Culture

How to Produce a Green Cinema?

The Wisdom of the Octopus, Seaspiracy, Okja, Our Planet... For the past few years, documentaries and fictional films on environmental protection have been all the rage. Suspense, wonder, slow-motion action... all the ingredients of blockbusters are there! Is the production behind these odes to nature on the big screen just as ''green''? Films inspire, influence and entertain millions of people around the world every day, but at what cost for the environment? In the face of climate change, sustainable cinema deserves a closer look.

Spectators broke into a panic as the locomotive on the screen seemingly headed straight toward them. In this Parisian theatre, emotion is at its peak. At least, that is how the legend goes of the projection of the film "L'Arrivée en train en gare de la Ciotat" by the Lumières brothers. This anecdote from the end of the 19th century, commonly known amongst lovers of the seventh art, reveals the craze caused by the big screen. Naturally, this has only grown since then.

An industrial art par excellence, over the years and through technical developments, cinema has become an art form for mass consumption. Screen culture has become ubiquitous and it is precisely this massification that poses a problem today. While cinema has the power to make young and old dream, it does not yet have the power to be ecological.

The environmental cost of the seventh art has already been questioned for several years, but the introduction of streaming has suddenly made it clear that, like other sectors of activity, the film industry pollutes and needs a systemic change. For example, the production of a film with a budget of at least 70 million US dollars generates about 2,840 tonnes of Co₂, equivalent to the amount of CO₂ absorbed by 3,709 hectares of forest in one year!

Source: A Screen New Deal: a Route Map to Sustainable Film Production

Emissions generated for a tentpole film production

What changes are needed and what is meant by "eco responsible cinema"? Script, pre-production, shooting, editing... It takes a lot of steps to make a film! And therefore there are just as many ideas to make it sustainable. To help the film industry find its way, the report A Screen New Deal: A Route Map to Sustainable Film Production presents an overview of how to make film production more sustainable. Five key areas of film production are identified and for each of them several concrete solutions are envisaged. Of course, the environmental impacts do not stop at production. Distribution and viewing have a high carbon footprint. It is indeed the entire life cycle of the product that must be taken into account to limit its negative externalities.

Did you know?

An average day filming equates to more than one person’s annual carbon footprint.

An average hour filming equates to the carbon footprint of a return flight from London to New York.

Action Levers

1. Production Materials

Ecodesign of sets, reuse of materials, more responsible purchasing of supplies

Materials for the art (MFTA) - This film and television materials reuse centre is based in New York. When film and television productions have finished using materials, props or sets, they can donate them to the MFTA, where they are stored and reused rather than thrown away.

2. Energy and water

Reduced consumption

Vancouver Studios – Canada's first carbon-neutral film and television studio uses energy-efficient LED lights, recycles light bulbs and switches, has automatic flushing systems and electric vehicle charging stations. It has also grown a shared garden to feed the film crew with local food.

3. Studios

Intelligent re-purposing and building management

Space Studios – Based in Manchester, this award-winning 33,500 m² television studio complex consists of a variety of stages, workshops, catering facilities and shared office space for small creative businesses.

4. Locations

Optimising the mobility of goods and people, taking into account the working environment for greater employee well-being

Transmetrics – 20% of trucks run empty in Europe! The Transmetrics artificial intelligence platform uses big data and predictive analysis to increase transparency in the logistics sector. For manufacturing companies, this type of tool helps to optimise transport needs, thereby reducing costs and environmental impact.

5. Production Planning

Collaborative tools, virtual planning and shared infrastructure

The Third Floor – Using virtual reality and 3D set or scene modelling, this specialist “pre-visualisation” studio allows directors and producers to explore their narrative and design plans at the outset of a project, and assess in advance how scenes can be shot most efficiently.