Chronicling a Major Scientific Breakthrough: a Longitudinal Video Documentary of Advanced LIGO and the Beginning of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics

该奖项支持制作一部关于先进LIGO演变的纵向视频纪录片，并将记录过去100年来引力波科学史上最关键、最激动人心的时期。2015年，LIGO用新升级的探测器重新开始寻找引力波，并于2015年9月14日首次探测到引力波，这不仅震惊了科学界，也震惊了整个世界。利用在2015年8月至2016年3月之间的关键时期拍摄的镜头，以及在接下来的两年里拍摄的新镜头，该团队将制作出影响至少数十万人，甚至可能更多的电影。目标是教育、启发和激励。高中和本科阶段的学生在观看了关注先进LIGO令人兴奋的科学和技术的科学短片后，可能会更有兴趣从事STEM职业。科学历史学家和社会学家将有机会利用数百小时的可用电影片段作为视频数据库，详细调查引力波的发现，作为大规模合作的案例研究（“大科学”）。突出先进LIGO带来的尖端技术进步及其对其他科学技术领域的影响的视频，可能对教育官员和决策者了解基础科学的好处是有效的。在项目过程中，将为LIGO实验室和LSC制作一系列专业制作的视频短片，通过在LIGO实验室、LSC网站和LIGO YouTube频道上发布，用于教育和公众宣传。通过一系列广泛的电影拍摄，XPLR制作公司将与LIGO实验室和LIGO科学合作组织（LSC）合作，捕捉LIGO科学家为实现高级LIGO设计灵敏度而努力的关键时刻，并在未来两年内进行一系列观测。该团队将制作一系列视频短片，由创建它们的科学专家解释先进LIGO的重要科学和技术概念和问题。从长远来看，这些镜头将被用来制作一部长篇纪录片或一部名为“LIGO”的12集电视连续剧，记录引力波的发现和对奇特的高能天体物理现象（如黑洞碰撞）的探索。“LIGO”将通过电影或电视广泛传播，为广大观众带来生动的科学。

This award supports the production of a longitudinal video documentary of the evolution of Advanced LIGO and will chronicle the most critical and exciting period in the history of gravitational wave science in the past 100 years. LIGO resumed the search for gravitational waves in 2015 with a newly upgraded detector and on September 14, 2015 detected gravitational waves for the first time, astounding not only the scientific community but the entire world. Using footage captured at critical periods between August 2015 and March 2016 during the discovery phase as well as new filming taking place over the next two years, the team will produce films which will impact at least hundreds of thousands of people and possibly many more than that. The goal is to educate, inspire, and motivate. Students at the high school and undergraduate levels may be more inspired to pursue STEM careers after watching scientific vignettes focusing on the exciting science and technology of Advanced LIGO. Scientific historians and sociologists will have the opportunity to use the hundreds of hours of available film clips as a video database to investigate in detail the discovery of gravitational waves as a case study of large scale collaborations ("Big Science"). Videos highlighting the cutting edge technological advances brought about by Advanced LIGO and their impacts on other fields of science and technology may prove effective for educating officials and policy makers on the benefits of fundamental science.During the course of the project, a series of professionally made video shorts will be produced for the LIGO Laboratory and LSC for education and public outreach purposes through distribution on LIGO Laboratory, LSC web sites, and the LIGO YouTube Channel. Through an extensive series of film shoots, XPLR Productions will work with the LIGO Laboratory and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) to capture key moments as LIGO scientists work to achieve Advanced LIGO's design sensitivity and carry out a series of observing runs over the next two years. The team will produce a series of video shorts explaining the important scientific and technological concepts and issues of Advanced LIGO by the scientific experts who create them. In the longer term, footage will used to produce either a feature length documentary film or a twelve-part series on television entitled 'LIGO' chronicling the discovery of gravitational waves and the exploration of exotic high-energy astrophysical phenomena such as colliding black holes. Intended for broad distribution through cinema or television, 'LIGO' will bring science to life for a wide audience.