Oddball Films and guest curator Jeremy Menzies present Weird Science, a compendium of eccentric, unknown science films from 70 years of scientific discovery. These films cover a range of disciplines and topics, from the biological impulses and social situations of rats to men handling raw electricity. Films in this sampling include; Carrol Ballard's Crystallization (1975), An Experimentally Produced ‘Social Problem’ in Rats (1948), Snails: Backyard Science (1962), Facts of Faith, Invisible Forces: Everyday Science Experiments, Magnetism, Arcs and Sparks,Moody Institute of Science's Blind as a Bat (1955), the slightly disturbing Protist Ecology (1975), a beaker full of the bizarre trailers and More!
Date: Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@
oddballfilm.com or
415-558-8117
oddballfilm.com or
415-558-8117
Crystallization (1975, Color, 11min.)
Carrol Ballard's incredible film gives a simple yet visually stunning look into the
formation of microscopic crystal structures. Scientific and
psychedelic at the same time, this film explores how liquids become
solid by rearranging their molecules into precisely ordered patterns.
Unseen and unbelievable processes creep along to trippy, electronic
music.
An
Experimentally Produced ‘Social Problem’ in Rats (1948, B&W, Silent, 11min.) Ever wonder how class-based societies
form? Check out this strangely interesting Psychobiology short from
the labs of Yale University
and get the full analysis; white rat style. Silent with a live
soundtrack.
Facts
of Faith (1954, Color,
28min.) Who knew Evangelical Christians were into serious science
experiments? From the Moody
Institute of Science, this
film featuring absurdly dangerous experiments proves that the
faithful and scientific can
co-exist. In a lightning storm of electrocution, sound, and
magnetism experiments, Dr.
Irwin A. Moon simultaneously
proves God’s protecting hand and science’s raw facts in one
fantastic display of faith.
Protist
Ecology (1975, Color, 15min.) Topping the charts of bizarre, this film takes
a very weird (and slightly disgusting) look into the world of
microscopic organisms. Cows with holes in their stomachs,
decomposing fish, and plenty
of microscopic cinematography make this film stranger than strange
while maintaining an air of educational information.
Blind
as a Bat (1955, Color,
7min.) Another gem from the Moody
Institute of Science, this
short film explains how and why bats can ‘see’ in the dark, even
though their eyesight is poor. Scientists catch some cave bats and
try out various experiments on them to discover the secrets of this
nocturnal mammal.
Magnetism (1947, B&W, 7min.) Every little kid has a natural curiosity for
the world around them but not all of them know how to explain
scientific theories and build experiments from scratch. Join the
'Dick and Jane' duo in this film to learn all about magnetism and how
to build your own telegraph.
Snails:
Backyard Science (1962,
Color, 8min.)
A short
scientific peek into the fascinating world of snails. This film
covers everything from slime to shell when it comes to explaining the
life and times of a common garden creature. The far reaching
branches of science surely do explore all the mysteries of our world.
Plus!
A beaker full of bizarre
movie trailers, monocularly pattern deprived cats, and radioactive
reactions!
Curator
Biography
Jeremy
Menzies is a San Francisco based artist and film curator working in
16mm film, photography, and printmaking. A graduate of the San
Francisco Art Institute, he has worked as a projectionist, curator,
and archivist with the San Francisco Cinematheque, Canyon Cinema, The
Filmmakers’ Cooperative, and Millennium Film Workshop in San
Francisco and New York.