Go on a trip around the multiverse with the winner of the Quantum Shorts 2012 film competition, and take in some other funky quantum effects too
APPLY human ingenuity to the ultimate in weird natural phenomena and you can expect some crazy stuff. That鈥檚 exactly what you鈥檒l find in the , run by the Singapore-based Centre for Quantum Technologies in partnership with 快猫短视频.
The challenge was to create a 3-minute film around the theme of quantum theory. Some 50 people chose to accept the mission, and the results are stunning.
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The winner is , made by GLeNKTV, about a woman forced to flee her universe to find proof of her identity. Fortunately, she鈥檚 armed with a 鈥渞eally smart phone鈥� and a parallel universe app. Weirder still, it鈥檚 all done in stop-frame animation, with the characters resembling villains from Mad Max 2 and one of the aliens from that bar scene in .
The production values are reminiscent of a 1980s kids鈥� TV show imbued with drama. The script is funny and in places delightful. 鈥淐omputers are so advanced they look like bananas,鈥� says our heroine. It might be a non sequitur here, but in another universe, who knows? Subtitles for the alien are a nice touch, and the maxim, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a small multiverse鈥� until you have to clean it鈥� has become an earworm.
Go take a look. And check out some of the others, including the runners-up. is a love story enabled by superposition and quantum tunnelling. And Heisenberg eavesdrops on two young women discussing their sex lives with the eponymous hero: 鈥淗eisenberg, you鈥檝e got the momentum, but your position鈥檚 way off!鈥�
I can鈥檛 promise you鈥檒l learn about quantum physics, but you鈥檒l certainly smile.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淨uantum Shorts鈥�