Research Video: The Art of Scientific Storytelling
Conference 14.01.2019
Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich
The conference aims to connect scientists and storytellers from various disciplines who actively use video in their practices, in order to glimpse on possible future forms of scientific publication on video - instead of “paper”. Could a “research video” be structured with classical scriptwriting-based rules?
“Research Video” is a SNSF-funded multidisciplinary research project of the Institute of Performing Arts of the Zurich University of the Arts and Cast / Audiovisual Media, Department Design. The project aims to explore the use of video in practice-based and artistic research and develops a software tool for publication of research results through audiovisual material and video-annotation.
The Art of Scientific Storytelling
Dr. Rafael Luna (Boston College), author of “The Art of Scientific Storytelling: Transform your research manuscript using a Step-by-Step Formula” (2013)
Is it possible to distinguish one’s research by communicating science in a clear and compelling fashion? Discoveries in academic research drive innovation for the amelioration of society. It is imperative for the scientist to communicate the significance of one’s research to both an academic audience and the general public. This interactive seminar provides instruction on how to fashion scientific research using the structural aspects of a story, i.e. dramatic arc. This seminar provides instruction on the utilization of elements of narrative craft to assist participants in their efforts to effectively communicate their research.
Dr. Rafael Luna is a bioscientist and earned his doctorate in Biological Sciences at the Louisiama State University. In 2015, Dr. Luna was named as one of six Keystone Symposia Life Sciences Fellows in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Dr. Luna performed his postdoctorate research at Harvard Medical School, which centered on elucidating the sequence of protein-protein interactions leading to the decoding of the initial start codons of messenger RNAs. Dr. Luna held the position of Instructor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He also held the role as Program Director for Senior Faculty Promotions in the Office for Faculty Affairs at Harvard Medical School. As the previous Executive Director of the National Research Mentoring Network and the former Principal Investigator of the Administrative Core of NRMN located at Boston College, Dr. Rafael E. Luna utilized data analytics to strategically grow national biomedical network and effectively reach all 50 states, including Hawaii, Alaska & Puerto Rico.
In addition to serving as a leader in higher education, Dr. Luna is the author of the book, The Art of Scientific Storytelling, which provides a narrative roadmap for scientists publishing in peer- review journals. He is a dynamic speaker and has taught his Scientific Storytelling method throughout the United States, Europe, and China.
maiLab. Der preisgekrönte Science-Channel auf Youtube
Melanie Gath, SWR / funk
Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim ist Chemikerin, Sciencenerd und zusammen mit der Grafikerin Melanie Gath auf der unaufhaltbaren Mission, ihre Liebe für Naturwissenschaften wie eine Seuche im Land zu verteilen. Eigentlich wolltest du nur ein Video über diese Jugendlichen und ihre Tidepods anschauen - doch plötzlich erzählt dir diese Mai was von der chemischen Zusammensetzung von Waschmittel. Sie beantwortet die Frage, ob Milch Gift ist, ob Fluoride in der Zahnpasta schädlich sind. Sie vergleicht Cola mit Smoothies und redet über Themen wie das Impfen oder Burnout. 2016 von Null gestartet, begeistert maiLab heute über 200’000 Follower. Mit dem Start von funk - dem Content-Netzwerk von ARD und ZDF ging der YouTube-Channel online und wuchs, stagnierte, wuchs weiter und wurde 2018 mit dem Grimme Online Award, dem Fast Forward Science Award und dem Webvideopreis ausgezeichnet.
Cast-Absolventin Melanie Gath ist Journalistin und Motion-Designerin. Nach ihren Stationen in den Online-Redaktionen von ZDFneo, Blick und watson arbeitet sie seit 2016 beim SWR für funk - das Content-Netzwerk von ARD und ZDF. Zusammen mit der Wissenschaftlerin Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim steckt Melanie Gath hinter dem YouTube-Science-Channel maiLab. Mit Grafiken und Animationen hilft sie wissenschaftliche Zusammenhänge leichter verständlich zu machen.
Creative Science Storytelling for Science Engagement
Irem Couchouron, Head of Film and Exhibition, Silbersalz Science & Media Festival
Irem Couchouron is heading the Film and Exhibition Program at Silbersalz Science & Media Festival, in Halle (Saale) Germany, from June 20th to 23rd, 2019. This multi-day public festival and industry conference is the newest, international event in Germany bringing scientists, international media industry and the public together around current science, natural history and contemporary social topics through film screenings, live performances, immersive art works and debates. The industry conference provides the opportunity for scientists and media experts to meet, network, pitch their latest projects in development, exchange ideas and build future collaborations.
An expert in factual programming market, funding models and diffusion strategies, Irem Couchouron works closely with commissioning editors, producers and distributors involved in science programming for better public outreach through the festival, and also contributes the international development of the industry conference.
Digital Storytelling as engaged research: Visual anthropology in governmental, university and community contexts
Dr. Darcy Alexandra, Researcher, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern
Darcy Alexandra is assistant researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Social Anthropology, University of Bern where she specializes in co-creative ethnographic practices and audiovisual anthropology. She holds a PhD from the Centre for Practice Based, Socially Engaged Research, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland. Since 2007, Dr. Alexandra has designed and facilitated participatory media research centering audiovisual production as a means of inquiry and public engagement. She has conducted audiovisual research in the US-Mexico borderlands, El Salvador, Uruguay, Cuba and Ireland, and taught digital storytelling in collaboration with university, non-governmental and governmental agencies including the Dublin City Council, the Forum on Migration and Communications, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (DEZA/EDA). She is the first-place recipient of the 2018 Ethnographic Poetry Prize awarded by the American Anthropological Association.
During her presentation, Darcy will screen short films from community-based, governmental and university initiatives that she has directed. The stories will serve as a means to consider the ethical and aesthetic possibilities and challenges of visual anthropology with diverse practitioners.
Research Video: Could Video kill the Paper Star?
Panel with Irem Couchouron, Darcy Alexandra, Melanie Gath, Gunter Lösel, Rafael Luna, Martin Zimper
Case Study “Research Video”: A look into the meaning of “work” in children’s and adolescent’s lives in urban Bolivia: An audiovisual ethnography and the impossibilities of picturing the other’s reality (work in progress)
Léa Klaue, PhD candidate and Research Fellow, Cast /Audiovisual Media
In Bolivia, child labour is not only omnipresent, but it is also anchored in cultural roots. The starting point of this research are the working children’s organizations, who represent and defend the voice of this large but invisible group. Through observation, video workshops, filmed interviews and mixed methods, this research attempt to create a picture of the life realities of young people who had to start lucrative activities at an age Western understanding of childhood qualifies as too early. Child and youth worker’s lives are observed and analyzed but the external gaze upon it is also questioned: Eurocentric and Western discourses on “child labour” but also the own gaze of the researcher as a videographer and Westerner. This research is a Case Study of the “Reseach Video” SNSF project and an attempt to use audiovisual means not only as publication method, but throughout the research project as a tool and common thread.
Léa Klaue is a visual anthropologist and videographer. She studied Media Studies, Social and Visual Anthropology in Basel, Santiago de Chile and Tromsø, Norway. She was a production assistant for documentary, video and webdoc productions and a teaching assistant for Cast / Audiovisual Media at the Zurich University of the Arts. She is now a research fellow at Cast / Audiovisual Media and a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Bern.
Experiment “Research Video” (2018) – Über Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von Bewegtbild als Instrument der künstlerischen Forschung
Eric Andreae and Christian Holst, Research Fellows, Cast / Audiovisual Media
Im Rahmen der Research Academy des IPF 2018 arbeiteten Cast-Studierende mit internationalen Künstlern zusammen, um die Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Video im Rahmen von künstlerischer Forschung zu erproben. Um zu verstehen, welches (Verbesserungs-) Potenzial sich in dieser interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit auftut, wurde der Arbeitsprozess durch teilnehmende Beobachtung begleitet. Die Präsentation (Vortrag und Screening) stellt die im Rahmen der Beobachtung gewonnenen Erkenntnisse zur Diskussion.
Christian Holst ist Dozent und Forschungsmitarbeiter an der Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Fachrichtung Cast / Audiovisual Media. Er unterrichtet außerdem an verschiedenen Universitäten und Hochschulen, darunter der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg und der HAW Hamburg. Frühere berufliche Stationen machte Holst am Opernhaus Zürich, der Stiftung Schweizer Jugendkarte sowie dem Oldenburgischen Staatstheater. Er ist Mitgründer und Vorstandsmitglied der stARTconference.
Eric Andreae ist Lehrbeauftragter und Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Fachrichtung Cast / Audiovisual Media. Er arbeitet außerdem als Regisseur und Autor fürs Fernsehen. 2017 realisierte er mit seinem Ko-Autor Adrian Aeschbacher die 8-teilige Sitcom „die Lehrer“ und zur Zeit entwickeln die beiden einen Langspielfilm fürs SRF. Eric Andreae absolvierte den Studiengang Film an der ZHdK und war anschliessend Stipendiat der Drehbuchwerkstatt München.
Closing Words
Dr. Gunter Lösel, Leiter Forschungsschwerpunkt Performative Praxis, Institute for Performing Arts and Film, ZHdK
