I Tried to Turn Sand Into a Computer Chip

Intro previz · 3 versions · photo frames

ASand vs chip, the purity number

T1 Top rung + doubt

Stake: the purity number, about 99.9999999% (the meter that runs the whole video), with the radio as the win-or-lose test; finale (a real chip in a cleanroom) named and shown, its LED result held back. About 18 s, the short option. Sand-to-chip is a one-story video like Dirt Ball, so INTRO_RULES 1.8's story length (15-30 s) applies; P-lf-020's 8-15 s is the ladder rule.

20.9 s, 5 beats

Hafu kneeling on a bright sunny beach, his left hand cupped full of pale beach sand held out toward the lens, his right hand holding up a small green phone circuit board with one black square chip on it, both hands side by side at chest height, looking straight into the lens, deadpan, blue waves behind him. Nothing burned or built yet.

ON CAMERABeach sand. I'm trying to turn it into this.

#1 · LIVE · medium · 3.6 s

Shoot: Frame 0, readable by 2 s. Pre-shoot 7 (before shot paired with the finished thing): A-cam medium on the real beach, the real sand in his left hand, the main board of an old phone in his right (the same phone whose chip sits in the final lineup).

A tall, empty glass measuring tube standing upright on a soft light-blue background, only a thin layer of sand-coloured fill at the very bottom, the very top of the tube glowing bright gold, a small pile of sand drawn at the foot of the tube and a small black square chip drawn just above the top. The tube is still almost empty.

Chips need silicon about 99.9999999% pure.

#2 · VO · graphic · 6.3 s · sfx: number pop hit on 'pure'

Shoot: Edit graphic, nothing to film: the purity meter, the counter that runs the whole video ('how pure is it now?'). 99.9999999% pops at the top on 'pure'. Its start value is the raw beach sand [TODO: get the sand's silicon content measured by the lab partner]. Also film Hafu saying the number to lens as an alternate (pre-shoot 3). Check the AI voice reads the number cleanly.

Hafu standing in a bright white cleanroom in a full white suit, hood, face mask and blue gloves, only his eyes showing, holding a round mirror-shiny silicon disc in flat metal tweezers in his right hand at chest height and looking at it closely; a small LED on the steel bench beside him is dark, nothing switched on yet.

Fire, a radio, then a real chip in a cleanroom.

#3 · VO · medium · 4.6 s

Shoot: Finale shown, result held back. Pre-shoot 1 (the hardest build whole, wide + close, before it runs): Hafu suited in the university cleanroom with the commercial wafer, filmed BEFORE the chip is tested, never the LED lighting. In the edit this line is three quick shots: the burn flare, the radio, this. Cleanroom partner not locked yet (go/no-go Nov 15).

Hafu at a wooden workbench leaning over a small homemade crystal radio (a copper wire coil wound on a cardboard tube, mounted on a wooden board, a long antenna wire running off frame), holding a single wired earphone to his right ear with his right hand, his left fingertip next to a tiny grey pellet held in a small metal clip on the board, looking up into the lens, worried. No sound yet, the result is not shown.

ON CAMERAIf this radio stays silent, my sand failed.

#4 · LIVE · medium · 3.8 s · sfx: the one full music stop on 'failed'

Shoot: Pre-shoot 5 (his honest doubt before the big attempt) + 4 (second camera on his face): say it right before the first radio test and keep rolling through the result (6). Cut before the answer. Test the detector before the shoot: the powder may need pressing into a pellet.

Hafu on a bright sunny beach pushing a metal shovel into damp sand with his right foot on the blade and both hands on the handle, an empty red plastic bucket beside him, waves behind. No silicon and no lab gear yet.

ON CAMERAStep one: dig up the sand.

#5 · LIVE · wide · 2.6 s · sfx: hit on the cut into step one

Shoot: Pre-shoot 8 (the handoff on camera): say it on the beach, then the first shovel push is the first frame of segment 1 (dig the sand).

BFail first: a few grams of grey powder

T4 Fail first

Stake: the gap between the few grams of dirty powder his sand makes and the about 99.9999999% a chip needs, said by about 9 s; his own deadpan line is the low point and makes the honest 'Tried' the joke. The losses are middle results; the radio and the cleanroom LED stay held back. Finale (a real chip in a cleanroom) named. About 25 s, story length per INTRO_RULES 1.8.

25.0 s, 6 beats

Top-down close shot of a plain white table: a small pile of pale beach sand on the left, an opened phone's green circuit board with one black square chip on the right, a man's right index finger pointing at the sand. Nothing else on the table.

I tried to turn this beach sand into a computer chip.

#1 · VO · insert · 3.7 s

Shoot: Frame 0 insert, readable by 2 s. Pre-shoot 7 (before shot to pair with the finished thing): the real beach sand and the board of the phone whose chip closes the video, top-down on a white table.

A tall, empty glass measuring tube standing upright on a soft light-blue background, only a thin layer of sand-coloured fill at the very bottom, the very top of the tube glowing bright gold, a small pile of sand drawn at the foot of the tube and a small black square chip drawn just above the top. The tube is still almost empty.

But chips need silicon about 99.9999999% pure.

#2 · VO · graphic · 6.6 s · sfx: number pop hit on 'pure'

Shoot: Edit graphic, nothing to film: the purity meter (the video's 'how pure is it now?' counter), 99.9999999% pops at the top on 'pure'.

Inside a lab fume hood behind a raised glass front: a lab worker's blue-gloved hands pour clear liquid from a small plastic bottle into a glass beaker of dark grey powder, small bubbles rising; Hafu in safety glasses and a white lab coat stands outside the glass, leaning in, eyebrows raised. No flame, no finished silicon.

The acid wash after the fire gives off a gas that can ignite.

#3 · VO · medium · 4.4 s

Shoot: Lab-supervised step (the gas can ignite in air): film through the hood glass, the lab worker's hands only, Hafu outside the hood. Pre-shoot 4 (second camera on his face). Lab partner not locked yet.

Close insert on a white lab bench: a small round glass dish holding a tiny heap of dull dark grey powder, a metal lab spatula resting beside it, a blue-gloved fingertip pointing at the heap for scale. Nothing shiny, no crystal.

And all I get is a few grams of dirty powder.

#4 · VO · insert · 3.6 s

Shoot: Insert of the real yield after the wash. Weigh it on set on a lab scale and put the grams in this line if the number lands [TODO: grams of silicon powder from one handful of sand].

Hafu in safety glasses and a white lab coat at a lab bench, holding the small glass dish of dull grey powder up beside his face in his left hand and a green phone circuit board with one black square chip in his right hand, deadpan straight face into the lens.

ON CAMERAThis is not a computer chip.

#5 · LIVE · medium · 2.5 s · sfx: the one full music stop

Shoot: Pre-shoot 5 (his honest low point on camera) + 4 (second camera on his face): A-cam medium to lens right after he sees the yield, powder in one hand, the phone board in the other.

Hafu on a bright sunny beach pushing a metal shovel into damp sand with his right foot on the blade and both hands on the handle, an empty red plastic bucket beside him, waves behind. No silicon and no lab gear yet.

It ends with a real chip in a cleanroom. It starts here.

#6 · VO · wide · 4.3 s · sfx: hard cut, hit into segment 1

Shoot: Pre-shoot 8 (handoff): the beach wide is the first frame of segment 1. Numbers start: the purity counter appears small on this cut at the raw sand's value [TODO: get the sand's silicon content measured, or start the counter at the first real number].

CHow close can one handful get?

T3 Goal and obstacle

Stake: does his own silicon make a radio play (said by about 10 s), measured against the about 99.9999999% a real chip needs. Two LIVE doubts cut before the answer; finish previewed in the cleanroom without the LED result. About 27 s, story length per INTRO_RULES 1.8.

29.1 s, 8 beats

Hafu kneeling on a bright sunny beach, scooping pale sand with his right hand into a small clear glass jar held in his left hand; beside his knee an opened phone lies on a beach towel with its green circuit board and one black square chip showing. Nothing burned or built yet.

One handful of beach sand. How close can it get to a computer chip?

#1 · VO · medium · 4.9 s

Shoot: Frame 0, readable by 2 s: A-cam medium, the real sand going into the jar, the opened phone in frame (pre-shoot 7). Also fly one drone wide of the beach (pre-shoot 9) as an alternate opener.

Outdoors on a concrete yard on a bright day: a steel tray of grey sand mix on a stack of fire bricks erupts in a blinding white flare with white smoke; a professional in a silver fire-resistant jacket and face shield stands beside it holding a long metal rod; Hafu stands several metres back in goggles and gloves, one arm raised against the glare, mouth open. The silicon is not shown.

First, fire pulls the silicon out.

#2 · VO · wide · 3.2 s

Shoot: The sand plus magnesium burn, run by professionals outdoors. Pre-shoot 1 (the setup whole, wide + close, before it lights) + 4 (second camera on his face); keep rolling to the end (6).

Close-up of a homemade crystal radio on a wooden board: a copper wire coil wound on a cardboard tube, a single wired earphone lying beside it, and a small metal clip holding a tiny grey pellet; nobody is listening yet.

Then it has to make a radio play.

#3 · VO · insert · 2.7 s

Shoot: Pre-shoot 1: the radio whole, wide + close, before it is ever tested. The detector may need the powder pressed into a pellet; test it before the shoot.

A tall, empty glass measuring tube standing upright on a soft light-blue background, only a thin layer of sand-coloured fill at the very bottom, the very top of the tube glowing bright gold, a small pile of sand drawn at the foot of the tube and a small black square chip drawn just above the top. The tube is still almost empty.

A real chip needs silicon about 99.9999999% pure.

#4 · VO · graphic · 6.6 s · sfx: number pop hit on 'pure'

Shoot: Edit graphic, nothing to film: the purity meter (the video's 'how pure is it now?' counter), 99.9999999% pops at the top on 'pure'.

Close-up of Hafu in safety glasses holding a small round glass dish of dull grey powder up close to one eye, squinting at it, eyebrows pulled together.

ON CAMERAIs this even silicon?

#5 · LIVE · close-up · 2.1 s

Shoot: Pre-shoot 5 (his honest doubt on camera): the first time he sees the washed powder, B-cam close on his face (4).

Close-up of Hafu with his eyes shut tight, pressing a single wired earphone to his right ear with his right hand, his left hand on the slider of a homemade copper-coil crystal radio on a wooden board in front of him, lips pressed together. The radio is still silent.

ON CAMERAPlease work. Please work.

#6 · LIVE · close-up · 2.9 s · sfx: the one full music stop, cut before the answer

Shoot: Pre-shoot 5 + 4: right before a station comes through or does not; keep rolling (6). Cut before the answer.

Hafu standing in a bright white cleanroom in a full white suit, hood, face mask and blue gloves, only his eyes showing, holding a round mirror-shiny silicon disc in flat metal tweezers in his right hand at chest height and looking at it closely; a small LED on the steel bench beside him is dark, nothing switched on yet.

It ends in a cleanroom, where I make a real chip.

#7 · VO · medium · 3.4 s

Shoot: Finish preview, never the result. Pre-shoot 1: Hafu suited in the university cleanroom with the commercial wafer, BEFORE the chip is tested, never the LED lighting. Cleanroom partner not locked yet (go/no-go Nov 15).

Hafu on a bright sunny beach pushing a metal shovel into damp sand with his right foot on the blade and both hands on the handle, an empty red plastic bucket beside him, waves behind. No silicon and no lab gear yet.

ON CAMERAStarting with step one, digging up the sand.

#8 · LIVE · wide · 3.3 s · sfx: hard cut, hit into segment 1

Shoot: Pre-shoot 8 (the handoff on camera): say it on the beach; the first shovel push is the first frame of segment 1.