Mitosis
A summary of the process of cell division - in plasticine!
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Duration: 1:50
Views: 426
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MitosisSciCast goes claymation!
This film was made — obviously — using plasticine, fashioned by the three film-makers (and anybody else who walked in the door on the day and stayed for more than three seconds) into lovely cell diagrams, and lots and lots (and lots) of letters.
The result is clear, simple, and has a very particular character. Lovely. How better to summarise the process of cell division than in modeling clay?
I love this film. It was a brave thing to try, in that stop-motion animation can take an age to shoot, and the bunch making this had barely a day. But even then they’ve not gone the simplest route. The way the captions animate on and off is quirky and rather stylish, when it would have been quicker (but oh-so-dull) to do something simpler.
We worked a little on the lighting — cameras tend to flatten things somewhat, and putting some coloured angle-poise lamps low-down against the floor helped give the plasticine sausages a bit of shape.
If I’m being really really picky — and I’m a TV producer, so that’s my job — the narration is good and clear and straightforward, but it’s a bit of a plain read. With a little more enthusiasm in the delivery the film would be even more watchable. Hard to do, though, and in this case it's better to be clear than cheesy.
I’ve written up some Film SChool notes about different types of animation.
— Jonathan
Very nice representation of Mitosis. I will be showing this to my class of Introductory Biology Students...good job!!
Heather, 28 Jan 2010
Quirky, neat, and does just what it sets out to do, explains mitosis.
Really enjoyed it and it's given me a few ideas for students.
jake beckett - london, 25 Feb 2008
Inspirational! It also looks great at the Inside DNA Exhibition! (Currently AtBristol)
Mark, 18 Dec 2007
Well done, you have made the topic visual,memorable and fun which is very difficult considering the usual dry, dullness of the topic. I teach Biology and this has given me some really good ideas. Thanks!!
Brenda Elliott, 10 Dec 2007
Genius!Well done.
Jane, 03 Dec 2007
It's a great film, Sam - amazing you got it done in a day. So yes, you're biased, but that shouldn't stop you being proud of it. :-) Glad you like the music. 100% pure cheese.
Jonathan, 01 Dec 2007
This video is awesome! I may be a bit biased considering I made it, but thanks Jonathan for the whole day and putting it to a really awesome soundtrack
Sam, 30 Nov 2007