April 4, 2012

Want to run a successful Kickstarter campaign? Start with cinematic genius...

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The past year has seen a tremendous growth in crowdfunding of diverse science-themed projects. From Sci-fund, to Petri Dish and Kickstarter, scientists have run successful campaigns worth over $100K overall. As with any kind of competitive field, it's very important to be able to reach your audience (and potential sponsors) as effectively as possible. What better way to do this than through a great video?

Case in point: The video for the current kickstarter campaign "The Symbol: Wall Lizards of the Pityusic" by Nathan Dappen and Neil Losin at Day's Edge Productions. The footage in this video is simply breathtaking - the colors and sights of these Spanish Islands make you yearn to tag along. Dappen and Losin have already proven to be skilled videographers, having won several awards and competitions with their well-edited and written works (see examples below). Both are biologists, and the current kickstarter project is to raise funds for a photographic guide to the lizards that Dappen studied during his PhD. The lizards themselves are beautiful - their color variation is vast, and the richness of their appearance is stunningly captured in this video.

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Dappen and Losin represent an extremely rare combination of scientific knowledge and cinematic talent. I encourage you to check out their other videos, and of course their kickstarter page here. This unique set of talents and determination needs to be recognized. I'll be looking forward to viewing their next productions!

Battle of the Sexes, a short video about Dappen's PhD work

Another of my favorites, Snakes in a Cave - amazing footage!

I wish them all the best with the campaign!

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