Under Pressure (3)
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Under Pressure (3)
Pupils Under Pressure
Download film (right-click)Comedy , Demonstration , Drama , Physics , Secondary
Pressure concepts illustrated through a seat of nails and a well-known schoolboy prank.
Director's Notes:
The seat of nails was made by hammering around three hundred nails through two pieces of wood. Pre-made marks were used to guide the entry of the nails.
Be careful that the nails protrude roughly the same distance through the wood — you don’t want one sticking out further than the others, for reasons that should be obvious once you’ve watched the film.
Note that adult supervision would be required to repeat this experiment.
SciCast Notes:
Nominee: Best Entertainment Film, 2008
I love this! The opening sketch could so easily have been a cheesy disaster, but the performances are nicely understated, the simple camerawork fits the style perfectly, and the result is cheekily brilliant.
Recording the explanation in voice-over helps make it clear and understandable, and it’s lovely to have some proper calculations to back up the silliness.
Good use of music, too — well-chosen from the free music site Jamendo and correctly credited at the end of the film.
Criticisms? Not many, to be honest. I’m not a fan of digital zooms on cameras (the picture goes all pixellated), but here it fits the style quite well. In general, however, set your camera to turn it off. You can usually repeat the effect in your editing software later if you find you need to.
The only thing wrong with the voice-over is that it’s a little lifeless. It’s extremely hard to read a page of text accurately, at a measured and understandable pace, while injecting enthusiasm and warmth. This is why professional voice-over actors charge a small fortune for their time — very few people are really good at it. So the voice-over in this film isn’t bad, but keep trying to make it personal and sound enthusiastic.
Great work, all: terrific film.
— Jonathan.