Lab Coats In Hollywood: Science, Scientist, And Cinema

Movies of all genres, ranging from Gattaca to Star Wars to Finding Nemo, all have something in common; they all had a science consultant to help filmmakers get the science part of their fictional world right. In this chapter of Kirby’s book Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientist, and Cinema he argues the strong connection that exist between the cinema/filmmakers and science institutions/communities. In a world where science meets fiction it is important that the science is accurate to the highest degree. Even animated movies need to the help of a science consultant, like Finding Nemo hired a marine biologist while The Lion King had an anatomist. Which is something that I wasn’t expecting. And then there are movies like The Hunger Games Saga–in which there is high speed trains, climate controlled domes, advanced
In the reading, there is a part in which Kirby mentions that for the movie Condition: Critical something was wrong, and the the director blamed it on the scientist for not being on set the day they film that scene. I am sure the director wanted it to be right, but when both are on a tight schedule, somethings will have to be made up if there is no one with the knowledge of the subject. But to what extend does the science have to be 100% accurate? After the genre is science fiction, which should allow room for made up science. For example, in movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Core we all know it’s impossible due to the high temperatures and pressure. It the idea of “that would be so cool” or “what if it were possible” that comes to mind. And, that is the main point of science fiction–in my opinion. We must feed our brains with imaginations, with the impossible, and the dreams so that one day it might actually be possible; because all great invention stem off something: like the cell phone stemmed off Star