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Media Contacts: David Perry,
(415) 693-0583
news@davidperry.com

Judyth Collin, Marketing Coordinator
(510) 336-7310
 jcollin@chabotspace.org

This document and all Chabot Space & Science Center news releases may be found online at www.chabotspace.org under Press room.

Bay Area Premiere of Large-Format Film "The Human Body" in MegaDome Theater at Chabot Space & Science Center

(August 9, 2002, Oakland, CA) — The speeding impulse of a brain cell racing at 250 miles-per-hour... the quivering dance of hairs in the ear, so small that 10,000 bunched together are thinner than one strand of hair from our heads... the 100-mile trek of a red blood cell, only thousandths of an inch in size, through a vast, tangled network of veins, arteries and capillaries... or the miraculous genetic fusion of parental DNA that signals the beginning of a new life — all of these extraordinary occurrences are routine events for our bodies, yet almost all are hidden from our view. This fall, Chabot Space & Science Center presents the inner workings of our own bodies in the large-format film The Human Body, opening in the Tien MegaDome Theater on August 30. Screening times are: Tuesday – Thursday at 11:30 am & 2:30 pm; Fridays at 11:30 am, 2:30 pm, 4:30 pm & 8:30 pm; Saturdays at 2:30 pm, 4:30 pm & 8:30 pm; and Sundays at 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm. 

Accompanying the film is an exhibit in the Theater lobby with displays on x-ray, thermography, and hearing, and a computer fly-through of detailed 3D representations of human anatomy. The Human Body is a presentation of The Learning Channel (TLC) and BBC Worldwide of a Discovery Pictures/BBC co-production in association with the Maryland Science Center and the Science Museum, London with major funding provided by the National Science Foundation and distribution by nWave Pictures Distribution. 

The Human Body reveals the incredible everyday story of human life in a way never before seen. In astonishing detail, the 43-minute giant screen film presents a slice of human life — a look at daily biological processes that go on without our control and often without our notice. The film follows a family from dawn to dusk as they go about their daily routines — but this is no ordinary story. It is a look at what takes place beneath the skin — a tale that allows us to see the extraordinary accomplishments of our everyday lives. 

The biological processes that keep us ticking are all in a day's work for the human body. Finding a way to film and illustrate those activities for the giant screen required a cinematic inventiveness that was anything but routine, and The Human Body incorporates groundbreaking computer graphics with stunning real-life images to create a day in the life of a human body. "This film is one of the most technically complex large format films ever made," states director-producer Peter Georgi. "To get the subject matter on the large screen, we've pushed the boundaries, taken advantage of the most advanced scanning electron microscopes, the latest thermal imaging and high-definition digital video cameras, the cutting edge in medical computer graphics … whatever we thought could provide the best possible images." And provide images it does! The Human Body provides a glimpse of: 

• the 100 billion new red blood cells the body generates each morning;

• the 40 yards of new hair that sprouts every day;

• a human egg nestling into the folds of a fallopian tube;

• a thermal image of a child riding a bicycle;

• the inside of an ear as cells actually dance to music.

"We investigated and portrayed the Human Body in ways never seen before," notes executive producer Jana Bennett. "This film brings images to the audience on a scale never before captured in the history of cinema." Ultimately, The Human Body shows us more than a biological wonder at its best; the film also shares the emotions of life, from the joy of learning and the anxiety of puberty, to the potential wonder of pregnancy and birth. More than a science lesson in biology, The Human Body takes us on an exhilarating personal journey of discovery about what it means to be human. 

Using innovative filmmaking techniques, combined with the latest medical and scientific imaging, it shows us the ordinary miracles that keep our bodies running at full steam from morning ‘til night and the extraordinary marvels of life. "Large format has traditionally climbed mountains and gone to the bottom of the ocean, but we have turned the camera on ourselves and looked to our own bodies as a place for exploration," observes writer-producer Richard Dale. "Technology makes it possible to think about our lives differently and to suddenly realize how marvelous the human body is."

The Human Body premiered in October 2001 at the Science Museum, London, and the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. Three years in the making, The Human Body is a visually mesmerizing storytelling experience that plunges us viscerally into the action. We paddle underwater with infants whose mysterious diving reflex allows them to comfortably "swim," follow a tomato on its journey to the biological blender of our stomach, and accompany a red blood cell into the pumping chamber of the body's engine room, the heart.

The film's story begins with a wake-up call that shows that in opening our eyes each morning we scorch off the top layer of cells on the retina, and begin each day with refreshed sensors for viewing the world. Whatever pace we start the day, our bodies are already running at full speed. The film follows the course of a single day, witnessing the extraordinary accomplishments in the lives and bodies of 8-year-old Zannah, teenager Luke, and Uncle Buster and Aunt Heather, who are expecting their first child. 

We watch Luke bike to school, as thermal imaging opens up a world not of light but of heat. Sophisticated computer graphics image his body and environment in X-ray form, and we see how blood flows through his arteries and veins. Scanning electron microscopy peeks into what goes on in the inner ear as Zannah blasts her favorite pop tune. At the heart of the film is the experience of bringing a new life into the world. The course of Heather's pregnancy, condensed with the use of motion-control photography, illustrates how naturally the body adapts to the physical changes taking place. The culmination of the film arrives with the birth of Heather and Buster's baby, captured in all its frenzy, excitement and joy. 

"This film is one of the most technically complex giant screen films ever made," says BBC director-producer Peter Georgi. "To get the subject matter on the large screen, we've employed every tool available. We've taken advantage of the most advanced scanning electron microscopes, the latest thermal imaging and high-definition digital video cameras, the cutting edge in medical computer graphics... whatever we thought could provide the best possible images."

Shot in London, New York City, and Los Angeles in 2000–2001, The Human Body uses practically every film format to create this giant screen film — 15/70 full frame Large Format, 8/70, 5 perf 65, conventional 70mm motion picture film, 35mm Vista vision, 35mm conventional motion picture film, Super 16mm, and high definition video. The Human Body's medically accurate, photo-realistic animated sequences and effects were produced by Movida-Trix, the digital effects division of nWave Pictures. With the aid of medical experts, the digital team spent over eight months creating such stunning sequences as Luke's x-rayed ride to school, sperm's life-threatening voyage through the female fallopian tubes, a trip through the miniscule corridors of the inner ear, and an accelerated view of time that demonstrates the aging process. In total, 22 minutes of the 43 minutes of the film have been created through a digital process, incorporating some form of animation and/or visual effects. 

The Human Body is seen in the film through the use of various techniques that include Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), in which parts of the body are magnified hundreds of thousands of times by electrons; Endoscopy; Thermal Imaging; Schlieren Photograph, a way of capturing the movement of heated air; Time-Lapse Photography; Time-Slice Photography; Motion-Control Photography; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI; and Sonography/Ultrasound.

Chabot Space & Science Center is located at 10000 Skyline Blvd. in Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park. General admission to the Center galleries is $8.00/$5.50 seniors and children (with an additional charge for shows in the Planetarium and MegaDome Theater). Children under 3 are admitted free; Students with ID receive a $1.00 discount. General admission to the galleries is FREE on the first Wednesday of each month (with an additional charge for Planetarium and Theater). Tickets may be purchased at the door, or by calling (510) 336-7373. Advance tickets are available on-line at www.ticketweb.com or by phone at (866) 468-3399. 

For information, call (510) 336-7300, or visit the Chabot Space & Science Center website at www.chabotspace.org

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