“It’s an interesting script,” said someone on our PR team. It’s pretty common for us to get requests from movie makers about showing our graphics or posters or books in movies. But the request this time was different: could we urgently help make realistic screen displays for a big Hollywood science fiction movie that was just about to start shooting?
Well, in our company unusual issues eventually land in my inbox, and so it was with this one. Now it so happens that through some combination of relaxation and professional interest I’ve probably seen basically every mainstream science fiction movie that’s appeared over the past few decades. But just based on the working title (“Story of Your Life”) I wasn’t even clear that this movie was science fiction, or what it was at all.
But then I heard that it was about first contact with aliens, and so I said “sure, I’ll read the script.” And, yes, it was an interesting script. Complicated, but interesting. I couldn’t tell if the actual movie would be mostly science fiction or mostly a love story. But there were definitely interesting science-related themes in it — albeit mixed with things that didn’t seem to make sense, and a liberal sprinkling of minor science gaffes... read more