The Formation of Crude Oil

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License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike The Formation of Crude Oil Crazy Chemistry Demonstration
Views: 19564
01 Apr, 2009

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A simple demonstration of how crude oil is formed, enlisting the help of a cuddly octopus.

Director's Notes:

A description of the geological processes involved in the formation of crude oil.

SciCast Notes:

Winner: Best Earth Science & Environment Film, 2009

Winner: Best Film — Secondary, 2009

Utterly brilliant. Things to watch out for:

  • Recording somebody speaking while walking across a garden is impossible without a radio mic… or putting the sound back in afterwards. In this case, including dubbed-on footsteps and birdsong. Painstaking.
  • Terrific performances from both presenters, the matter-of-fact style in the kitchen working particularly well.
  • Excellent editing, especially around the unfortunate death of the octopus.
  • The combination of ‘deadpan’ and ‘ridiculous,’ which is often the best route to something genuinely hilarious.

A worthy winner, and one of my personal favourites since the start of SciCast.

— Jonathan.

2 comments:

Awsome wrote, on 29 November, 2012:

This is so funny
i laughed so badly when i saw it
how did you guys get the microwave to say millions of years

EKOLKJODS wrote, on 22 April, 2013:

FUNNY BUT COOL