Valerie Charmaine C.

Go_DEVC 263_Midterm_Exam

Many of our perceptions of the natural world originate from entertainment media sources, such as science fiction novels, popular science magazines, nature documentaries, TV shows, fictional films, and comic books (Kirby, 2003). This indicates the power entertainment media have as regards our understanding of science and technology. Because science communication aims to reach a large audience for the purpose of sharing knowledge, no wonder that over the years, scientists have become increasingly involved in the production of movies and television shows. Television seems to be the only means to potentially speak to everyone. But in the current television panorama, effective audiovisual communication of scientific contents is one of the most difficult jobs television producers and writers can have, as they must face both intrinsic difficulties of science communication and those of the medium (Len, 1998). This is primarily because of the fact that this medium has distinct characteristics that does not always mix well with science. However, it does not change the fact that television remains a truly generalist medium in an era in which the media tend to follow the tastes and interests of increasingly narrow segments of the public (Carrada, 2006). Among the many produced audio-visual material discussing scientific and technical (S&T) information is the film Home, a 2009 documentary by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. It chronicles the present day state of the Earth, its climate and how we as the dominant species have long-term repercussions on its future (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_(2009_film). The film aims to raise awareness, reaching out to a great variety of audience through 14 different languages, and screenings in different parts of the globe. In this articles attempt to present an analysis of the film Home from the point of view of science communication, several concepts and elements of communication would be discussed (based on Bienvenido Lens paper entitled Science popularisation through television documentary: A study of the work of British wildlife filmmaker David Attenborough and Giovanni Carradas Communicating Science: A Scientists Survival Kit). Knowing the media The media are much more than simple technologies for the transmission of information (Carrada, 2006). In the Philippines, this generation has produced fewer readers than before, thus, television and the internet have become a popular means of communicating and conveying information to the general public. The choice of TV (particularly the film) as medium of Home has been effective especially that humans are generally visual learners. Because the film is audio-visual in nature, it is also helpful in reaching to a group of audience who cannot read or write, and who only understand through spoken words and visuals. Also, the film was released for free in over 180 countries all over the world, in 14 different languages, through different cinema screenings. The internet is also one of the main media used in spreading the film by making it available in YouTube and other environment-related organizational sites, thus reaching a vast array of audience. Internet, though last to emerge, has been a fast-growing medium. However, the socalled digital divide intervenes in the dissemination of the film, restricting its audience to those who have internet and electricity access and/or are computer literate.

Valerie Charmaine C. Go_DEVC 263_Midterm_Exam

Approaching the audiences interest Knowing ones audience is one of the basic principles of public communication (Bulan, et.al., 2002). An analysis of the target audience is deemed necessary when formulating, planning, and choosing the medium of communication, and all other aspects encompassing it. The history of science popularization shows that, very often, discourses have not even tried to explain the true meaning of scientific discoveries, but the practical consequences of that information to everyday life. But scientific knowledge is not necessarily practical or useful and, to many scientists, it is more important to propose new questions than to offer practical solutions (Len, 1998). The issue of Earth destruction has long been circulating, but, does not seem to be of public interest at a first glance. However, ratings of such shows remain considerably fair. This must have been for the reason that the issue directly involves us, humans, making us feel that we are PART of the issue. This is what I have seen Home has made us feel. The use of images, shot from different parts of the world, highlighting the effects of daily human activity to the once beautifully crafted Earth posed several questions and leaves audience thinking, Did I do all these? How can I help in changing the future of the Earth for the next generation? Can I actually do something? Today, reality TV, seems to be a trend in the TV industry, thus the emergence of several reality shows, even in the Philippines. This captures the interest of the audience primarily because it deals about real people in real world. I believe that the scenes of real people from different countries, doing real things, in the real world, which shows surprising beauty and information, are effective tools used by the film to catch the interest of the audience. Also, the aerial shots, making the world seemingly and surprisingly small allowing the audience to have a birds eye view of the world, brings entertainment and awe to its audience, thus holding their attention up to the end of the film. The visuals of the film have been one of the major factors in its success in reaching out to its audience. Simplification Science communication has been in a continuous effort to making scientific and technical information more understandable. One way of doing so is through the simplification of the materials used in communication. Condensing a huge amount of information into few minute films is not always a guarantee of a simplified material. However, in Home, discussing the past, present, and future state of the Earth in 90 minutes (or 120 minutes for the longer version) has been an effective tool in making it more understandable. Given the short attention span of humans, the length of S&T communication material seems to be a big factor to take into consideration. The chronicle of the Earth presented in such a relatively short film has effectively brought a glimpse of the world billions years before humans had even existed. What added up to the simplification of the material is also the aerial shots which shows how figuratively small the Earth is. Effective Use Language and Paralanguage As mentioned earlier, the film was translated into 14 different languages, thus reaching audience of different countries. The use of English, being the universal language, has also been an effective tool in the process of information dissemination primarily reaching to a lot of native and non-native English speakers all over the world. The words used and the structure of the sentence are simple enough to reach the level of understanding of an average English speaking audience. There were some scientific terms used, such

Valerie Charmaine C. Go_DEVC 263_Midterm_Exam

as the names of organisms mentioned on the first part, but were explained briefly using a laypersons language. I also noticed that the first few lines of each commentary have attempted to catch the attention of the listeners/viewers (Listen to me, please., These are the traces of our origins, Where do we come from?, The Earth counts time.), and have succeeded in doing so. The imperative sentence (Listen to me please) expresses various illocutionary forces, making the listeners act upon it. The interrogative sentence on the other hand (Where do we come from?) gives power to the film narrator (writer or maker or whoever the source of the question is), putting her in charge of the conversation by creating a pressure to the audience to answer the question, thus, making the audience think and watch the film to find the answer. If confronting the facts of reality is the common denominator of all types of scientific enterprise, arousing emotions is the common denominator of all forms of communication (Carrada, 2006). The paralanguage used in the film created a certain mood that the audience would feel while watching the film. This triggers several emotions, touching the audiences deep level of understanding and awareness by feeling the destruction happening on Earth. Notice that the narrator (Glenn Close) has a well-modulated voice and speech rate, creating a soothing sound which allows a clearer and better understanding of the words used in the material. The paralanguage, accompanied by the musical score, has created a different emotion. The singing voices used as background for most part have heightened the feeling of urgency and have highlighted the seriousness of the issue, thus allowing the audience to feel the importance of the subject matter even more. Storytelling Whatever the means, the format, the aim and the content, communicating science to the public means knowing how to turn it into a story (Carrada, 2006). Indeed, humans are innately story tellers. Representation by means of a story is suitable for those statements which try to present a quick essential totality, instead of showing all the details of the reality in a mechanical exhaustive way, which is more appropriate to science and history (Len, 1998). The film Home may be classified as a documentary, but it certainly tells a story. The laying down of historical events that brought changes to the Earth could be considered a tool in storytelling. Several elements of a story are also present in the film the setting (time and place), point of view, conflict, and characters. Making the audience feel that they or at least species of their kind are the main characters in the story brings involvement to them, making them aware that they are part of the story. This would help them identify the conflict in the story (and applying it to their real life stories) and look for answers (answering the hidden questions posed by the film). Considering the time allotted for the film, the seaming of each event has been an effective part of its storytelling. The evolution of the state of the Earth from agriculture to industrial, which took place for billions of years, will still be taking place for more years has been logically put together with the help of the narration and the logical seaming of each shot. The appeal of the shots (colors, vivid details, actions) has also contributed to the beauty and effectiveness of the narrative. Argument One of the earliest models of human communication was Aristotles model, which basically emphasizes the importance of three major factors in the act of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos (Bulan, et. al. 2002). Ethos is a speakers quality of persuasiveness, or basically, is the speakers credibility. The film was directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a photographer, journalist, reporter and environmentalist, who, on July 1, 2005, founded the international environmental organization GoodPlanet, and set up the program Action Carbone to offset his own greenhouse gas emissions generated by his helicopter transports. Since then

Valerie Charmaine C. Go_DEVC 263_Midterm_Exam

this program has evolved to help people and companies to reduce and offset their climate impact by funding projects on renewable energies, energy efficiency and reforestation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_Arthus-Bertrand) He was also an assistant director and an actor in his early years. All these experience contribute to the credibility of his material. The facts that were presented all throughout the film were research-based (as cited in Home-2009.com). However, if the audience would see only the film, the basis of the statistics presented is not mentioned in it, thus, could make the audience question the reliability of these facts. Still, the credibility of the filmmaker himself has been transferred to the material itself, contributing to the persuasive power of the film. Pathos is the speakers appeal to emotion. As what have been mentioned earlier, arousing emotions is the common denominator of all forms of communication. Most of the time, a man feels before he thinks. Thus, appealing to ones emotion is an effective tool for persuading. According to Carrada (2006) the best way to choose a tool to lend emotions to a topic is to identify your own emotions as a scientist, and then find the closest possible link with your audience: the feelings of wonder at how nature works, intellectual curiosity, the search for answers to important existential questions or world problems, the pleasure of working in special areas and so forth. This, I believe, has been evident in Home. The emotions brought by the various elements of the film, from the artistic and historical view of the world, to the musical score accompanying it, to the language and paralanguage used, were the emotions that I believe were transferred by the filmmaker himself. Although he was not physically present in the entire film, it was an expression of his thoughts and emotions as well. A scientist is generally curious, and humans are innately curious as well. The issues presented in the film are actually not new anymore to most of its audience, but the presentation makes us think and wonder even more, and eventually make us act upon it the same things the scientist feels towards that issue. Logos is the logical argument. A man feels, and a man thinks. Apart from his emotions, a man is given the capacity to think logically before being persuaded. Blaise Pascal once said, that people are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come in to the mind of others. Each time period and corresponding state of the Earth is logically seamed to each other in Home. The relationship (cause-effect) of each event from the beginning of time to the future of mankind is beautifully presented, allowing the audience to grasp the idea easily with the continuity of thoughts. The scenes may have been shot in different countries, but the relationship among them is clear enough for the audience to understand how one is related to the other, thus, not making them jump from one idea to another. Generally, I believe that the film Home was effective in the use of several elements and principles of communication, particularly in the use of audio and visuals, to achieve its goal to bring public awareness of the current state of the Earth, why it is on this state, and what role we humans play in this current situation. The clarity of the message, the reliability of the production, and the simplicity of the presentation have made the film understandable and reachable to a wide variety of audience. However, I believe that for it to be able to reach other segments of audience (i.e. remote communities), it could be translated into more languages suitable to these types of audience.