Putting Science on Screen (A Tale Told In Tweets)

What responsibilities do filmmakers have in terms of scientific accuracy? Usually, I argue that filmmakers are storytellers first, and while scientific accuracy (or plausibility) can often support a narrative, the first responsibility of the filmmaker is to weave a captivating tale. But what happens when the film (or TV series) in question is overtly scientific in nature?

It might be a straightforward nature documentary like BBC?s Planet Earth or National Geographic?s Great Migrations, or it could be a docu-drama ? a narrative derived from clever editing of thousands of hours of footage of wild animals paired with heart-tugging voiceovers ? like March of the Penguins or Disney?s Chimpanzee.

In these cases, filmmakers might have a higher obligation to get the science right, which poses a unique science communication challenge.

Yesterday, Cristina Russo wrote a post about some of these issues at the PLoS Blog Sci-Ed, which sparked a twitter conversation, which I?ve compiled into a storify. Add your own thoughts in the comments below, on twitter or on Google+.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=559fc567c8d01d3741db329de4957390

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