'Earth Story' -- A Planning Grant for a Large-format Film

哈佛-史密森天体物理中心主任欧文·夏皮罗（Irwin Shapiro）正在策划制作一部关于地球形成、演化和未来的大画幅电影。这部电影的目的是向公众传达地球是一个动态的身体，并检验科学家们关于地球起源和可能的未来的现有证据。通过呈现知识的现状和展示科学的动态本质，这部电影将试图消除许多非专业公众持有的信念，即地球是在大爆炸中创造的，实际上是不变的，科学是一些杰出人士一系列“发现”之后的静态事实的集合。在计划阶段，夏皮罗博士将与大画幅电影《宇宙之旅》和《失落的世界：平衡中的生命》的制片人贝利·西勒克密切合作，共同开发影片的科学内容和电影内容。他们将要求一组顾问的专业知识，其中包括：大卫鲍姆，生物学助理教授，哈佛大学；哈佛大学天体物理学Donald H. Menzel研究教授Alastair G. W. Cameron；霍华德·迪米克，斯通汉姆高中地球科学教师和科学部主席；西密歇根大学的认知科学家Janice Gobert；吉姆·海德，布朗大学地质科学教授；以及麻省理工学院地球、大气和行星科学系的托马斯·赫林。在规划阶段将进行的具体活动包括：召集三次顾问会议，制定电影大纲，以确保影片在保持实质性科学的同时，以动态、视觉和具有教育意义的方式呈现主题。聘请第三方评估师进行焦点小组讨论，以确定观众对影片主题的反应。与博物馆剧院结盟。制定一个辅助材料的计划来支持电影。

Irwin Shapiro, Director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is conducting a planning phase to develop a large format film about the formation, evolution and future of the earth. The goal of the film will be to convey to the public that the Earth is a dynamic body and to examine the current evidence that scientists have about the origin and possible future of the Earth. By presenting the current state of knowledge and by demonstrating the dynamic nature of science, the film will try to disabuse the beliefs held by many of the lay public that the Earth was created in the Big Bang and is virtually unchanging and that science is a collection of static facts that followed a series of "discoveries" by a few brilliant individuals. During the planning phase, Dr. Shapiro, the PI for the grant, will work closely with Bayley Silleck, Producer of the large format films "Cosmic Voyage" and "Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance" to develop both the science content and the cinemagraphic aspects of the film. They will call upon the expertise of a group of advisors that includes among others: David Baum, Assistant Professor of Biology, Harvard University; Alastair G. W. Cameron, Donald H. Menzel Research Professor of Astrophysics, Harvard University; Howard Dimmick, Earth Science Teacher and Chairman of the Science Department at Stoneham High School; Janice Gobert, cognitive scientist from Western Michigan University; Jim Head, Professor of Geological Sciences, Brown University; and Thomas Herring, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Specific activities to be conducted during the planning phase include: Convene three meetings of the advisors to develop an outline for the film that will assure that it maintains substantive science while, at the same time, presenting the subject in a dynamic, visual, and educationally provocative manner. Engage a third party evaluator to conduct focus groups to determine the audience reaction to the topic of the film.Form alliances with museum theaters.Develop a plan for ancillary material to support the film.