Here’s a very beautifully made time-lapse video composition of ISS imagery by Bruce W. Berry Jr of Bruce Wayne Photography.
(Item via UniverseToday.com,)
Category Archives: Space films and videos
“After Earth” discussion event includes Elon Musk, Ray Kurzweil and others
In a promotion of Will Smith’s new movie After Earth, Smith participated in a Google+ Hangout moderated by Google’s Ray Kurzweil, and included guests Elon Musk, Alexandra Cousteau, and NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams: SpaceX’s Elon Musk and friends look to the far future: Engage warp drive! – Cosmic Log
3 winners selected in space video contest
An announcement from the Coalition for Space Exploration:
Three winners selected in “Why Space Matters to the Future”
national video contest
The Coalition for Space Exploration and the NASA Visitor Center Consortium successfully complete first collaborative outreach effort
HOUSTON –The Coalition for Space Exploration (Coalition) and the NASA Visitor Center Consortium are pleased to announce the winners of the “Why Space Matters to the Future” video contest: Addie Augsburger, Clyzzel Samson, and Elizabeth Paddock. The winning entries were selected for both their creative demonstrations of the importance of space exploration and their unique visions for the future if the boundaries of space continue to expand.
Three out-of-this-world prizes will be awarded to the winners for a trip for four, one to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, one to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Alabama and one to Space Center Houston in Texas. Winning videos will be featured on the Coalition and VisitNASA.com websites, shared through social media networks, and shown to NASA executives and elected officials in Washington, D.C.
“As a lead of the NASA Visitor Center Consortium, I’m pleased that our collaboration with the Coalition was able to help demonstrate public interest in space exploration,” said Mike Kincaid, Director of External Relations for Johnson Space Center. “Partnerships like these are valuable to spreading the word about NASA’s missions and I look forward to all of us working together again in the future.”
In her first place winning video, Augsburger uses a hand-drawn storyboard concept to inform viewers of the many benefits derived from the U.S. space program. She shows how continued exploration can provide a platform for research that cannot be done on Earth which could reveal new discoveries, and potentially lead to the colonization of other planets.
Samson, who takes second place, uses her narrative to describe how space exploration has given us “heroes” who have inspired us to reach beyond our current limitations of exploration. She emphasizes that space exploration is a human enterprise, not limited to one nationality, gender or economic status. The video also encourages viewers to invest in future generations.
In third place, Paddock showcases her 3-year-old twin boys, who have been avid space fans since they were 18 months old. Through vivid imagery, Paddock describes how the exploration of space has brought several countries – and brothers – together through effective teamwork, and how it has provided mankind with many benefits. The twins, looking through a large telescope, ask their father: “Can we go to the Moon?” and “Can we go to Mars?”
“The Coalition thanks all who participated in this contest and values the strong entries submitted by people across the country,” said George Torres, chairman of the Coalition. “We also thank NASA and the NASA Visitor Center Consortium for their collaboration which enabled us to expand our reach significantly. We hope to continue to grow the public’s interest in the future of space exploration through more collaborative outreach efforts in the future.”
Entrants were encouraged to share their vision of why exploring space matters to the future, while considering the following:
- How has space affected, influenced or inspired you?
- What are the values and benefits of space exploration?
- Why should we continue to explore space?
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About the Coalition for Space Exploration:
The Coalition for Space Exploration is a group of space industry businesses and advocacy groups that collaborates to ensure that the U.S. remains the leader in space, science and technology by reinforcing the value and benefits of space exploration with the public and our nation’s leaders, and building lasting support for a long-term, sustainable strategic direction for space exploration.
About the NASA Visitor Center’s Consortium:
The visitor centers all support NASA’s mission and goals of maintaining the integrity of NASA’s memorable past, present and future; increase public interest in math and science careers through educational and mentoring programs as well as promoting the extensive benefits of space exploration.
Kickstarter: Making a movie of a Harry Harrison novel + Sending your face to space
A reader points me to a couple of space related Kickstarter campaigns.
In this project, the creator of movies Repo Man and Sid & Nancy will direct “a feature comedy based on Harry Harrison’s classic anti-war science fiction novel”: Alex Cox directs BILL THE GALACTIC HERO by Alex Cox — Kickstarter
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And this project says that they “want to launch a picture of your face into space. On a satellite. To scare away the aliens.” : Your Face in Space – A Quest to Save Earth by Ridiculo.us — Kickstarter
Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival – accepting submissions
An announcement from the Philip K. Dick Film Festival:
The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Now Accepting
Submissions For Second Annual Event
New York City’s First Official Sci-Fi Film Festival Expands Film Slate For Upcoming Domestic and International Functions
Brooklyn, N.Y. April 15, 2013 – The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival is gearing up for a second exciting year to honor of its namesake and one of the most celebrated novelists of the 20th century. Expanding its film and panel slate to various sub-genres, multiple venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan will hold screenings and gatherings from December 4-8, 2013 in what is expected to be yet another successful celebration of Philip K. Dick and his legions of fans who continue his legacy by recreating the magic he bestowed on the world of science fiction.
The festival is now accepting submissions in science documentaries, science fiction shorts and features and films inspired or adapted from the works of Dick in themes including cyberpunk, dystopian realities, paranoia, altered states and singularity punk. Panels will include discussions on psychic children and superconscious, the singularity, trans-humanism, media influence, the science of tomorrow, cryonics, borderland sciences and anomalous aerial phenomena (AAP). Other activities include an extensive graphic novel and comic book section to accompany the film screenings and panels and a 48 hour challenge to pick the best Dick-inspired short adaption. The festival will also host a series of independent science fiction screenings at Anthology Filmmakers throughout the summer and fall.
As further details come available in the coming weeks the festival anticipates another successful event, further solidifying the city’s underlying appreciation for Philip K. Dick. Last year’s festival saw record crowds of over 1,000 participants for the exclusive screening of John Alan Simon’s Radio Free Albemuth which was based on Dick’s 1985 novel posthumously published three years after his death. The weekend-long festival also held numerous film screenings and panels with Simon, esteemed professors Ronald Mallet and Enrique Ricardo Miranda, distinguished writers Angela Posada-Swafford, Walter Mosley and Dennis Paoli and science fiction experts Richard Dolan and Peter Robbins. The team behind the annual festivities will also pioneer international events this fall in Lille, France and a spring 2014 cyberpunk festival in Tokyo.
The Second Philip K. Dick International Film Festival of Science, Science Fiction, Fantastic Film and the Supernatural will return bigger than ever. For film submissions please visit http://www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com and for more details go to the festival’s Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/ThePhilipKDickFilmFestival and follow all the happenings on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PhilipKDickFest.
About The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival:
The Second Philip K. Dick International Film Festival of Science, Science Fiction, Fantastic Film and the Supernatural and the first of its kind to grace the screens of New York City is organized by filmmakers who understand the difficulties and challenges of telling a unique story in a corporate environment. The year 2013 marks the second year of the festival which will expand it’s genres of films, panels and venues throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. Guest speakers and writers that best represent the goals of the festival will attend the opening ceremonies. We look for original voices and visions in works submitted. Lastly, this is a festival by filmmakers for filmmakers.
About Philip K. Dick:
“Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.” – Philip K. Dick Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) was one of the 20th century’s most profound novelists and writers within the science fiction community. His exploration, analysis and beliefs led to the publishings of 44 novels and 121 short stories. Dick’s enormous library of works led to several film developments including Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990), Minority Report (2002), Paycheck (2003) and most recently Radio Free Albemuth (2010), The Adjustment Bureau (2011) and the successful remake of Total Recall (2012). The film industry is also awaiting the release of King of the Elves in 2014, which will surely be yet another prosperous depiction of Dick’s literary contribution to science fiction. Dick’s enormously effective views comprised of fictional universes, virtual realities and human mutation foresaw an exaggerated version of the current state of government and contemporary life. Though he is gone in the physical form his philosophies live on in the techniques applied to modern stories and films and generate large displays of appreciation and understanding.