Yesterday the SETI Institute grabbed some headlines with the announcement that Jill Tarter is retiring as the Director of the Center for SETI Research. Naturally, I thought, time to break out the camera and head to Mountainview. Production of A … Continued
We all need some kind of reassurance from time to time. One of the things I need it for is my skill as a cinematographer. So on my corkboard is a print out of an email from Andy Bowley, a … Continued
In the previous post (Using the Accident), I quoted a passage from an interview I did with Jill Tarter for A Life’s Work. It’s a gem, if you ask me. The problem is, I’m not sure it fits in the … Continued
I’m doing some work for hire that I can’t talk about just yet, but I can tell you that the other day I researched special effects legend Douglas Trumbull’s animation work on the Stargate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey. … Continued
I thought of this post the other day. It seems as relevant now as it was then, so I thought I’d repost it. I had spent the previous days working on a grant proposal, and now that that was done … Continued
Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Here’s a clip of Jill Tarter speaking about Frank Drake, who conducted the first SETI experiment in 1960, thereby opening the door for future generations … Continued
Last week I dropped a teaser about Sputnik’s impact on Jill Tarter, Director, Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute. (What’s the Filmmaker Reading?) In the clip below, Tarter reveals when she discovered her passion for science, the effect Sputnik had … Continued
The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs by Michael Belfiore, a book loaned to me by filmmaker and friend Daria Price. In the book, Belfiore discusses the birth of DARPA … Continued
Yesterday’s post about SETI was in the works since last week. Soon after it went live, I found out about SETIstars, the SETI Institute’s effort to raise $200,000 so they can get the Allen Telescope Array out of hibernation and … Continued
Documentary filmmakers frequently encounter a dilemma: how do you know when to say, “production is over.” You can always shoot more, especially now with video. For Grey Gardens, a film I reference frequently, the Maysles shot more than 70 hours … Continued