Lately at work, I’ve been getting more work creating medical and scientific digital media and it’s making me wonder when is too much, too much. Streamlining and editing science data into movie form is a tricky endeavour.

As most scientists know, there are few unethical choices that are frowned upon in the world of peer review research than when a paper features a misleading altered figure. The NIH provides guidelines for this sort of issue but it does not say much specifically about video or presentations.

When do slick mattes, composites and rousing soundtracks take away or misrepresent data in the same way? When does the technology of appearance overshadow mediocre data? A well placed song can be distracting as well as entertain, especially when the dialogue is so substantial and complex. How does one find that balance?

It makes you appreciate a show like how it’s made or any of the other discovery network shows that describe complicated processes that make everyday items like candy corn, airwick air fresheners or baby chicks. It’s a video manual, but still, ridiculously well done, considering it’s full of industry methods. The mix of voice over, music, and image is well balanced and leads to a well made teaching product.

I need to study that show well to pick up tips. The idea is to bring the scientific discourse at least as technically high as the most sophisticated PowerPoint presentations, but with narrative ease.

I hope my lab can convince doctors and scientists that they should capture and edit every interesting technique they develop or speech they give.