The 11th
Hour tells the freaky story of our Earth’s natural resources and how they
are being abused. The Conners,
co-directors, made a very educated and qualified argument with loads and loads of
qualified interviewed professionals.
The directors were effective in their approach, using
various cinematic techniques to accompany the argument of the content
itself. Dramatic music and cutaways were
constantly played between interview pieces. These shots and the score created a
sense of urgency, fear, and high stakes.
The elements mentioned above created such an atmosphere that
viewers are inclined to be engaged heavily in the matter.
I didn’t feel too manipulated because most of the arguments mentioned
were factual. There were also representatives from numerous agencies. If there
were only interviews conducted with one organization, one university, or one
agency, then their argument wouldn’t have felt as valid or accredited.
Unfortunately, I worry this film even with it’s great
message of warning is not much use to the consumer world. This that could be of
much better use among the industry changers. The government, oil companies,
factories, etc.
I think it's hard to make a compelling documentary about things that people don't want to hear: it may be important, it may be true, but if it represents some change to our ideals of the American dream suddenly it becomes a threat.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I may be predisposed to say that because I just noticed my roommates threw away my huge crate of recycling. I shouldn't be upset, I had time enough to walk it across the street and chuck it... but I'm still irked by it. How does one convey an environmental concern without seeming condescending or self-righteous, especially when those concerns are in fact valid?
Perhaps if I watch The 11th Hour I would have some ideas.
Going off of what Neil said, I think that it is especially difficult to get people to watch environmentally based documentaries. So many of these have been made over the years that they seem to be a staple within the documentary genre. At this point, I think that the people who are interested in this topic are the main people viewing it, which lends itself to a preaching to the choir effect. Too often, environmental documentaries are viewed as overly didactic, which makes it difficult to get the general public interested.
ReplyDeleteOooh, Emily, I think you're right about the preaching to the choir effect. Especially considering this documentary is driven by its use of empirical data (from what I gather from this blog post). I think I can get behind this sort of documentary style; I watched THE AGE OF STUPID recently (another environmental doc) and found its sensationalism slimy and counterproductive.
ReplyDeleteOooh, Emily, I think you're right about the preaching to the choir effect. Especially considering this documentary is driven by its use of empirical data (from what I gather from this blog post). I think I can get behind this sort of documentary style; I watched THE AGE OF STUPID recently (another environmental doc) and found its sensationalism slimy and counterproductive.
ReplyDelete