Written by Sneh Lahurikar
Edited by Mehul Shah
Illustration by Saranya Bhakuni
The paintings look marvelous, don't they? The artist pours out their soul on the canvas trying to reach out with their message through the composition they have created. The artworks have a significant environmental impact and boast a surprisingly large carbon footprint.
The process of manufacturing the raw materials for art pieces includes excessively extractive processes, such as mining for raw materials and finishing their production in polluting industries. An average piece releases 2.3 kilos of CO2. Moreover, galleries and exhibitions where artists and collectors travel from all over the world are leaving behind an unimaginable trail of environmental damage.
Let's take the example of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which serve as an absolute digitized representation of the art world. The entire process of minting, mining and completing the blockchain transactions results in an average NFT accruing 211 kilos of CO2 in emissions.
Consider that these are the emissions from a simple piece of artwork. Just try imagining the emissions coming from a Hollywood movie. Nowadays, each film is trying to outcompete the other at the box office and in the eyes of the critics. To achieve these, the actors must put out great performances requiring the perfect makeup, accurate costumes, optimal lighting, and systems ready to capture dialogue and the actions portrayed.
Even with all these measures, there is always room for error. The actor forgets their lines, the lighting doesn't highlight the character's appearance enough, and the camera angle does not capture the message intended for the scene.
Any of these and more factors result in retakes. These can go on endlessly till the scene is just perfect in the eyes of the director. With each retake, everything has to be readjusted to the initial phase- every resource has to be used again to recreate that scene, with no guarantee it'll be the last one.
Additionally, each take gets recorded and saved in case the director and editors change their minds. It is a rule of thumb in the industry to allocate an hour to shoot a scene that lasts a minute in the final product. Can you imagine the number of resources required each time a retake is needed? Even with digital cinematography cutting traditional 35mm film out of the picture, the bulky equipment used during the production more than adds to the environmental footprint of that movie.
All this was just a glimpse into the shooting; sets have to be constructed, scripts have to be distributed, refreshments are always required on board, the entire crew has to travel for the shoot or promote the film, and energy-guzzling systems have to be turned on all the time to allow for editing or adding special effects, digital and print advertisement campaigns have to be run to ensure commercial success.
An average film contributes 500 tonnes of CO2 in emissions to the environment; one single film. With the current practices that emphasize creating the best possible movie without worrying about environmental impact, that number will rise. Imagine summing up all Hollywood movies and then adding regional film industries and all their films to the mix. That number only grows exponentially with each added factor.
Unfortunately, TV shows follow the same modus operandi as the production of a film. That means they generate similar amounts of emissions. A recent study by BBC revealed the number of emissions released by their in-house
production activities: about 8.2 tonnes of CO2 generated for each hour of content produced.
It is painstakingly simple to do the math after this point. With each unique form of visual self-expression (anime, music videos, TV shows, YouTube, etc.) becoming such an integral part of one's self-expression, the overall content and entertainment industry is only contributing larger and larger emissions to the already worsening situation.
It won't matter if the academy decides to serve a vegan or cruelty-free menu at the Oscars and the after-party if their enterprise continues to generate an ungodly amount of negative impact on the environment. It is the need of the hour to rethink our increasing demand for consumption of the various forms of expression- which only pressurizes various productions, publishers, creators, etc. to pump out their creations in the form of films, shows, books, magazines, content, etc.
These forms of expression play a massive role in shaping individual ideologies and public opinions and delivering a message to their audience. If these forms themselves aren't freed from the barriers of their polluting mechanisms, the future of our expression and even the planet doesn't look too bright. Sustainability in producing these forms of expression must be of utmost importance so we can continue to ideate freely without adding to the already pressing climate situation.
Comments