Make a Movie, Pitch a Story (via DE Exchange)

Every morning, I wake up to an inbox brimming with story pitches. Most of them are from marketing and PR people urging me to write about their clients’ projects and products. As it happens, I am looking for a story, one that will complement the upcoming special supplement on simulation and analysis (scheduled for October 2010). But before you fire off an e-mail in my direction, please read.

I’d like you to make the pitch without words.

That’s right. For this one, I’ll only consider pitches in movies.

What’s that? You don’t have a camcorder, a film crew, or a budget for special effects? No need. I’m talking about the short 10-15 second movies you export out of an analysis program.

Here’s what I’d like to see. A movie showing the results of FEA, CFD, stress tests, or any other kind of simulation. The more spectacular, the better. Essentially, I’m looking for exemplary or unorthodox use of computer-aided analysis. Show me twisted metal plates, collapsing vehicle frames, and airborne assemblies in colored contours and animation. Show me your most impressive displacements, shears, and Von Mises.

Please don’t e-mail me those clips as attachments, by the way. My e-mail server simply won’t be able to cope with that kind of traffic. You can upload them to DE Exchange, our new online community, then e-mail me the link with a subject line that reads, “DE story pitch.”

No explanation, no background, no preface, just the link to the movie and your contact info. As an alternative, you may also upload it to YouTube, then e-mail me the link in the same fashion. I’ll pick one that piques my curiosity the most, then contact the sender to develop it into an article.

My inbox is now open. I look forward to view your submissions: Kennethwongsf [at] earthlink.net.