Physics of Cinema

Final Project

Background: 

Movies are designed to excite us and push us to the edge of belief. This project is designed to
get you to think critically about what is happening on screen. Take the movie Speed: in a
climactic scene a bus is jumped over a 50ft gap in the road as the audience gasps. As a science
wonk you should be thinking about how you could use physics to address whether this can
happen or not. 
For this Project you will be choosing a school appropriate scene from any movie,
listing assumptions, and applying equations from physics to assess the accuracy of the clip.

Objective:

Students will be able to examine a scene from a movie and analyze the physics of the situation,
by utilizing their knowledge of equations from at least two of the units covered this year in Physics
to determine the accuracy of the scene.

Students will:
● Choose a clip no longer than five minutes that shows an aspect of physics that we have covered
in class
● Diagram the scene and research assumptions about the data from that clip citing sources
● Apply equations from two different units to access the accuracy of the clip
● Create a video to show and explain the conclusions drawn

Clips:

Clips need to be school appropriate with regards to content, language, and visuals; if you are
unsure if your clip is appropriate, schedule a time to look at it with me. Clips should be no longer
than 5 min and should show the event/events being analyzed as well as any appropriate context.

Analysis:

For each scene there will be assumptions that need to be made. Every assumption should come
from the movie or through research, there should be a clear explanation as to what assumptions
are being made and why. Once assumptions are made there is an expectation that equations
from class are being used to analyze the scene. Students should be prepared to defend their
choices.

Video:

Videos are expected to be concise; to show the clip, variables, equations, and solutions. Any
content that is not original should be cited

Sources and Citations:


Research is expected to be done with all videos, pictures, and content to be correctly cited in a
works cited page with footnotes in the video in APA format.


See Rubric For More Detail On Grading