Science has always been a big part of my life. From my mom’s work as a biology teacher, to my first production gig with Bill Nye the Science Guy. Needless to say, the science videos we produce at 522 are some of my favorite projects.
We’ve had the honor of creating videos about some of the smartest people on the planet, including five Nobel Prize winners. An essential part of these videos is telling the public about their work in a way that’s memorable, inspiring, and human. But how do you explain someone’s life’s work in a five minute documentary?
Tell me a story
One of our clients is fond of a quote that I think summarizes our work pretty well: “Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” In our experience, audiences engage much better with science videos when there’s a story to follow. Following the emotional arc of the scientist’s story helps frame their discovery as a journey that viewers are along for. For me, one of the best ways to get this started is to ask interviewees what inspired their interest in science as a kid. It immediately gets them thinking about their life as a narrative and gives the audience a look at the passion that started it all. For one of our scientists this meant recalling growing up on a farm and the direct path this charted for him as a biologist.
It’s a metaphor!
Pop quiz: what’s a lepton? How about agrobacterium? Or the black hole information problem? These are the kinds of questions some of our interviewees worked for years on. But to answer them for a general audience, it’s helpful to use a metaphor. We’re always looking for a visual from our everyday lives. Like leptons as a noodle floating in soup, agrobacterium as a drone delivering a package, or pressing the rewind button on a black hole. This gives the audience something tangible to remember as they’re learning about a complex topic.
Think out loud
It’s pretty rare that anyone gets to talk about their passion for over an hour without interruption. But that’s exactly what our interviewees get to do. We give them the opportunity to talk through their story in as much detail as they’re comfortable with. While these tangents don’t always make it into the final video, they often provide context that lets us get to know the person better. From there, it’s our job to edit them down into a concise video that’s easily digestible for viewers.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Ultimately, we want these science stories to resonate with as many people as possible. Some of these scientific concepts may seem like they’re from another universe, but they’re all studied by people who are trying to better understand this universe. It’s our hope that showing the human side of this work makes it feel that more accessible. We never know who’s on the other side of the screen. It could be the next Nobel Prize winner, inspired by the science story they just watched unfold.
Written by: Kyle Finnegan, Creative Director at 522 Productions