bites are easier to swallow for non-scientists
Communicate effectively
Writers
Seek out advice
Ask SPECIFIC questions and involve the scientist
Attend a lecture/seminar
Shadow a scientist or doctor
Read blogs + tech publications
Communicate effectively

L.A.B.: Advise Start a Blog For Your Area of Expertise • Start with short, simple posts • Guest post for other bloggers • Invite colleagues to post on your site Increase Your Web Presence • Let out an occasional Tweet • Set up a site for your lab/research • Write the occasional supplement to scholarly articles Work For a Science Movie/TV Show • On staff or freelance • Fringe: Neurobiologist Ricardo Gil da Costa • BSG and Eureka : Physicist Kevin R. Grazier • CSI: Engineer Naren Shankar • Grey’s Anatomy : Dr. Zoanne Clack Write Your Own! Michael Chricton Arthur C. Clarke

L.A.B.: Blog…
Sample Topics Covered Recently in ScriptPhD.com:
“ The Last Beekeeper” Documentary: Colony collapse disorder
“ Star Trek”: The Physics of Star Trek
“ Adam”: Asperger’s Syndrome
“ Three Rivers”: Organ Donation
“ Moon”: Lunar Facts 101
“ Breaking Bad”: Chemistry 101
In-Depth Means:
Interviews (Leading science experts, screenwriters, producers)
Panels + Roundtables
Original pieces
The science behind your favorite shows

… And Blog Some More Science Fiction: io9.com Astronomy+Physics: BadAstronomy.com Medical Reviews: PoliteDissent.com Popular (Layman) Science: popsci.com … and many more!

Writers’ Resources in L.A.
Science and Entertainment Exchange
http://scienceandentertainment.org
Hollywood, Health and Society
http://learcenter.org/html/projects/?cm=hhs
The Science Network
http://sciencenetwork.org
ScriptPhD.com
Here to help you write creative science!

Acknowledgements Hosts: UCLA School of Film, Hal Ackerman, Etana Jacobsen Fellow Collaborators/Idea Generators: • Media + Entertainment subsidies (present and future) • Bloggers (ScriptPhD.com “sites we like” blogroll is a great resource!) • Scientists, Engineers, Innovators, Techologists, Geeks, and Nerds ScriptPhD.com Design and Concept Branding: Zookeeper Industries, LLC YOU! Engage and collaborate with ScriptPhD.com to expand the conversation about science and technology in entertainment, media and pop culture: • Twitter: @ScriptPhD •Vimeo: ScriptPhD • Facebook: ScriptPhD •SlideShare.net: ScriptPhD • LinkedIn: Jovana Grbić • Email: [email_address] Presentation and content ©2009 ScriptPhD.com. All Rights Reserved.

Science, Entertainment and a Digital World

by Jovana Grbic on Oct 24, 2009

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