http://iml.usc.edu/transformations3/
We live in a science fictional world. Every day another futuristic projection made in the past turns into the reality of the present. Science fiction and science fact have become all but indistinguishable. "Special effects" are no longer particularly special, and fictional worlds, hoaxes and alternate histories are sometimes more real than reality itself. Science fiction turns its readers into early adopters; it helps prepare us for the future however it unfolds. Science uses this imaginative resource to think beyond its paradigm boundaries.
TransFormations 3: Fiction Science examines how science and science fiction mutually inform one another and shape not only our sense of the future but also our understanding of the present.
Organized by Steve Anderson, Anne Balsamo, Anne Friedberg, Alice Gambrell, Perry Hoberman, Michael Naimark, Veronica Paredes, Douglas Thomas, Richard Weinberg and Holly Willis.
Saturday, March 3, 2007: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Norris Cinema Theatre (NCT), USC
11am-1pm Panel I: Science Fiction, Fiction Science
LARRY NIVEN, science fiction author (Ringworld)
TIM PRATT, fantasy and science fiction author (Little Gods)
NATHAN SCHURR, USC
1:30pm-2:00pm Live Video Chat with science fiction author RUDY RUCKER (Software, Wetware)
2:00pm-4:00pm Panel II: Hollywood Science, Special FX
SCOTT BUKATMAN, Stanford University (Terminal Identity, Matters of Gravity)
KEVIN MACK, visual effects supervisor (Fight Club, Ghost Rider)
ELIZABETH KESSLER, Stanford University
4:30pm-7pm Screening
ARTHUR ELSENAAR & REMKO SCHA Morphology/FaceShift
and works by video artists TORSTEN ZENAS BURNS, ANTHONY DISCENZA, DARRIN MARTIN and HALFLIFERS
Sunday, March 4, 2007: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Ground Zero Coffeehouse, USC, 615 Childs Way
Readings & Performance
1pm fantasy & science fiction author TIM PRATT
2pm science fiction author LARRY NIVEN
3pm TOWARDS A DIGITAL COMPUTER WITH A HUMAN FACE: a lecture by speech synthesis machine HUGE HARRY, with live demonstration of computer-controlled human facial expressions.
