Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Public Understanding of Science
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (5)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kirby, D. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Scientists on the Set: Science Consultants and the Communication of Science in Visual Fiction

David A. Kirby

Duke University, Durham, dkirby{at}duke.edu

By exploring the relationship between the scientific community and the entertainment industry in the construction of fictional films, this paper investigates the impact that fictional representations, created with the assistance of scientists, have on the construction of scientific knowledge and the public understanding of science. I discuss the nature of science consulting on fictional films, including compensation, consultants’ role in the filmmaking process, and the scientific elements consultants can impact in the films. By questioning the nature of fictional "accuracy, " I demonstrate that the scientific community’s focus on "scientific accuracy" in fiction is flawed. Fictional film naturalizes both "accurate" and "inaccurate" science by presenting both as "natural" via a perceptually realistic framework.

Public Understanding of Science, Vol. 12, No. 3, 261-278 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0963662503123005
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Social Studies of ScienceHome page
D. Kirby
The Future is Now: Diegetic Prototypes and the Role of Popular Films in Generating Real-world Technological Development
Social Studies of Science, February 1, 2010; 40(1): 41 - 70.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Science CommunicationHome page
N. Russell
The New Men: Scientists at Work in Popular British Fiction Between the Early 1930s and the Late 1960s
Science Communication, September 1, 2009; 31(1): 29 - 56.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Public Understanding of ScienceHome page
P. Verhoeven
Where has the doctor gone? The mediazation of medicine on Dutch television, 1961--2000
Public Understanding of Science, October 1, 2008; 17(4): 461 - 472.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Public Understanding of ScienceHome page
T. Lowe, K. Brown, S. Dessai, M. de Franca Doria, K. Haynes, and K. Vincent
Does tomorrow ever come? Disaster narrative and public perceptions of climate change
Public Understanding of Science, October 1, 2006; 15(4): 435 - 457.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 International Journal of Cultural StudiesHome page
S. Tait
Autoptic vision and the necrophilic imaginary in CSI
International Journal of Cultural Studies, March 1, 2006; 9(1): 45 - 62.
[Abstract] [PDF]