Tackling the need for sustainable film-making

  The question I keep asking myself is: should storytelling be compromised by production costs, ecological trends, or global warming? Undoubtedly, there isn't a single answer to that, because every artist has a myriad of attitudes toward his methodology, but in my opinion, now is a good time to reinvent our positions as artists and question our practices. We often take our work environment for granted and don’t think about the consequences of its unification. After all, it took years to perfect a structure and hierarchy in film productions and it is hard to crack this system and recreate a sustainable environment in a jiff. But the fact is that a film set on average produces about 347 tons of waste for each film which is the equivalent of how much garbage would a typical American individual produce in three lifetimes. Anyone not American reading this can take this information lightly because, in terms of population, the US generates the most waste per person. Having said that, I don’t mean to exclude or point fingers at anyone, because it is up to each of us individually to make a difference and I hope this reading will inspire you to do so. So, yes, I feel I am slowly getting closer to formulating my answer to the aforementioned question; at present, while writing this from my darkened 28 degrees Celsius living room, I think it is indispensable that we start to change our cozy work milieus. What’s more, I’d say we are slowly, but anxiously beginning to feel the consequences when it comes to set safety and turmoil in filming locations, but ultimately daily work which has become arduous because of extreme climate deviations. One way or another, the joke is on us, because our way of life is intoxicating us in so many ways: from microplastic intake and spreading diseases to stressing countless ecosystems that thinking about the future has become more disturbing than watching an episode of "Black Mirror". Let's face it, climate change will not choose to overlook the film industry, just because of "Wall-E: A Portrait of Earth’s Grim Future". I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, I am a big fan of the film, I am just slightly unconvinced that mingling eco-friendly and mass merchandising is a good couple, but certainly, Eve and Wall-E make a better one.

Pixar's Wall-E.

Then again, as an animator, working with small film crews, I am aware that my position is much more flexible in comparison to filmmakers who work on big film sets, nevertheless I believe we can all strive towards a reduction and minimization of our collective waste-abundant habits. Bertold Brecht was trying to change classical approaches in theater 70 years ago with his Verfremdungseffekt, a.k.a. "the distancing effect" and although this was purely intellectual, I can appreciate an early sense of ecology in his working method. Namely one of his techniques was the minimal set, costumes, props, and lighting, which in effect predetermined that sets should not be realistic, but suggestive, and actors should use minimal props in several different ways. I believe this invitation to look at something familiar in a new way was paving the way for a sustainable approach that could be applied to film-making as well, but unfortunately, Brecht's work was mainly influential in the 50s and 60s and didn’t stick, at least not in the mainstream film industry.

Set design for a production of Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children

I wonder if this is on account of the expressive contextualization which was never a thing for the mass audience, or just the sheer laziness of the average spectator, who won’t give in and surrender to a story outlined as a skeleton but instead needs the whole body for maximum satisfaction. Lars von Trier made a breakthrough in his own way with “Dogville” where as well as the life of the protagonist, the set was correspondingly reduced to a crude minimum. For me, this is another fine example of a filmmaker going beyond the predetermined industry standards and taking a brave leap into unexplored territories. Perhaps it is important to mention that Lars von Trier, together with Thomas Vinterberg was the pioneer of the independent movement Dogme 95, which aimed to impose new, fresh values upon film-making, thus rebelling against the expanding commercial cinema structures. Numerous authors who took part in the new wave cinema applied Brechtian principles in their films, but audiences didn’t always receive these values with arms wide open. 

                                                                 The Brechtian set location for Lars von Trier's Dogville. 

Inspired by all those brave cinematic attempts, I tried to do a similar thing in my master’s animated film “Soma” where the set and puppets were just outlined contours made out of recycled metal, but in my opinion, my story was not refined enough to be understood so clearly, so the reference of an object to something else was over-stimulative. Nevertheless, I think experimenting with style also gives depth to storytelling, so I encourage anyone who is a beginner in the field to exploit what is around them while searching for their own language of expression. This can be more inspiring as an exercise because it creates a certain framework, rather than starting anew and creating expensive monumental sets that are possibly going to end up floating in the middle of the ocean, as might also be the case with an overambitious film. A kind reminder: this text really wants to inspire, instead of condemn, so please read well and have fun.