Post by mayisha on Nov 11, 2017 20:48:11 GMT
A 9-month trek to Mars naturally lends itself to the idea of rebirth as its about the same time as a human gestation period. The preliminary results form the Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly twin study help show how the human transforms into the Martian. So this week, I met a classmate Aymen at Cafe Bene near the University of Illinois to map out our resources and coffee-storm. Now, neither of us have any real film experience. We're both physicists working on high energy nuclear physics (Aymen) and avalanches in neural networks or bulk metallic glass, and occasionally cancer detecting nanotechnology (me). Aymen occasionally screenwrites for fun. But the last time I made a "film" was a stop motion 6 years ago in high school for a scholarship I thankfully* did not get. I was successful, however, in participating in the 2010 Humans in Space Art competition via colored pencil and pastel drawing. Aymen and I just recovered from a late night problem set for Phys 515, General Relativity. I don't recommend this, but sometimes, sleep deprivation actually improves creativity since tired brains fire in new "faulty" pathways. In a way, this project will be our own rebirth as artists - not a bad way to augment our PhD journeys.
Now we recognize that no one wants a theoretical astrophysicist with no background in chemistry to tinker unsupervised in a ligand synthesis lab because that's how you get elemental sodium down the drain and cause $4 million damage to the plumbing system. If we trespass into a new field, we must do so with humility and caution and consult the actual experts. I reached out to an old friend Thristan in film school in New Orleans. Aymen knows a few theater majors and pointed out we have access to a green screen in the library. Another friend of ours plays 19 musical instruments and knows another film student and musicians. We don't need to have all the answers ourselves. We just need to know how to get solutions and be willing to ask the right people for help. That's what friends are for.
~Mayisha
*I say thankfully because I took another scholarship at Southern Methodist University I received for playing twinkle twinkle little star and happy birthday on my hair (like the T.S. Elliot Wasteland poem). (I just wanted to know what hair would sound like). When given the choice between two schools, offering roughly equal financial packages, pick the one that appreciates your personality quirks.
Now we recognize that no one wants a theoretical astrophysicist with no background in chemistry to tinker unsupervised in a ligand synthesis lab because that's how you get elemental sodium down the drain and cause $4 million damage to the plumbing system. If we trespass into a new field, we must do so with humility and caution and consult the actual experts. I reached out to an old friend Thristan in film school in New Orleans. Aymen knows a few theater majors and pointed out we have access to a green screen in the library. Another friend of ours plays 19 musical instruments and knows another film student and musicians. We don't need to have all the answers ourselves. We just need to know how to get solutions and be willing to ask the right people for help. That's what friends are for.
~Mayisha
*I say thankfully because I took another scholarship at Southern Methodist University I received for playing twinkle twinkle little star and happy birthday on my hair (like the T.S. Elliot Wasteland poem). (I just wanted to know what hair would sound like). When given the choice between two schools, offering roughly equal financial packages, pick the one that appreciates your personality quirks.
