Dec 18, 2013
Welcome to the ninth Science Video of the Week feature! Each Wednesday I will post an interesting science video with some comments from either myself or the producer, and will conclude with some questions for discussion. I started this feature for the Women in Film and Video of Washington, DC email list, and I really want to hear your comments as well!
If you created a science video you would like to share, especially ones that had interesting challenges you’d like to discuss, send it to me and we can chat a little about how you approached the production!
Before you watch the video:
I watched Europa Report last night on Netflix, and was surprised I hadn’t heard a lot about it before. Europa Report is an independent science fiction film that took less than three weeks to film in a Brooklyn warehouse, directed by Ecuadorian Sebastián Cordero. It was released this year first on Video on Demand and then had a limited theatrical release. I know many of you really enjoyed Gravity, so perhaps you’d like to give this movie a try. Visualizing a possible mission to Europa is particularly exciting in light of the recent news of possibly being able to access liquid water on Europa’s surface through geysers.
Watch the video:
(Length – 2:16. Then later watch the full movie on Netflix, iTunes, or Amazon!)
After you watch the video:
Personally, I enjoyed Europa Report quite a bit more than Gravity. Yes, Gravity was a visual masterpiece, a tremendous story of survival, etc. But Europa Report shares the huge thrill and intense risks and rewards of space exploration. I enjoyed Europa Report because this is an incredible mission that could really happen – watch the film as if it’s real, and not just some spectacle designed to entertain you. On the other hand, let’s face it, the whole premise for Gravity was pretty absurd because the orbital dynamics made zero sense. So that one you just have to watch as a fictional story. Obviously not every detail of Europa Report is completely realistic, but the premise itself is very plausible and exciting, and many of the challenges the characters faced are very real. If you’d like to learn more about the making of this film, fxguide wrote this great article.
Discuss:
Have you seen any other good, special-effects-heavy movies that were filmed in less than three weeks? Which did you enjoy more, Europa Report or Gravity? And how freaking cool would it be to send a mission, robotic or manned, to search for life on Europa?!