SciCast & the Institute of Physics
Physics is a subject that requires imagination and creativity, and the Institute of Physics have been partners in SciCast since we started.
They run the Physics categories of the SciCast competition. You submit your film in the same way, and all the general SciCast rules apply. Especially the one about not being boring. There’s just one difference:
To be eligible for the IOP’s SciCast Physics category, your film must explain a physics concept rather than just show it.
For example: tell us why you can stick a kebab skewer through an inflated balloon without the balloon popping, instead of just demonstrating that it’s possible.
Entering SciCast Physics
When you submit your film to SciCast we’ll automatically enter it into every category for which it’s eligible. You don’t have to do anything different, just make sure you meet the extra rule to stand a chance in the Physics category.
Judging
Since so many of the films we receive fall into the physics category, the Institute of Physics help out by preparing a shortlist for the SciCast judges.
The IOP will be looking for creativity, imagination, and ingenuity, and they’ll look positively on explanations that can be easily understood by non-scientists. Films showing physics in a broader context — eg. in life outside the lab or classroom — will be particularly favoured.
Get the science right
Getting the physics wrong won’t do you any favours with the Institute. It might be better to explain an everyday phenomenon in terms of simple physics that you understand, rather than tying yourself in knots attempting to explain the expansion of the universe. Though if you did manage to do that in a way we understood, and in two and a half minutes, we’d all be mightily impressed.
Eligibility
The same rules apply for SciCast Physics as for the rest of SciCast — see the eligibility page for more details. All SciCast Physics films will also be eligible for the other categories, that reward good film-making techniques as well as good science.
Contacts
If you have questions about SciCast Physics specifically, or about the Institute of Physics, please write directly to scicast.physics@iop.org.
Where next?
See the rest of the competition pages, brush up on film-making in Film School, or simply get inspired by watching some films.