The number of movies related to environmental causes increases year after year. From animal protection to sustainability issues, these films have found a huge market, especially with younger generations. But, how many of this audience actually feel motivated to make a change on the planet, and how many of them discard the information after leaving the theater?
I think a helpful note here would be to distinguish between environmental movies that depict a theoretical apocalypse, such as the movie 2012 or other popular or mainstream films, and movies that are more non-fiction based, such as an educational film students might see on a field trip in an IMAX theatre or something on the Discovery channel. There are of course other ways to go about it, but differentiating between things such as film type or environmental type could help the article go a long way. – kathleensumpton9 years ago
I think it is clear that they are talking about Documentaries, not fictional disaster films or movies like "Ferngully." Because when I think of Environmental Filmmaking, I think of Docs either in IMAX, Discovery, or National Geographic. When I think of the movie "2012," I think of a poorly designed disaster film. When I think of "Ferngully," I think of an animated movie with an "environmental message," but it's chief purpose is to entertain people with colorful characters, a creepy villain, and a few songs.
However, I would agree that because the description here does not specifically use the word "documentary," it should be added in, if that is indeed the type of film or television production that this topic is referring to. – Jonathan Leiter9 years ago
Sorry if I wasn't clear, guys. Yes, I'm talking about documentary; not fiction. – Mariana Aramburu9 years ago
I think this is a really interesting topic and one that could be taken in a couple of different directions. Based on experience, I think environmental documentaries vary in their impact depending on what the message is and how it's presented. For instance, some documentaries have a clear "call to action" while others are more thought-provoking with a lingering "now what" feeling afterwards and, along these lines, it would seem that being aware of various issues is quite different than being aware of what could be done to "solve" those issues. However, I think a question linked to this is that even if this general awareness or "call to action" is accessible and easy for viewers to comprehend and/or participate in, is this information reaching the "right" people with the power to make large-scale change and do people actually feel connected enough to the topic being presented to bother to learn more and/or change? – DragonWrite9 years ago
I totally misunderstood the title. – T. Palomino2 years ago