Synopses for Science Films USC 2011 – 2012
Films in alphabetical order:
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Title: Dance with Newton’s Laws
Team:
Linda Jules (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) – Director/writer
Antonia Zaferiou (Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering) – Director/writer
Synopsis:
While dance appears effortless and graceful, it is an artistic expression of human movement that can be explained from a physics perspective. This short film aims to introduce a wide audience to some of the fundamental principles of classical mechanics using a dance routine performed by Hilary Thomas.
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Title: It’s All in You
Team:
Maria Raykova (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) – Director, writer, animator, editor
Andy Su (Astronautical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering) – Science consultant, writer
Jabril Mack (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) -Voice actor, animator, editor
Mara Guevarra (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) -Voice actor, animator, editor, music
Kayla Carlisle (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) –animator
Synopsis:
On a hot day in old Southern California, a weary prospector is panning for gold. Just when he is about to give up for the day, he is cheered up by the discovery of a nugget in his pan. Finally, he has found what he was looking for… or so he thinks. His loneliness is suddenly dispelled by a visit from a kind and mysterious stranger, who promises to show him where all the gold in the world is made. We join the excited prospector as he embarks on a treasure hunt of both astronomic and atomic proportions, taking us across the Periodic Table, through the cosmos, and even to a futuristic space diner. By the time we return to that little place in the universe we call home, we are rich with the kind of wealth that we carry not in our pockets, but in our hearts and minds.
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Title: Particle Accelerator – Made Easy
Team:
Marcello Dolce (Fine Arts, Roski School of Fine Arts, Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) – animator, editor, fabricator
Matilde Hoffman (Neuroscience and Pre-Med, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences) – writer, fabricator
Eli Joteva (Fine Arts, Roski School of Fine Arts) – editor, animator, fabricator
Max Kudisch (Philosophy, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences) – cinematographer, animator, fabricator
Peter Nordahl-Hansen (Intended: Production, School of Cinematic Arts) – director, cinematographer, writer, editor, animator, fabricator Sarah Ptasnik – director, writer, fabricator
Synopsis:
Matthew Er, who prefers to be called Matt Er, is a confused particle, searching for identity in a seemingly chaotic world. The film begins with his journey and ultimate collision with the dark side of him, Anti Matt Er, and goes on to explain a particle accelerator in simple terms. Through the interchange of matter and energy, new particles are formed, if only fleetingly. We explore one such particle, the Higgs Boson, and its possible implications on our understanding of the universe.
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Title: Superluminal Neutrinos in 5 Minutes
Team:
Josh Heineman (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) – Animation, Narration, Script.
Nate Fulmer (Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering) – Research
Michael Powell (Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering) – Research
Synopsis:
A narrated short film that covers the recent discovery of superluminal neutrinos, explaining the concept with a general summary of the theory of special relativity and the consequences of this discovery on the world of science.
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Title: The Expense of Spirit
Team Members:
Director/Editor – Haran Sivakumar (Critical Studies, School of Cinematic Arts)
Cinematographer/Editor – Vineet Ukhalkar (Critical Studies, School of Cinematic Arts)
Writer – Jennie Zhang (Business Administration, Marshall School of Business, Creative Writing, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences)
Producer/Casting Director – Priyam Shah (Baccalaureate/MD, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Assistant Director/Main Scientific Consultant – Gordon Oh (Biology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Line Producer/Production Design – Matthew Shin (Business Administration, School of Cinematic Arts)
Scientific Consultant – Nakul Joshi (Computer Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering)
Scientific Consultant – Omar Toubat (Biology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Synopsis:
Grace Lee, a Korean-American college student, decides to slightly deviate from her parentally paved pre-med path and work towards a career as a scientist in evolutionary pharmacology in order to design pharmaceutical drugs. Her decision to do so raises eyebrows among her church community and her fellow pre-med classmates. The constant questioning from others prompts her to doubt her decision and further complicates an already difficult struggle between religion and science. She finds that though she has no problem making science and Christianity compatible, others in her community do, and they expect her to choose one or the other. The bewilderment from her close friends makes her constantly defensive about her faith, her commitment to science, and her newfound career path as she struggles to reconcile the three.
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Title: The Urban Heat Island
Team:
Jonathan Wu (Biochemistry, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Production, School of Cinematic Arts) – Editor, Narration, Music, Director of photography, Camera Operator
Mason Khoo (Kinesiology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences) – Researcher, Script writer, Camera Operator
Synopsis:
As mankind continues to fuel its obsession with industrialization, modernization, and urbanization, the balance between nature and man-made products shifts further away from a healthy equilibrium. As a result of inefficiencies in dissipating energy, our cities retain heat from the sun much longer than the natural environment does, resulting in a large temperature gradient known as the urban heat island. By juxtaposing the natural beauty and efficiency of plant life on Hawaii and Oahu, and the bustling city life of the expanding Los Angeles metropolitan area, we hope to bring awareness to a scientific issue that is often overlooked, and usher in an era of restoration and efficient energy management.
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Title: Time
Team:
Kevin Le (Mathematics and Physics and Astronomy, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences) – co-writer and co-director
Edward Saavedra (Production, School of Cinematic Arts) – co-writer, co-director, editor, cinematographer
Synopsis:
Time is one of the most important aspects of our lives yet it goes largely unexamined throughout daily life. This film explores a fundamental question regarding time: why does it move in only one direction? We examine this question through an understanding of entropy, a basic concept in physics that many are not aware of. We hope that this film will help the audience increase their understanding of the concept of entropy while at the same time promoting an interest in deeper questions regarding the nature of time.
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Title: Yaddda, Yadda, Yada…:Stochastically Self-Similar Non-Euclidian Replication
Team:
Directed and Written by Kimberly Laux (Master of Professional Writing, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences)
Animation by Simon Wilches Castro (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts)
Storyboard by Simon Wilches Castro with Scott MacDonald (Physics and Astronomy, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences)
Music by Anna Drubich (Film Scoring, Thornton School of Music)
Sound Design by Laura Cechanowicz (Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts) with Anna Drubich
Physics and Mathematical Advisement by Scott MacDonald
Synopsis:
Our hero finds himself in the strange world of stochastically self-similar non-Euclidian replication. What can he do? It’s our world. It seems so random. Everything comes out, “Yadda, yadda, yadda…” What is often called fractal geometry suddenly plunges into daily life, and replicating patterns emerge, patterns we all know, but never quite noticed before. From snowflakes to stock markets, it’s all around us, in us. It’s inescapable! Is it friendly, or come to take over the planet? The truth is out there, way out there. And beneath there, and under that. Come on a journey of peril and beauty where replication isn’t just for the birds and the bees anymore.
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