Category Archives: Film

Jon Spaihts: Hollywood’s go-to science fiction screenwriter on the importance of science in filmmaking

Posted on by
Jon Spaihts

Hollywood’s go-to science fiction writer.

Jon Spaihts is the screenwriter of The Darkest Hour, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and the upcoming Passengers and The Mummy. The one-time physics student and science writer has become one of the go-to writers for hard science fiction and space epics in Hollywood. He is currently working on a remake of Disney’s classic, The Black Hole and is writing Marvel’s forthcoming movie Doctor Strange.

Jon also features in today’s OSAM blog: Behind the Science of Hollywood

Here Jon speaks to Alex Jackson on collaborative work with scientists on film, the importance of science in filmmaking and finding the right balance between scientific practice, current knowledge and future developments with the demands of fine storytelling.

What experiences of working with scientists in the screenwriting process, do you have?

Much of the collaboration I’ve done with scientists is related to projects still in development – so there’s only so much I’m allowed to talk about them.

For example, I’m currently working on a remake of Disney’s classic, The Black Hole. It raises critical questions about robotics, artificial intelligence, interstellar travel, singularities, quantum mechanics, and string theory. Quite a to-do list! We’ve convened a panel of remarkable scientists to help us think through the scientific issues.

Continue reading →

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmos and integrating science in popular culture

Posted on by
"science matters in our lives for us to be better shepherds of not only our civilization, but the world." Image courtesy of Patrick Eccelsine/FOX.

“Science matters in our lives for us to be better shepherds of not only our civilization, but the world.”
Image courtesy of Patrick Eccelsine/FOX.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

A popular American astrophysicist, author, science communicator and educator, Tyson hosted the science educational show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS for five years. He received a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Harvard University and a doctorate in Astrophysics from Columbia University in 1991. After spending a number of years doing post-doctorate work at Princeton University, Tyson landed a role at the Hayden Planetarium.

He is the author of several best-selling books, including Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries and the Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet. In 2001, US President George W Bush appointed Tyson to the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry. He also served another commission three years later to examine US policy on space exploration. In 2004, Tyson was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honour bestowed by NASA. He also hosts his own podcast and radio show StarTalk.

“Cosmos is truly intended for anyone with a beating heart. I haven’t checked recently whether zombies have beating hearts, but if they do – I’ll take them too,” barks Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, with exalted hilarity.

Continue reading →

Oscar-winning visual effects mastermind behind Gravity, talks Physics lessons, NASA imagery and defining the art of CG ‘weightlessness’ in space.

Posted on by
Tim Webber

“It could have fallen flat as a fairly unusual film, largely focused on one person in space. We thought it may be a tough film to sell to the public”.
Image Courtesy of Framestore.

Tim Webber is a visual effects supervisor  who has worked on an array of critically acclaimed blockbusters. He joined British visual effects company Framestore in 1988 and has been the driving force behind the company’s push into digital film and television, developing Framestore’s virtual camera and motion rig systems. He has worked on The Dark Knight, James Cameron’s Avatar and was second unit director on the Hallmark production of Merlin. He has most recently taken charge as Warner Brother’s VFX supervisor on Alfonso Cuarón’s space epic, Gravity. He won the Bafta Award for Best Special Effects and the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

Tim Webber has become one of the most talked about people in film in recent months. In the past, he has been an ‘unsung hero’ of visual effects, who has wielded his magic on many memorable cinematic scenes. From his previous Oscar nod on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight in 2008, to creating the CG baby in Children of Men with Gravity’s director Alfonso Cuarón ; Webber has been a visionary, who until recently, has shied away from the spotlight.

Thrust deservedly into the limelight with last night’s Oscar win (Best Achievement in Visual Effects) and the previous month’s Bafta success for space epic, Gravity, Webber and the influential team of visual effects artists from Framestore have taken filmmaking to a whole new level. Yet Webber, who had a passion for Maths and Physics at school, before completing a degree in Physics at Oxford, still finds the attention and acclaim surprising.

Continue reading →