creative science: education / workshops / consulting
Inspire
One of my major goals is to use short films and the increasingly ubiquitous screen to reach people with my approach to science. To use high impact, dynamic, and intriguing images to captivate the viewer. My work is designed to intrigue and, ideally, inspire a renewed sense of wonder - rather than to formally 'educate'. Through classrooms, mobile phones, or mp3 players, the intention is to exploit emerging technologies as a means to distributing the content I create.
In development: 'Robots & Cyborgs ' (for Current TV), 3 Minute Wonders for Channel Four (in conjunction with Andy Glynne of the Documentary Filmmakers Group / Mosaic Films).
Education
Wellcome Trust / DFG ~ Science on Film In the first of its kind, Wellcome has teamed up with the prodigious Documentary Filmmakers Group for a new initiative entitled, Science on Film. Eight scientists have been teamed with 8 filmmakers, including digitalis, to make short science documentaries. A wonderful experience and opportunity to learn from some of the UK's best science filmmaking talent. March 2008.
Wellcome Trust Broadcast Development Award ~ "FourScience" The working name for my collaboration with production company Redbird (formerly Resource Base) and Channel Four's FourDocs website for short documentaries. Working with two enthusiastic schools, my goal is to help teachers and students work closely together to create self-sustaining, curriculum-led short science docs on the web. April 2008.
Ignite! This year marks the launch of Ignite's exciting 3 year project, Ignition*, to stimulate creative approaches to STEM - and I'm proud to have been at, and filmed, that launch at Greenwood Junior School, Nottingham. Largely funded by emda, this promises to be an incredible & far-reaching project - and a lot of fun for the children involved. March 2008.
Wellcome Trust - Image Awards 2008 I was fortunate enough to work on this wonderful meeting of science and art this year, interviewing & writing about many of the award winners. These interviews were prepared for several media outlets including an accompanying print publication and the Wellcome Trust's website. Having recorded these interviews, I was also able to edit them down to short, interesting snapshots of the winners views - on science, art and life.
Wellcome Trust - Creative Encounters Working closely with the Public Engagement Development Group, I'm acting as a consultant to help develop a project that will maximize the educational potential of the Trust's diverse public engagement portfolio.
National Science & Engineering Week 2007 Together with Ignite!, Creative Partnerships and the East Midlands Development Agency, digitalis media is part of a collaborative team of filmmakers working with schools in Nottingham to help pupils make their very own short science film. These films were screened for all the participants in Nottingham's Broadway Cinema, March 21st, 2007. This is a valuable opportunity to stimulate interest in science while simultaneously stretching the pupils' creative talents. digitalis media is also acting as the 'creative science consultant' throughout this exciting venture.
Science Learning Centre, London With the support of London's SLC, a range of film material by digitalis media is being distributed to attending teachers to assess its potential value as a teaching resource and stimulus.
Nintendo
Following the release of More Brain Training on the Nintendo DS, I've acted as a spokesperson for Nintendo on the various benefits of keeping a healthy, active mind. Numerous media outlets.
Consulting
Television Currently, I'm acting as a science advisor in the development of several very different projects. The first was for a drama for BBC television under the excellent gaze of Resource Base, a BAFTA award-winning production company. This collaboration resulted in All About Me, a drama dealing with the issues of identity, donor conception and coming of age.
Drama The second is an exciting, interactive theatrical production with Moral Support, in which I've been asked to act as both their science advisor and video designer in a project entitled Telling it Like it is, a production dealing with Alzheimer's Disease.
Another project involves the extraordinarily talented performance artist, Sheron Wray, creator of Texterritory. As part of a collaborative team, we aim to bring an entirely fresh type of performance to the stage, melding interactive performance with issues of mental health.
Workshops
Within the folds of University College London's Postgraduate Skills Development Programme, I produced a workshop entitled - Walking the Line: An Interdisciplinary Workshop For Artists & Scientists. The feedback was positive, with some unexpected outcomes.
digitalis media produced an Ignite! workshop for NESTA, aimed at young, creative minds between the ages of 9 and 13 years old. In the course of three hours we explored the various avenues of the brain: from intelligence to consciousness. Just for the record, a Venus Flytrap is NOT conscious!
Image: Still image from the short film The Rough Guide to the Brain by BJ Gibb