by Sabine Probst -

The Environmental Film Activist Handbook | entry three

Last week was the first week I showed an audience a documentary film. This audience then answered some questions I had prepared.

The audience is upwards from 20 years, from different countries in Europe, with different backgrounds and genders. The same audience will watch all four films which I introduced in the last entry.

Below are the results of the first weeks film.

The results shall help documentary filmmakers reach their audience better and get greater results in spreading their message.

How did the audience perceive the film Mission Blue?

After the participators watched the film they filled out a questionnaire. I did go through the answered questionnaires and summarized the answers, the results are shown below.

All viewers stated that they were interested in the topic, seventy percent of the audience had already informed themselves about this topic. 

What they liked about the film:

  • that the protagonist Sylvia is really passionate about the topic
  • that Sylvia Earle is a pioneer in this field and a scientist, so she is trustworthy
  • that the changes of the underwater world were visibly presented
  • that facts were shown

What they did not like about the film:

  • no call to action

Did they think the topic was well presented?

  • they were unsure if it is a biography about Sylvia Earle or a documentary about the ocean, still they thought the topic was represented well

Did they feel a connection to something or somebody?

  • fifteen percent did not feel a connection to anybody or anything
  • thirty-five percent did feel a connection to the ocean
  • fifty percent felt a connection to Dr. Silvia Earle

60% of the audience would further research this topic or have had already done some research in the past.

Has anything in the film moved them and stayed in their mind, if so what?

  • shocking pictures of the reef
  • before and after of the reef
  • the statistic of the reduction of life in the reefs
  • slaughter scene of the sharks and overfishing

What message did they take from the film?

  • we as humans/ as a society have to change our lifestyle 
  • we have to start taking action in order to save our oceans
  • the ocean plays an important role for every living being on the planet, so it is also for our benefit to save it
  • scientist play an important role in finding resolutions 

Almost half of the participants had seen the oceans problems in real life before.

Everybody believes that the oceans problems are our problems as well.

More than half of the people who watched the film feel a connection to the ocean, either already before watching the film, or after watching it. 

Everybody said that they want to help and protect the ocean with small steps in their everyday life.

These were the results of last weeks film, this weeks film is going to be an inconvenient sequel, about its results I am going to write next week. After I have gathered all the results of all four films, I am going to write the first conclusion.

by Sabine Probst -

The Environmental Film Activist Handbook / entry one

As Victor Papanek once said, „Design must become an innovation, highly creative, cross-disciplinary tool responsive to the true needs of men. It must be more research oriented, and we must stop defiling the earth itself with poorly designed objects and structures.“-Victor Papanek, Design for the real world

In my opinion not only designers have to take responsibility for everything they put into the world, filmmakers have this responsibility as well. Not only what kind of content they produce, but also how they do so.

picture source: https://greenfilmshooting.net/blog/en/

green production:

To make a film it needs a lot of planning and resources. Most film teams do not spend much time thinking about how to produce a film whilst taking environmental factors in account. There are multiple things which can be done to make a film production less harmful to the environment.

-before the shoot (planning the films production green)

-during the shoot (light bulbs, catering, transportation, accommodations, waste)

-after shooting (communication- press kits, merchandise) 

How to make documentaries engaging and stay in mind of the viewers

More and more people are starting to watch documentaries, but how impactful are they and how soon will the watched material be forgotten? 

What can filmmakers do to get the viewer to make a change and remember the film in the long run? Does it help to have a website to accompany the film? 

I want to find out how a documentary impacts people watching. What will they remember after watching? Will they research the topic after they watched the film? Will they be inspired to change their behavior if they see in the film that they are doing something problematic? How much will they remember weeks and months later after watching the film, will they have changed something? Is it enough to just release the film, or do viewers need more content so it does not get forgotten too soon, for example an instagram account. 

I will show 4 different documentaries to different people from different backgrounds, with different interests, ages and nationalities. I want to find out how it impacts the viewer, will there be similar answers what they liked about the film, will they make changes in their lives?

Those are the 4 different documentaries which I am going to show the audience, questionnaires and follow ups will follow afterwards.

four films:

Mission Blue is a 2014 documentary film following Dr. Sylvia Earle on her quest trying to protect the ocean from threats as pollution, overfishing and climate change.It won the 2015 News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Editing – Documentary and Long Form. It now also has a website and instagram with updates and, Sylvia Earle and her team are trying to help save parts of the ocean with research, campaigns and donations. This information can be found on the films website. https://www.mission-blue.org

An inconvenient sequel is a 2017 American documentary film, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, about former United States Vice President Albert A. Gore Jr.’s continuing mission to battle climate change. The sequel to An Inconvenient Truth (2006), the film addresses the progress made to tackle the problem and Gore’s global efforts to persuade governmental leaders to invest in renewable energy, culminating in the landmark signing of 2016’s Paris Agreement.

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a 2014 documentary film which explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of a few environmental organizations on this issue. The film looks at various environmental concerns, including global warming, water use, deforestation, and ocean dead zones, and suggests that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction. This film also has a website with tipps. https://www.cowspiracy.com

Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle. This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible – to solve humanity’s greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future. This film also has a website with lots of information on it. It also has an Instagram account. https://kissthegroundmovie.com

spread the message

Making a film is great, but it makes no sense if it will not get seen, so it is important to have a marketing and distribution plan.

-marketing (green marketing, right marketing)

-film festivals ( what festivals to submit to)

-distribution (how to)