How to Film a Scientific Protocol

There was just a minor hitch in my plan to get BenchFly going… I had never actually shot a video.  Luckily, a good friend of mine named Dan Lyons (a filmmaker who shoots regularly for Scientific American, Discover and National Geographic) distilled the most important elements of shooting a scientific protocol down to three basic principles.

I was also incredibly fortunate to share a bay with Walter Lin, a med student and semi-professional photographer.  So after reading the manual for my video camera the night before (literally), Walter and I set up the tripod one Saturday and started filming.  We cast fellow postdoc and neuroscience wizard Mike McEvoy in a cameo role, which added the star power needed to complete the project.  We’re confident the Academy will recognize his scene for Best use of Multiple Cell Phones in a short.

We had a great time putting this together.  Although Dan gave us three things to think about when shooting a scientific protocol, he was clear in saying that these days, experimentation is key.  Since this first video, we’ve played around with lighting, angles and postproduction and found that some of the most effective shots were almost an accident- certainly things that didn’t fit the standard “rules”.  So grab your camera and give it a shot – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results!