How documentaries seek to bring climate change stories to life

This story is part of a CBC News series entitledIn Our Backyard, which looks at the effects climate changeis having in Canada, from extreme weather events to how it's reshaping our economy.

"We need to make sure we don't shut the stable door after the horse has bolted." True to his craft as a nature documentary filmmaker, theproducer ofOur Planetuses a vivid image to warn ofthe dangers of doing nothing about climate change.

"That horsethe haunches are just going through the stable door now," said Keith Scholey."There's just a moment, probably, to grab it by the tailand wrestle it back into the stable.And shut the door with a huge padlock."

That same intense urgency runs throughout Scholey'seight-partOur Planet series, narrated by a fellow veteran of the genre, David Attenborough.

For decades, Attenborough's documentaries have beenrevered for their never-before-filmed scenes of wild animalsand spectacular shots of pristine wildernessall shot with sophisticated camera technology.

Our Planetstill presents the glory of the natural world, but those scenes are now woven together withshocking footageof environmental disasters where entire ecosystems once existed:palm oil plantations, clear cuts, dead coral reefs.

The filmmakers also did something they'd never done before: showanimals dying from their inability to adapt to a changing climate.

"The impacts of our growing population and our consumption now directly threaten our own future," Attenborough told the audience at Our Planet's premiere in London on April 4, a day ahead of its worldwide Netflix launch. "What we do in the next 20 yearswill determine the future."

From heartbreaking footage of struggling wildlife to music videos designed to go viral, some filmmakers and creators are using bold new tactics to ensure their work inspires a global call to action.

Al Gore's 2006 film, An Inconvenient Truth, was one of the most watched documentaries of all time, puttingclimate change on the map for many viewers worldwide. Now13 years later, public concern about the climate is at record levels in several countries including Canada and filmmakers are hoping their messages can help.

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Scholeysaid he knows firsthand how "big landmark wildlife films can reach a lot of people."But healso admits these projects "don't often actually move the dial in terms of changing people's views and habits toward the natural world."

Creating awildlife documentary series with a strong climate change message front and centre is something that hadn't been tried before, he said, so "we just went with our experience and our gut feeling."

'Climate change horror'

One segment of the series shot in Russia in 2017 shows an experiencethat was deeply shocking to the veteran film crew:dozens of walruses plunging to their deaths from atop a rocky cliff.

The huge marine mammals spend much of their time resting with their young on sea ice. But with sea ice melting at an alarming rate, there's less to be found.

Our Planetcaptures onegroup ofwalruses moving onto solid land, with some climbing to the top of an 80-metre cliff. Many then topple to their deaths onto the rocky beach below, seemingly unaware of the effects of such a large drop.

Warning: This footage may be disturbing to some viewers.

After the series debuted in April, some parents complained about the scene, calling itinappropriate for children. Netflix responded by issuinga warning that included timecodes of thescenes viewers may find disturbing.

"At the end of the day, I think, when you make a show like this, the one thing you can't do is lose your nerve," said Scholey. "That scene is deeply disturbingand it shouldn't be happening."

That's why his team felt it essential to includethe footage in the series.

"We knewas soon as we saw that, that this was going to be the footage that would become most associated with the climate change horror that's happening to Arctic species," he said."What we desperately wanted to get across to people was that humanity cannot survive without nature."

In early May, aUnited Nations report warned that one million species are threatened with extinction, "with grave impacts on people around the world now likely."

And in April, Environment and Climate Change Canada reported with "high confidence"that Canada is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world.

Employing entertainment, humour

Creatorsneed to make people feel theemotion of the storyin their guts,but be careful not to leave themfeeling onlydepressed,according to Maggie Stogner, anEmmy Award-winning filmmaker and executive director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University in Washington.

"You lure people in through entertainment, through dramatic characters, though compelling storytelling," she said.

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Stognertells her students that success is having an audience leavethe theatre saying:"I feel empowered. I feel like I have agency. I have a voice."

Audiences of Planet Earth IIseeminglyfelt empowered. A recent studyout of the U.K.showed that onlinesearches for "plastic recycling"increased by 55 per centafter Attenborough issued a call to action on plastic waste in the series, which had highlighted the effectsof such waste on ocean wildlife.

Humour can be an important tool, too.Stogner said one of the best things about comedy is "it captures the attention of peoplewho might go, 'Oh, climate change. Roll my eyes again. Not going to listen.'"

Take David Burd, the comedian-rapper better known as Lil Dicky, who usedhumour to reach out to his massive audience inaprofanity-lacedclimate change song calledEarth.

The song's music video is funny, rude and star-studded: Big-name celebritiesJustin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Snoop Dogg, Shawn Mendes, Miley Cyrus, the Backstreet Boys and Leonardo DiCaprio all make an appearance.

Since its release on April 10, ithas racked up144million views on YouTube.

Warning: the following video contains strong language

Burd's original plan was to enlistas many celebrities as possible for a fun,animal-themedanimated track. But when he discovered the dangers these animals face from climate change, he embraced a larger purpose for the project, partneringwith DiCaprio and the actor's environmental foundation to give a portion of the song's profitsto those on the "front lines" of implementing climate change solutions.

Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, said it was exciting to connect with an audience the foundationdoesn't normally reach. The partnership also sparked an online dialogue.

"Thanks to the internet and social media, we've been contacted by thousands of people offering to help or sharing their ideas for solutions, and then other people comment on those solutions," saidTamminen.

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Beyond social media, some are also finding success sounding the climate change alarm by going straight to the spaces where people gather, whether it's watching late-night TV or visiting a major art gallery.

When Last Week Tonighthost John Oliver devoted an entire showto the Green New Deal in May, the episodesurpassed six million views on YouTube, fuelled by a profanity-laced skit from Bill Nye the Science Guy,the normally kid-friendly presenter.

The Canadian filmmakers behindAnthropocenecreated a large-scale photography exhibition,embedded with virtual reality experiences, as a companion to their documentary, which explores human evolution's devastating effect on the planet. After opening in Toronto and Ottawa, the exhibition is currently on display in Bologna, Italy.

Making an impact

The vivid images, emotional storytellingand optimism about possible solutions laid out byOur Planetmay already behaving an impact.

The series was the most-watched show in the U.K. when it premiered in April, andNetflix, which typically doesn't release viewership figures, estimatedit would be watched in over 25 million homes around the world during that one month alone.

A cornerstone of the series is research from theWorld Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report on global biodiversity and the state of the planet.In 2018, the WWF report concluded that "unsustainable human activity is pushing the planet's natural systems that support life on Earth to the edge."

Since Our Planet's debut, WWF has seen some of its biggest spikes ever on social media, as well as a significant increase in traffic to its website.

In addition to reaching a global audience via Netflix, the Our Planetteam'sstrategy also involves speaking directly to government policy-makers and industry leaders.

U.S. ambassadors and members of Congressattended screenings of the series held at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington. And the filmmakers weren't sure anyone would show up for screenings they scheduled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said Scholey.But demand was so high, they added extra showings.

From there, the momentum continued, with the World BankandChristine Lagarde, managing director ofthe International Monetary Fund, both requesting presentations, said Scholey.

"The emergency that's coming our way with the environment is going to be like a major conflict," he said, before taking a cue fromOur Planetand tempering his warning with a dose of optimism.

"I think once that has sunk in, we will see huge change happenvery, very quickly."