Mark Lee See Teck and Chin Kit Ling*

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia

*c_kitling@upm.edu.my 

It is undeniable that the sophisticated technological society that we live in today has brought us convenience beyond imagination. But later did we realize that these rapid advancements has dedicated to the deteriorating environmental health which one of them involves the negative issue of deforestation. Although it has reached to the boiling point of a daily argumentative debating topic, many are still unaware of the fact on the importance of saving our forest. Let aside protecting, most still denies the daily actions that individual undertakes that causes harm to it.

Transition of technology in audiovisual tool.

Since the invention of the television set in the 1920s’, it serves the purpose as an experimental object before it is introduced and marketed as a consumers’ product [1]. Beginning its innovation with solely black and white images that sits in the lab, it has topped its standings with high definition visuals and fancy sound surround systems in most households as a mundane product. Therefore, it serves as an important communication tool in sending important messages to inform, market, entertain and educate its users via a screen in front. Also, until today, users are provided with more audiovisual tools rather than just television itself.

Environmental activists have long begin to raise their voice onto issues of the dreadful harm that some developing industry has dedicate to the deforestation issue and causing manmade disasters which can be avoidable if regulations are strengthen and followed accordingly. Also, there are many filmmakers that are stakeholders to the deforestation issue, constantly produce films of various genres that highlights on this topic. As they are aware that through the advancement of the technology systems, their messages can be heard globally, whether the harm that has caused and ways each role to plays in forest conservation.

Through research and studies that are performed recent years, it has proven that people study and reacts stronger through audiovisual tools compared to oral interpretation alone [2-10]. Audiovisual tool helps us to engage to the message/s with constant changing images and sound. This enables the memory to be encoded in the medial temporal lobe of the brain that causes emotions to develop which will gradually lead to attitude change in an individual [7]. Research has also proven that 65% of the people learns more efficiently via audiovisual tools compared to words alone [11]. Therefore, referring to the points above, there are an increasing number of film contents that motivates its audiences into forest conservation methods.

Filmmakers together with scientific experts uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling in protecting the once 30% of the forest that occupies our earth’s land surface. Therefore, various factors are implied into their content whether through fear, encouragement, cause and effect factors in gradually changing the attitude towards forest conservation. Not only that, with the advancements of audiovisual tools, it allows us to feel and blend into the nature that was once taken for granted. As the number of realizations increases in stakeholders, many institutions even organize nature film festivals to encourage and provide filmmakers with a more credible platform in sharing and reaching their concerns and messages on this subject matter globally.

Numerous nature or environmental film festivals organized to develop public understanding of the nature through the power of film.

REFERENCES

[1] Burt, J. (2002). Animals in Film. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.

[2] Bouse, D. (2000). Wildlife Films. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

[3] Lindenfeld, L. (2010). Can documentary food films like Food Inc. achieve their promise? Environmental Communication, 4(3), 378–386.

[4] Jacobsen, G. D. (2011). The Al Gore effect: An Inconvenient Truth and voluntary carbon offsets. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 61(1), 67–78.

[5] Arendt, F., & Matthes, J. (2014). Nature documentaries, connectedness to nature, and pro-environmental behavior. Environmental Communication, 10(4), 453–472. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2014.993415

[6] Soga, M., Gaston, K. J., Yamaura, Y., Kurisu, K., & Hanaki, K. (2016). Both direct and vicarious experiences of nature affect children’s willingness to conserve biodiversity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13, 529.

[7] Howell, R. A. (2014). Investigating the long-term impacts of climate change communications on individuals’ attitudes and behavior. Environment and Behavior, 46(1), 70–101.

[8] Hofman, K., & Hughes, K. (2017). Protecting the Great Barrier Reef: analysing the impact of a conservation documentary and post-viewing strategies on long-term conservation behaviour. Environmental Education Research, 24(4), 521–536.

[9] Griffin, L. N. (2017). Audience reactions to climate change and science in disaster cli-fi films : a qualitative analysis. Journal of Public Interest Communications, 1(2), 133–152.

[10] Silk, M. J., Crowley, S. L., Woodhead, A. J., & Nuno, A. (2018). Considering connections between Hollywood and biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology, 32(3), 597–606.

[11] Bradford, W. C. (2004). Reaching the Visual Learner: Teaching Property Through Art . The Law Teacher, 11, 1-5.

Date of Input: 08/07/2020 | Updated: 08/07/2020 | m_hambali