how #gravity works

H O W # G R AV I T Y W O R K S

( I T ’ S N O T T H E P H Y S I C S )

T H E M O V I E“ G R AV I T Y ” I S A H U G E S U C C E S S .

“No. 1 'Gravity' posts biggest October debut ever with $55.6 million.”

LA TimesOct. 6, 2013

“Gravity” has received one of the highest Rotten Tomato scores ever…

Even experts love the movie…

Samantha Cristoforetti. ESA astronaut. Italian Air Force officer.

Looking forward to riding a Soyuz rocket to ISS in December 2014.

Neil deGrasse TysonAstrophysicist, Am. Museum of Natural

History. Author: Space Chronicles, Inexplicable Universe, Host: StarTalk Radio

But they do seem a bit bothered…

“I wasn’t too much sold on the storyline, but who cares? It’s a great excuse to take a trip to space. Go the movie theater, put your 3D glasses and go take a look. Then go out, look up at the sky and think that all those things exists for real, right now, in Earth orbit. Let that thought sink in.”

“Why are audiences paying more attention to

fiction than to fact?”

Their real concern is this:

Let’s look at that. Side-by-side, the fact and fiction are nearly identical:

But our response

is measurabl

y different:

W H Y ?

O N E W O R D …

S T O R Y.

A L L G R E A T S T O R I E S S H A R E T W O T H I N G S :

1 ) C H A RAC T E R S W E C A N I D E N T I F Y W I T H …

G R A V I T Y H A S T W O A R C H E T Y P A L C H A R A C T E R S :

T H E R E L U C TA N T H E R O .

T H E W I S E M E N T O R .

2 ) A N D A R E C O G N I Z A B L E S T O RY L I N E . . .

T H E S T O R Y L I N E O F “ G R A V I T Y ”I S C L A S S I C D R A M A .

T H I S I S M Y I N T E R P R E T A T I O N O F C H R I S T O P H E R V O G L E R ’ S I N T E R P R E T A T I O N O F J O S E P H C A M P B E L L ’ S I N T E R P R E T A T I O N O F “ T H E H E R O ’ S J O U R N E Y ” .

T H A T ’ S H O W G R A V I T Y W O R K S .

I T ’ S N O T R O C K E T S C I E N C E : A S H U M A N S , W E M A K E M O R E

S E N S E O F O U R U N I V E R S E T H R O U G H S T O R Y

T H A N T H R O U G H F A C T .

A N D W E A L W A Y S H A V E .

Dan Roam is a space geek and presentation nut. He is the author of The Back of the Napkin and Blah Blah Blah. Dan’s new book SHOW & TELL: How Everybody Can Make Extraordinary Presentations will be published by Penguin Portfolio in March 2014.Dan can be found daily at:www.napkinacademy.com

About the images:All “Gravity” images copyright ©2013 Warner Brothers Pictures. All images downloaded from here:http://gravitymovie.warnerbros.com/#/gallery. All other space images courtesy of NASA.All drawings copyright ©2013 Dan Roam.