SciCast Notes:

OK, so it’s a bit blurry and hard to see in places (dodgy camera), but it’s quite a nicely put-together film, this.

I had to remove a bit where they all sing ‘Happy Birthday’ because — wait for it — the song is under copyright. That’s right, it’s actually a commercial piece of music. No, really, it is. Sorry. But without it the film still makes sense.

This is due, in part, to the sound being fairly clear. Recording the sound afterwards (‘redubbing’, to use the jargon) is quite a clever way around camera microphones being rubbish. The only problem is that if you put a microphone in someone’s hand they’ll tend to shout at it, which is simply too loud. The result distorts and is harsh to listen to, and you also tend to blow air at the microphone, which produces the characteristic popping sound.

Hold the microphone further from your mouth — below it, usually — and speak normally. It’ll work much better, trust me.

All that said — I like this film. There’s a bit of a story, and the team clearly had fun making it. That fun is infectious.

— Jonathan.