Phylm Prize

So Long and Thanks for All the the Fi[lm]

by David Colarusso - April 13th, 2013

Jamie Nichols, winner of the First Annual Phylm Prize.

Since 2007, I’ve run the Annual Phylm Prize. Pronounced “film,” a portmanteau of physics and film, the prize aimed to spur the creation of physics videos on the web. It’s a name I’ve given a number of physics/film projects–including a curricular unit for physics teachers. I presented the unit at the 2003 summer meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. After moving to teach physics in Edinburgh and becoming a YouTube user, I launched the Phylm Prize to help the lesson’s spirit live on while I taught away from my home school.

This year, I’m sorry to say, I’m throwing in the towel. Last year’s prize didn’t attract a critical mass or entries, and I fear that without promotion beyond my means, the same would be true this year. That’s right, the Phylm Prize is on an indefinite hiatus. That being said, the goal of the prize was to foster the creation of quality educational content on the web, and I am happy to say that a few of the prize’s alumni have risen to the level of minor Internet celebrities. That being said, I thought I’d take this blog post as an opportunity to remember where we’ve been.

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And the winner is…

by David Colarusso - June 7th, 2007

Sorry it’s taken me this long to post the winner of this year’s Phylm Prize. It was a nail biter. In fact, no two judges voted for the same number one. So we had to have a run off. To see the winner of my $100, watch the video below. Then scroll down and catch the top ten entries in their entirety.

Here are the top ten highest ranked entries, according to YouTube ratings as of May 31, 2007. They are ordered by date of posting.

Phylm Deadline Moved to Midnight May 14th

by David Colarusso - May 1st, 2007

So I’ve received a few emails from people who just missed entering the Phylm Prize. As you may remember from the rules, May 1-14 is the YouTube rating window, an opportunity for the YouTube community to rate entries. The official judging begins on the 15th with the winner being announced on the 1st of June. Given the current number of videos, we’ve decided to accept entires during the rating window. That means, the submission deadline has effectively been pushed back to May 14th at midnight GMT. So get working; you still have a shot at my $100.

The Story Behind Phylm (physics + film)

by David Colarusso - April 18th, 2007

In its latest incarnation, “Phylm,” a portmanteau of “physics” and “film,” is both an attempt to increase interest in physics and raise the profile of digital media in education. As a high school teacher, I’m tired of new technology being met with the knee-jerk reaction “let’s ban it.” I’d much rather see educators asking “how can we use this?”

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Our First Entry!

by David Colarusso - April 11th, 2007

The First Annual Phylm Prize got its first entry today, and it’s from the people over at Science Made Fun, a student-run podcast over at the University of Manchester, England. One of the great joys of running this contest has been finding other people just as passionate about science education as myself. That being said, there’s still time to put together an entry. Check out the rules: http://www.phylm.com