This post was updated on August 28, 2014.
Science Friday recently partnered with KPCC and Southern California Public Radio for a special live event that explored the science behind movie magic. The show took place at Caltech's Beckman Auditorium on Wednesday, August 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Watch a video of the live production below:
Highlights of the show:
Veteran animator Tom Sito explained how scientists and engineers kickstarted animation’s CGI revolution
Avatar actor Stephen Lang and USC computer graphics expert Paul Debevec debated how far CGI technology can go
Film and T.V. writers Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, An Inconvenient Truth), Zoanne Clack (Grey’s Anatomy), and Eric Kaplan (The Big Bang Theory) discussed how they balance science and storytelling
Caltech physicist Sean Carroll shared his experience consulting on Hollywood blockbusters
KPCC science correspondent Sanden Totten explored how Hollywood sci-fi can lead to real-life technological solutions
Plus, Sean Carroll and Ira challenged two teams of brainiacs to a game of movie science fact vs. fiction. And, we took a tour of a science prop shop packed with Tesla coils, knife switches, and brain stimulators.
Thanks to everyone who came!
Follow Science Friday and KPCC on Twitter, and keep the conversation going with #SciFriLA.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.