Manufactured Science, 2018, length 19:06
The Manufactured Science series explores the boundary between realistic and imaginative portrayals of science in film. While many films hinge on science for their success, they often stretch the possibilities far beyond reality. And yet the imaginative nature of science and science fiction in movies can often serve as inspiration to future scientific endeavors. This short film is both an ode to a particular era of Hollywood movies and to popular scientific ideologies of the time.
In Manufactured Science, dozens of fragments from Hollywood movies (1993-2011) were re-arranged to create a new narrative on weather and biological disasters that reflects how science is conveyed in the mainstream. These movies were particularly influential on me growing up. As I progressed in my scientific career, I became acutely attuned to the way science was incorporated in movies, seeing a range of portrayals whether realistic, comical, or outlandish, and contrasted this to my own experience. I spent the last five years writing down scenes in movies and TV shows that used scientific content and saw many similar trends, which are portrayed in this work.
Credit to the following movies: Hollow Man (2000), GATTACA (1997), Jurassic Park (1993), Red Planet (2000), Day After Tomorrow (2004), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), I am Legend (2007), Contact (1997), Outbreak (1995), Contagion (2011). Huge thanks and credit for Katherine Meade Sammer and Taylor Hinchliffe for their work on the project.