The "Science & Cinema" format
It may sound like a simple idea — but often the simplest ideas are the most powerful. Cinema is inherently engaging and brings scientific themes to the screen, sometimes accurately, sometimes less so. Why not use it to communicate science more effectively, while also entertaining audiences?
The Science & Cinema format combines short movie clips with expert commentary to reflect on how science is portrayed on screen. Clips — often from well-known films — are interwoven with moderated discussions involving scientists with expertise in the topics presented, and the audience is invited to ask questions at the end.
The researchers organised two public events open to a general audience: one as part of a sustainability day at the University of Graz, and another as part of a city art festival in Salzburg.
The narrative thread focused on climate change. "We built a storyline about ice and water, fire and other things and then migration at the end, so that we could discuss these different aspects," explains Fritz Treiber, Researcher and science communicator at the University of Graz. The evening moved from ice and glaciation scenarios (The Day After Tomorrow, Snowpiercer), to water and sea-level rise (Ice Age, A.I., Waterworld), then to extreme events (Twister, Geostorm), drought (Mad Max, Soylent Green), and finally migration (The March). The discussion was moderated by Treiber himself, while the invited scientist, Ulrich Foelsche — Professor of Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Graz and co-author of the paper — analysed the clips, distinguishing between scientific reality and fiction, clarifying misconceptions, and providing insight into climate change research.
Reaching diverse audiences
The effectiveness of the events was evaluated through pre- and post-event questionnaires and a focus group. In addition, an interview with Foelsche explored his perception of the format, his motivations for participating, and the effectiveness of his communicative role.
One key finding is that the format can also engage audiences who are not already interested in the topic. Differences between the university and cinema audiences offer an interesting perspective. "In the university event we had younger people with high affiliation to the university, very connected to this environment and to the proposed themes via their work or studies," explains Hildrun Walter, Senior Scientist for science communication at the University of Graz. "At the cinema event, on the other hand, we also had people who came through the art festival or the cinema program."
"This is very important for science communication because we often have the problem that we only reach people who are already in this academic sphere," Walter continues. "At the cinema we had people who were not necessarily already very motivated regarding climate change. The audience was more mixed, but nonetheless all participants liked the event: they were interested and felt informed."
"We are also able to somehow trigger reflection in people who come with different perspectives on the topic," she adds. "At the cinema event, we had very critical comments. People started to reflect on their own habits and what is possible."
Emotions at stake
The emotional dimension also played a key role. The sequence of clips followed a narrative arc that began with lighter moments — "people were laughing in the beginning with Ice Age and similar scenes," recalls Walter — and gradually moved towards more dramatic ones, such as the segment on migration. "In 2015, we had this migration wave, and this came up again in the focus group," she concludes. "People related movie clips to real-world events and asked themselves: could these film scenarios become true? Where is the boundary between reality and fiction?"
Walter and Treiber acknowledge the limitations of their study, particularly the small sample size. However, they also stress that the format is easily replicable and could represent an effective tool for communicating science to a broad audience.
The paper "The communication format, Science & Cinema: reflecting on representations of science in movies for joint meaning-making" by Walter et al. is now available on JCOM.
