How screenwriters do research

Notes from a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021.

If research not a favorite thing, work on story first and do targeted rather than general research.

Research depends on story.

Uses research to make the story feel real.

Make rules of the world feel consistent (not necessarily truly and fully consistent). Otherwise, audience notice.

When watching a show, the small details don't make as much of difference to enjoying show. Just shoot for audience not noticing as much.

Art analogy. Your job is not to represent the objects but to use the objects to get to your painting.

Use of experts: Ask what doesn't feel right.

Levels of research: Star Trek vs For All Mankind requires different levels of research.


Money concerns can create stress and affect our general well-being.

Lifestyle creep can lead to greater personal spending.  "...automate as many payments and contributions as possible." 

Getting your professional drone license

 Take a look at the DJI blog item that describes the licensing process and requirements for becoming a drone pilot.

Main point: "Before you can join this global community of commercial drone operators, however, you need to know the rules of the game and follow the safety regulations designed to help pilots fly safely within their national airspace. "

More about it:

  • "Each nation has its own set of regulations regarding who can fly a drone commercially."
  • Training by manufacturers and professional trainers can help you develop piloting skills.
  • There are also training programs to prepare you for the licensing exam.

Takeaway: The resources are available to help you get licensed and develop advanced skills.

Becoming a professional drone pilot

 A DJI blog item contained advice for aspiring drone pilots.

Main point: The path is straightforward - "The journey begins with a clear understanding of the rules for being a compliant, responsible operator, and ultimately – getting the necessary training to help you become a qualified drone pilot."

More about it:

  • For now, drone pilots can command higher fees because "In the U.S. alone, there are more than 100,000 certified commercial drone pilots — and as more enterprises and organizations continue to adopt drone technology, the need for skilled drone operators will continue to rise."
  • It's a growth opportunity because "...the drone services industry is projected to rise to $63.6 billion by 2025."
  • Uses include "everything from collecting visual, LiDAR, and thermal data to shooting striking photographs and films."

Takeaways: The blog item has a list of industries using drones.


AI and concerns about the workforce

 In an article about her using AI as a tool to help her with her dyslexia, Tabitha Goldstaub offered some ideas and suggestions for adapting to changes wrought by AI.


Main point: "We are hurtling towards AI, machine learning and robotics at breakneck speed and people are being left behind. This means a risk of job loss in an already struggling climate."

More about it:

  • The risks grow for those not keeping up. "One and a half million people in England are at high risk of losing their jobs to automation in the coming years, and a 2019 Office for National Statistics report revealed that 70% of them are women."
  • When is the right time to prepare yourself for change? "Now more than ever is a good time to become the person in your company who has learned to master the newest software."
  • It's truly time to get with the program. "Even for those who are proudly the 'least' techie, it is time to change tune."

Takeaway: It's less about becoming a data scientist and more about taking responsibility for learning how to use the new AI tools that are coming out.

AI and dyslexia

 What can't AI do? Check out an article by a successful tech entrepreneur who started out with dyslexia and found AI a useful tool.

Main point: "I think it was my dyslexia and my need to see things from a different angle that enabled me to be open to the rewards of AI. But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t risks."

More about it:

  • Tabitha Goldstaub's dyslexia "was the cause of me honing my greatest skill: learning to learn. Discovering more about different learning styles was a gamechanger – and where my love of artificial intelligence technology was born."
  • She is the "co-founder of CognitionX, a market intelligence platform for AI" and "was appointed by government ministers Matt Hancock and Greg Clark, to assemble a team of experts in AI to form a council responsible for supporting the government and its office for artificial intelligence."
  • Tabitha Goldstaub pays attention to the potential downside of AI because "We are hurtling towards AI, machine learning and robotics at breakneck speed and people are being left behind. This means a risk of job loss in an already struggling climate."

Takeaways:

  • AI may have made a difference, but Tabitha Goldstaub still seeks human support.
  • Tabitha Goldstaub is a proponent for Human in the Loop (HITL) to make sure a human is always in a position to make decisions.





Taking on robot vision

 An article about a startup working on robot vision may offer ways to enhance robot capabilities in industry.

Main point:  As important as the manual abilities of robots are, they need the ability to properly see their environments before they can take a bigger role in industrial workplaces."

More about it:

  • Building a library of images of robots' environments "uses deep learning to produce 3D images in unstructured environments."
  • Testing can be done because they "create synthetic data [data not collected by direct measurement, e.g., data gathered from simulations] and use that to test [robots] in the real world."
  • Developing robot vision is important because "without good vision it's the equivalent of blindfolded humans trying to do packaging."

Takeaways:

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