UC Santa Barbara (Audio)

The isolation of house arrest, film as a tool for political expression, and the serpentine nature of Iranian cinema all arise in this thoughtful conversation about Jafar Panahi’s documentary, This is Not a Film (2011) between Anna Brusutti (UCSB) and Hamid Naficy (Northwestern University). Naficy and Brusutti’s wide-ranging discussion explores the wit and creativity of the film, the state of Iranian filmmaking, and the importance of cinema to engage entrenched political power. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35342]

The benefits of set fires, the strenuous work of puppetry on film, and the magic of practical film effects are all explored in this energetic discussion between The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance director Louis Leterrier and Carsey-Wolf Center associate director Emily Zinn. The two explore the strengths and challenges of working with puppets and practical effects while reviving the magical world of Jim Henson’s classic. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35328]

Dangerous stunts, actor injuries, how to build a twister, and the technicolor production process all arise in this bright and deep conversation about The Wizard of Oz (1939) between UW Milwaukee professor Jocelyn Sczepaniak-Gillece and graduate student Hannah Garibaldi. Professor Sczepaniak-Gillece introduces and describes the gradual formation of the film’s enduring legacy as a nostalgic, family television tradition after its initial box-office disappointment. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35326]

Transforming our energy infrastructure to support greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals will require the deployment of technologies such as electric vehicles and energy storage. Improper integration of these technologies into the electric grid and a lack of careful planning of their scale, however, can significantly reduce their real-world effectiveness in supporting GHG emissions reduction goals. Research by Brian Tarroja and his colleagues at UC Irvine presented here focus on identifying grid integration needs and life cycle planning considerations for electric vehicles and energy storage deployment to better ensure that their potential GHG benefits are fully realized in future electricity systems. Series: "Institute for Energy Efficiency" [Science] [Show ID: 35164]

Composited digital and physical special effects, mechanical post-apocalyptic design, and the battle for limited resources are all touched on in this wide-ranging conversation between UC Berkeley professor and special effects scholar Kristen Whissel, and Carsey-Wolf Center director Patrice Petro. The two explore the films depiction of bodies and landscapes, masculinity and femininity. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35327]

Tying together the Infinity War saga, crafting emotionally satisfying sendoffs to beloved superheroes and dispatching supervillain Thanos all arise as topics in this conversation about Avengers: Endgame (2019) between screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and Pollock Theater director Matt Ryan. McFeely and Markus also discuss their extensive contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe including previous work on Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014). Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35325]

Ram Seshadri argues that energy efficiency can be as important to our future as renewable energy. LED lights are extremely efficient. In this talk he explores how white light emission from an LED lamp works and how researchers think about materials to understand their uses. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 35268]

Metals are vital to life functions. We have iron zinc and copper in us – but in the ocean is different. We know that organism evolve against the chemical constraints of their environments and Allison Butler looks at what kind of metalloenzymes are present in marine organisms.

Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 35266]

Decarbonizing our electricity and transportation sectors will require large deployments of wind, solar, and storage. Ranjit Deshmukh develops models for planning and operations of low carbon electricity grids and analyzes tradeoffs between economic, environmental, and social objectives for regions in the U.S., India, and Africa. These models optimize wind, solar, and other generation, demand, and storage resources for region-specific conditions including spatial and temporal variability of renewable resources. Series: "Institute for Energy Efficiency" [Science] [Show ID: 35165]

Elliot Hawkes’s research focuses on bringing together design, mechanics, and non-traditional materials to advance the vision of robust, adaptable, human-safe robots that can thrive in the uncertain, unstructured world. He shows two projects; gecko-inspired adhesives to make a climbing robot and vine-inspired robots to navigate in cluttered environments. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 35267]