Obsessed & Scientific Now Available on Google Video and YouTube
Posted by Jay C on January 28th, 2007
Filed under: News
In honour of the final episode of ‘Young, Fast & Scientific’, i’ve made my student documentary film ‘Obsessed & Scientific’ available on Google Video and YouTube. For those of you who haven’t been following my podcast series about the making of the film, you can click on the feature window in the sidebar and get caught up. Basically I talk abou the process of filming a 25 minute student documentary film about time travel. Here’s the synopsis:
Is time travel possible? In this fascinating short documentary, director Jay Cheel explores the real-life theories behind the science of time travel and the strange subculture of enthusiasts who are obessed with it. Meet Michio Kaku, world-renowned theoretical physicist and author of the book Hyperspace. Meet Rob Niosi, a hobbyist building his own full-scale home replica of H.G. Wells’ time machine. Meet Larry Haber, the entertainment lawyer representing the family of John Titor, an alleged time traveller from the year 2036. Do these people know something about the world that the rest of us don’t? Obessed & Scientific is a quirky look at the intersection of science-fact and science-fiction.
For those interested, i’ve embedded the Google Video at the end of this post. You can also follow the links to the YouTube version. (broken into 6 parts) Let me know what you think!
Obsessed & Scientific on YouTube: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Jay C on 
January 28th, 2007 21:42
I have really enjoyed the tone and pace of these podcasts. You did a very good job with this series, loved the music. Well done. Half the issues that you were talking about I didn’t really see though. Were you obligated to not tell your producer to go fuck himself, and call Kaku yourself? I know there are tons of things to worry about, and you probably didn’t want to have to deal with stuff like that too. I mean if he was a little put off by the fact that you were student film-makers, it doesn’t help when you call him and tell him you forgot something as basic as a release form. Even so, by the time the stuff makes your side numb…
So I finally got to watch your movie. I liked it. There were things, of course, that did seem a little student-filmy, but I think that stuff like the Times Square footage really helped the movie alot. Have to say the interview that was sound only, you handled very well. The tape-recorder and all that sort of low-tech science equipment, I thought was awesome. The opening credits were good. I really like opening credits in movies, and doing them practically is an awesome choice.
I thought the first 5-6 minutes were a little heavy on the editing. I don’t mind the style of jumping from one subject to another throughout, but I did feel a little like the things they were saying got lost because you were wondering who was talking when. Also there were times where the things being discussed seemed a little incoherent. It was nice when you included the bit where the guy mentions the John Titor Y2K thing, it made it seem more like there was actually something there, rather than a wacky internet scheme. I personally am not that excited about John Titor, what really got me hooked was Kaku. All that Star Trek science, combined with the history of people like Einstein totally got all my nerd-impulses on full alert. Where did you shoot the stuff that was like in a museum? And where did you get the bugs? That portion was my favorite. And Kaku did seem like he genuinely was interested in it as well, and I thought he was an awesome speaker - even if he may be a bit cocky and fond of his own voice.
Overall, this was a very good job. A little heavy on the music I thought, I didn’t mind the music being played, but I am very pensive about when to use and when not to use it, and I thought it was too much personally.
I think a feature-length documentary on the actual sciences and the real deal so to speak would be alot more interesting than the John Titor thing though. It might not be as sexy of an idea, but at least it’s bound to be authentic. The other thing kinda falls into being a mockumentary I think.
This was a good idea, and well executed. You should be proud, because this could have been horrible.
January 29th, 2007 11:16
Thanks for the comments. I agree with most of your comments, and two years later still have the urge to tweak things in the film. But i\\\’d rather just move on to the next project.
In case you missed this in the Film Junk comments, here’s three more short films that I made while in school. Henrik, you may be pleased to see a pre-movie blog Nagy in one of them.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aKV4RdAj7_Q
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9Ibp7G-jyGc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nK-nQGs3u7E
January 29th, 2007 14:59
I know the feeling. That actually brings up something else that I thought about, but later forgot. Do you think the deadline ultimately hurt or helped the project? It’s a pretty known fact to anybody who has worked on a movie, that they are not released, but rather escape out of your grasp. However, without a deadline, there is a good chance of getting into constantly 2nd-guessing yourself, never being satisfied, and ultimately not being able to deliver a final product.
Just some thoughts..
January 30th, 2007 20:04
Jay,
I have to say that I really enjoyed your Podcast series and your finished documentary! I thought it was very unique that you included the segment regarding Rob Niosi building a Time Machine replica.
Personally, I would think a feature length documentary based on the John Titor story would be pretty fascinating! I have been following the Titor thing for a while and I find it very intriguing.
All in all, I think you did a great job. Congratulations.
Mike
January 31st, 2007 11:08
Thanks Mike!
January 31st, 2007 19:59
Hey there, I just stumbled across this site and decided to give the documentary a chance, despite usually hating films people put up online.
ANYWAY, I’m glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I understand what Henrik is saying, but I really enjoyed the Titor bit the most. I know it’s probably a massive prank, but you dealt with it objectively enough and it makes for a really interesting story.
It’s made me really want to write a story based around time travel, I’ve always wanted to do it, up there with writing a great ghost story and a great alien story. This spawns from my fanaticism of Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and E.T.
ALSO, NOT a fan of podcasts but yours look too good to miss. Downloaded the first part and I can only get 13 seconds! I’ve tried it a couple of ways but no luck! Any ideas?
Thanks.
January 31st, 2007 20:10
If you’re interested in documentaries, awhile back Jay linked to a movie on Google Video called “Dream Deceivers: The story of James Vance vs. Judas Priest.” Like you, I am not a big fan of people putting out their failed careers online, but that movie was equally worth watching. It was great, and I highly recommend it, but be prepared for some disturbing imagery.
January 31st, 2007 20:21
Hey Mike C.,
Thanks for checking out the film! Not sure what the deal is with the podcast. I just tried it myself and it worked fine. Are you downloading it or just listening to it through your web browser? Try both methods. If that doesn’t work, i’m not sure what the deal is. Also, maybe see if you’re having the same troubles with the other episodes?
January 31st, 2007 20:22
Other Mike,
I didn’t see your comment on the first podcast until now. Here’s a link to that Time Travel Fund website:
http://www.timetravelfund.com/
January 31st, 2007 20:29
Thanks Henrik, I’ll check it out. When I saw you replied to my post, I expected the usual flaming. It was very refreshing to see someone being nice and helpful.
I tried both methods with the same result but hey serves me right for using IE7. Just tried it in Firefox and Firefox was like “Hey no problem, I’m all over this” and now it’s worked and I’m listening to it.
IE7 managed episode 4 fine so I dunno what the deal is.
I’ll be keeping an eye on the site from now on, anything in the pipeline, film-wise?
January 31st, 2007 20:58
Glad to hear it’s working.
At the moment I hope to do a full length version of Obsessed & Scientific. Just need to look into getting the money. I also have a couple of other documentary ideas kicking around.
Also have been working on a horror screenplay for a while now. It’s slowly coming along.
Keep checking in here at The Documentary Blog for future updates. Also, you can check out http://www.filmjunk.com, where I do a podcast and video cast with some friends.
As for film projects, for now you can check my ‘channel’ on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/jaycheel