A moving and educational short film, which arose from an initial ‘Hello strangers! What shall we make a film about?’, to this in 72 hours. After 24 hours we had the idea and concept. I spent the next 48 hours arguing that we do not include animation – I didn’t like two focal points. But as our film won, I grumbly concede that I don’t know everything about everything.

I like to make short films about my work. I like it, but I don’t really know what I’m doing. Two weekends ago I spent 72 hours taking part in the Exposure Science Hackathon.

It was intense.

Tamsin the team player

I collaborate with a range of people, from industry, to academics from different fields. I’ve taken part in Mathematical Modelling weeks (where, at the beginning of the week you’re introduced to a problem from industry, and in teams, typically of strangers, you spend a week trying to mathematically model and solve it).

In short, I confidently parade on my CV that I am excellent at interdiscplinary work, and communicating science.

Well this weekend I learned that there’s always room for improvement!

Tamsin the creative team player?

Working with maths, yes, there’s creativity. But not to the extent of making a short film. Constant disagreement, frustration and a conscious effort to not walk away. When I make videos on my own there’s no push back! I have full creative control! And consequently, I’m aware that the videos have major flaws. In many ways, working on your own is free and peaceful. (Well, more peaceful – I still argue when it’s only me.) But being part of a creative team forces you to the boundaries of your imagination, or simply see a view point that you would never arrive to alone. It makes the end product so much better, even if you’re not happy with every part of it.

I see white and gold, but…

This video, I’m very proud of. I worked with an excellent team. Whose passion and banging on the table took its toll on my mood. But the end product is worth it. And more than the end product, I learned some technical skills (Adobe Animate), some story telling skills (think about the characters and who they’re talking to), but mostly I learned that creativity is like the white-gold/blue-black dress. I may be convinced that what I’m seeing is obviously the truth, but in reality, it’s just my perception.

Out of seven excellent short films, ours won the jury vote, despite my unwavering disagreement the animations looked naf. But I guess I was wrong… the dress really is blue and black…

Exposure Hackathon

I fully recommend the experience. I worked with the talented photographer Dirk Wetzel, fellow scientist Chiara Borsari, who patiently explained covalently bonding cancer drugs about 63 times, and the film maker Theo Blossom, who is as loud as he is thorough and visionary (check out his excellent 3 minute film which gives an important and bleak message in the fun style of Mean Tweets).

The organisers are beyond incredible. And there’s still a chance for the event in Zurich. Film makers! Scientists! UNITE!