Science, Entertainment and a Digital World

Jovana J. Grbić, PhDSloan Colloquium, UCLA School of Film

October 24, 2009©ScriptPhD.com, all rights reserved

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 VoyageDans La Lune

1910:Frankenstein

The Silent Film Era: An Era of Firsts

1912:Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde

1916:20,000 LeaguesUnder the Sea

1926:Metropolis

1929:Frau im Mond

Timeline II: 1930-1950

1933:King Kong

The Invisible Man

1949:CaptainVideo

1936:Flash Gordon

The Man Who ChangedHis 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:BuckRogers

1959:The TwilightZone

The Cold War and the Nuclear Age

1950:DestinationMoon

1953:War ofThe Worlds

1956:ForbiddenPlanet

19682001:A SpaceOdyssey

Timeline IV: 1970-1980

1972:M*A*S*H

Solaris (USSR)

1978:BattlestarGalactica

1974:NOVA

Space Travel

1971:The AndromedaStrain

1975:The RockyHorror Picture Show

1977:Star Wars

Close Encountersof the Third Kind

Timeline V: 1980-1990

1982:St. Elsewhere

Blade Runner

ET

1983:V

1989:Star Trek TGN

Doogie Howser, MD

1981:Raiders ofthe 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 Sheepcloned 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 growsforever

•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 blogswritten 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 contentThe 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 episodes33 series2204-2006

Geek Chic To Reality I

Flying Cars

Communicators

Dick Tracy’s wrist phoneeBooks 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

BuildingRelationships

ExchangingInformation

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.: AdviseStart 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 ChrictonArthur 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!

AcknowledgementsHosts: 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: jovana@ScriptPhd.com

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