SciEx Details

Purpose

To make a video about science or engineering that is just as awesome (to a general audience!) as a video about extreme sports.

Important Note

If you think this idea is cool, but do not know how to get started (e.g. no filming experience), please either join the Facebook group or send us an e-mail: sciex@mit.edu. We will try to match you up with someone with the experience to help you. We will also keep you updated with new developments (e.g. meet-ups to get together scientists/engineerings and filmographers/artists). Similarly, if you have experience filming, editing, cartooning, composing... please let us know! And don't forget to check out upcoming SciEx meet-ups where you can find out more, and find a team.

What the video should be

We're looking for videos distilling the coolness factor of science/engineering.

What the video should not be

An educational video (we leave that to the other guys).

Target audience

The general public (e.g. 12-year-old boys and girls should think your video is cool).

Requirements

A 30 - 90 seconds video of high quality composed of only original or creative commons content.

You may submit the video in a group. If you want to find a group, post a request on the sciex.mit Facebook group or come out to the SciEx meet-ups!

Deadline

March 30, 2015 (extended from March 20)

Prizes

First Place $1,000

Second Place $750

Third Place $500

An award ceremony will be held at a public viewing and voting in the Cambridge Science Festival in April! All the best films will be shown and highly publicized!

Resources

Community:

Find teammates, ask for help, get advice: join the Facebook group.

Equipment rentals:

MIT-CMS (IAP Video Contest)

MIT AV

Video editing tools:

New Media Center (26-139)

For questions about further resoures, e-mail us at sciex@mit.edu!

Presentations

Elizabeth Choe's slides from February 2015 Meetup

Submitting

1. Share the original video file with us using a filesharing service (e.g. Dropbox).

2. Fill out the submission form

Ideas

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Use GoPros to capture your experiment/laboratory from all possible angles!

Make a silent movie about "a day in the life of a scientist"

Adding high-energy music will help capture attention!

Narration is not necessary, and in most cases only having music may be more effective

Cool effects are a plus if they help set the mood!

Note: just putting your experiment to techno music might not fully do it... think about how to make the scientists look cool as well as the science... (see example)

And definitely use exciting videos as inspiration:

People are awesome, 2013

The Athlete Machine

Danny MacAskill's Imaginate

Alex Honnold in Banff 2013

Contact

For more information, please e-mail sciex@mit.edu.

We're excited to see what you come up with!

Your organizers,

Zoya Bylinskii, Adrian Dalca

Supported by:

The Cambridge Science Festival,

the MIT Office of the Dean of Graduate Education (ODGE)

and the MIT Office of Digital Learning (ODL)