Science Film Competition: CelebritySC Winners of the Evening

CelebritySC reporter Anya Lehr chatted with fest founder Clifford Johnson

by Catherine Sutcliff     

Before I begin, let me preface this article by stating that I am a person with very little exposure to either film or science. I walked into this experience rather blindly; the Science Film Competition was my first time at a film festival- and yet, I can confidently state that this was unlike any other. As our little team set up camp in the theater, I glanced around the audience and couldn’t help but notice the wide variety of students and faculty that surrounded me. They all came from different backgrounds but shared the common goal of combining science and media to provide more academic, scientific information to the public. Ten judges decided the outcome of the competition between eight films shown.

The evening was split into four different parts: the initial screening of the first four films, a brief break for refreshments, the screening of the last four films and the final awards ceremony (although, the post-competition array of Seeds sandwiches was a notable highlight).

If you weren’t at the festival, here is a review of what you missed — a combination of my naïve notes coupled with CelebritySC social media reporter Hannah Getts’ own knowledgeable opinions. Although the competition only offered prizes to those films that placed and (spoiler alert!) to the honorable mentions, we thought it would be fun to create our own categories and award some prizes ourselves.

"Yadda Yadda Yada"' animator Simon Wilches Castro won best Animation

Best Animation: Yaddda Yadda Yada: Stochastically Self-Similar

Our choice for the winner of this category was clear from the moment it came on screen. Our opinions were shared by the audience because it won an honorable mention as well as a prize for “Best Animation,” for which the filmmakers received a limited edition print from “Avatar.” The film itself was animated beautifully and the music was great, but I found myself focusing merely on the plethora of “Yaddda Yadda Yadas” on the screen. There were some facts that appeared for a few seconds but my eyes couldn’t read them fast enough–although, I did catch a formula that I managed to jot down. Not sure I could tell you what the film was about–it all happened so quickly and without concise narration, but some weird part of me enjoyed every second of it.

Superluminal Neutrinos in 5 Minutes deserves an honorable mention for this category, and overall the film grabbed 3^rd place with a prize of $500. The animation was a combination of different illustrations that came to life, as facts about something that I won’t pretend to comprehend were presented to the audience. I will admit, I felt a lot smarter after the film. The illustrations and narration were used effectively to teach about neutrinos that are moving at the speed of light and seem to somewhat disprove everything we know about physics (I know, I put it in such scientific words….). It felt rushed though–perhaps eight minutes would be a better timeframe for such a complex lesson?

Kevin Le and Edward Saavedra won the competition with their film, "Time"

Best Narrative: It’s All In You AND Time

We were so torn on this category that our team decided it was only fair to announce a tie between our two favorites. And, interestingly enough, these two films snagged first and second place in the competition. Somebody has good taste (and it’s us).

It’s All In You managed to place second and won a prize of $1500. The animated film followed the character of a gold prospector with a notable hillbilly accent on his search for the elusive element with a female voiceover teaching him about gold’s scientific creation. She narrates the entire process, beginning from when it is just a particle in the universe, all the way to its existence on Earth. I couldn’t help but giggle every time the prospector made a side comment about his search for gold and I really felt more informed after watching the film. In the words of the prospector when asked if he understood: “Yeah!……Kind of!” The end took a philosophical twist and talked about the real treasure being humans, not gold, which was a bit corny but I still appreciated it. Pretty good for a group of freshmen.

Time, the winner of the festival and $2500, was my favorite as soon as it started. I’m already fascinated with the concept of time and the fact that they were able to explain it to me in terms of entropy–which I understood completely–is amazing. The filmmakers didn’t take themselves too seriously and repeatedly used sophisticated humor that the audience reacted well to, while simultaneously providing interesting montages of daily activities. They used reverse motion and stop/start in order to explain the concept of entropy, which was effective and aesthetically great to watch. The editing and narration were topnotch, impacting the entire film. I loved it and wish more science classes showed similar movies because it kept my attention the whole time, providing both humor and educational information.

Best Visual Aesthetic: The Urban Heat Island

This was filmed all around Los Angeles and tried to explain the concept of cities becoming overheated. I loved the shots of the city in comparison to nature, but sadly much of the dialogue was lost as the music was too loud to clearly hear the voiceover. The filming was beautiful but seemed to be endless. The filmmakers struggled with a weak execution of the narrative structure. They provided a solution to the problem of overheating urban spaces, but the difficulty of hearing took away some of the film’s appeal.

Antonia Zaferiou and Linda Jules of "Dance with Newton’s Laws"

Honorable Mention: Dance With Newton’s Laws

This film combined the image of a woman dancing with the voiceover of somebody explaining the physics behind her motions. I heard the word “force” mentioned a couple more times than necessary and the quality of animation was not as professional as others, but the music was beautiful. And I have to personally compliment the woman dancing because I don’t think I could ever have that finesse (grace is a lost concept to me, replaced with awkwardness).

Other Films:

Particle Accelerator–Made Easy began with an animation about a guy named Matt Er who is searching for a place in the world. It was funny and had the whole audience laughing, and I found the dialogue to be engaging and intelligent. However, there was a sudden transition from simple animation to a technical experiment towards the end. This is when I lost interest and missed Matt Er. I also was confused about an image of candles and intense music and because a large portion of the audience was laughing at the experiment. Clearly it was something that went over my head, but I think the more science-y of the viewers appreciated it the most. There was a really interesting shot of earth in outer space, but overall I felt as though the film jumped around a lot and fell apart towards the end.

The Expense of Spirit was a daring choice–it demonstrated the controversy of a Christian student choosing to do research in a field that argues against Creationism. The initial idea for the film had potential, yet I feel as though the filmmakers could have done more. The whole vibe of the movie felt a little off–there were laughs from the audience when it clearly was not intended, which I think may have stemmed from the melodramatic aspect of the dialogue and the acting. The concept was interesting but lacked the execution.

All in all, it was a great evening and I know I walked out more knowledgeable about science–I can now explain entropy!

"It's All in You" filmmakers after receiving their 2nd place prize

A big congratulations to all of the filmmakers and students that participated in the competition and especially to those who placed. One of the greatest takeaways was the point that the conversations that took place between students in different areas of study, whose minds think in different ways were transcendent of the tangible production of any film or the placement of any film.

The competition opened the door for lifelong friends, partnerships, or in the very least, a simple understanding and mutual respect for seemingly (after tonight, not so seemingly) distant academic areas.

The information combined with the efforts of student filmmakers was invaluable and I highly encourage students to start planning their teams for next year (the cash prizes should be a good incentive) or to attend next year’s festival.