A scientific film essay, narrated by Phil Morrison. A set of pictures of two picnickers in a park, with the area of each frame one-tenth the size of the one before. Starting from a view of ...
See full summary »
Paula Patton discusses her new movie Traffik, and the Super Troopers 2 cast share their essential 4/20 movie & TV picks.
Related News
-
Toronto Film Review: ‘The Martian’
11 September 2015 | Variety - Film News -
The Speed of Causality: Michael Mann's "Blackhat"
20 January 2015 | MUBI -
Film Review: Michael Mann’s ‘Blackhat’
14 January 2015 | Variety - Film News
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Powers of Ten (1977)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
1 win.
See more awards »
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Balance
(1989)
Animation
|
Short
|
Drama
Directors:
Christoph Lauenstein,
Wolfgang Lauenstein
Neighbours
(1952)
Animation
|
Short
|
Comedy
Director:
Norman McLaren
Stars:
Grant Munro,
Jean Paul Ladouceur
Harpya
(1979)
Animation
|
Short
|
Comedy
Director:
Raoul Servais
Stars:
Will Spoor,
Fran Waller Zeper,
Sjoert Schwibethus
Begone Dull Care
(1949)
Animation
|
Short
|
Music
Directors:
Evelyn Lambart,
Norman McLaren
A Chairy Tale
(1957)
Animation
|
Short
|
Comedy
Directors:
Claude Jutra,
Norman McLaren
Stars:
Claude Jutra
Short
|
Romance
Director:
Patrick Hughes
Stars:
Nick Russell,
Kestie Morassi
10 minuta
(2002)
Short
|
Drama
|
War
Director:
Ahmed Imamovic
Stars:
Almedin Leleta,
Satoshi Yahata,
Milan Pavlovic
Short
|
News
Stars:
Graham McNamee,
Herbert Morrison
The Old Man and the Sea
(1999)
Animation
|
Short
|
Adventure
Director:
Aleksandr Petrov
Stars:
Gordon Pinsent,
Kevin Duhaney,
Yôji Matsuda
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (10) »
Storyline
A scientific film essay, narrated by Phil Morrison. A set of pictures of two picnickers in a park, with the area of each frame one-tenth the size of the one before. Starting from a view of the entire known universe, the camera gradually zooms in until we are viewing the subatomic particles on a man's hand. Written by Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>
Plot Keywords:
national film registry | voice over narration | educational film | overhead camera shot | picnic |Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishAlso Known As:
Powers of Ten: A Film Dealing with the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color
Edit
This is a really interesting film about how large the universe is and how powers of ten become so drastically distant.
It starts out by showing a couple at a picnic in Chicago. It then shows an overhead shot a meter up of the man lying down on the picnic blanket. It then proceeds to zoom out by increasing the distance by a power of ten every ten seconds; 10 to the first meters, 10 to the second meters, 10 to the third meters, and so on.
Before long the viewer is above the earth, then the solar system, then the galaxy, then much of the visible universe. The viewer is projected back forward by decreasing the powers of ten every two seconds.
After a while the picnic scene is displayed again, but it doesn't stop there. The view returns to the regular speed and goes into the negative powers; ten to the negative first meter, ten to the negative second meter, and so on. The viewer is zoomed into the man's hand, and ends up zooming into a single proton in an atom.
I first saw this at an observatory, and I recently saw it again in Chemistry class. I recommend it to anyone.