Davey.Matrix_Movies


 * Movies** as **Matrix** Sustainability Problems



Movies, in the theater, festival and the home entertainment center, bring people together in a celebration of culture. These celebrations give us memories, entertainment and an excuse to consume some unhealthy foods. Beyond the movie stars, popcorn and home theater systems lies a matrix of sustainability problems characterized by solid waste, both electronic and otherwise, overuse of energy in the home, theater and during production. While this industry finds itself dominated by extreme over consumption, there is a little green light at the end of the tunnel, which in some cases is fast approaching. In this post I will describe the matrices of the motion picture production process, the movie theater and the home theater. Finally I will present what environmentalists, responsible film makers and actors are doing to remedy the situation.

Exploding cars, fighter jets, buildings falling into the sea, props and fire! All of these things characterize only some of the resources that go into the film production process. Additionally we can tack on the energy consumption of the studio, food waste produced by the cast and crew and the planned obsolescence of the technology. Almost everything associated with making a film can in turn be associated with a sustainability problem. Electricity powers the lights, synthetic chemicals go into the makeup and in the realm of globalization, if a director wants to film on site, the options are fly the entire crew and its gear there, build a set that emulates the desired environment, or use a green screen, which uses computers that tend to be replaced every two years, thus generating e-waste, to be discussed later. The movie industry has been investigated in a number of studies to show that it does indeed constitute a large amount of energy use and waste production.There is a widespread and deep-seated fear that any publicity about their environmental programs will attract unwanted attention to issues that still need to be addressed. According to a study contracted by UCLA, none want to be the first to implement environmental programs that are not at least cost-neutral, and none want to be public about their initiatives without at least several other studios following suit.  Despite the negative ideas presented above, many producers have made great strides in both investigating and developing sustainable film making protocols. A code of best practices for film making presents both simple and advanced checklists which outline actions such as choosing production venues and equipment based on energy efficiency, choosing local hotels versus international chains, using small scale studios for editing or doing it at home to reduce energy use, utilizing tape-less (digital) production when possible to prevent accumulation of solid waste, avoiding printing documents and even making sure to treat animal actors or wildlife with respect on set. In addition to this checklist, some films stand out as exemplars of performance in the realm of environmental consciousness. //The Matrix// (ironically) parts 2 and 3 boasted a 97.5% recycling and reuse rate of set materials and associated waste. This stands our as far more impressive than films such as //The Day After Tomorrow// where rather than reduce, recycle and reuse the director put his own personal funds toward carbon credits, which supposedly offset the film's consumption. It should be noted that BP and Bank of America are two of the top ranked companies in the trade of carbon credits, which happens to remain a fairly unregulated industry.
 * Film Production**

Movie theaters present us with every excuse to throw away our inhibitions around overspending and overeating, but they also consume a great deal of energy themselves. While current statistics on waste and energy use generated by movie theaters is elusive, in Chattanooga, Tennessee a LEED gold certified theater opened its doors last year. This venue has 12 screens and covers seventy thousand square feet. Aside from the VIP theaters and 3-D capability, it's features include a white roof which reflects solar heat, over 1.5 million pounds of recycled or reused debris from reconstruction, paints, carpet, wall covering and sealants are all low in volatile organic compounds. A combination of rainwater from the roof being used to flush toilets and low flow fixtures will reduce the facility's water use by 66% and the theater expects to use 15% less electricity than the average venue. While this case is impressive, as of 2009, there were 39,233 movie theater screens in the United States, and this theater in Chattanooga only accounts for 12 of those. Green film festivals such as "Planet In Focus" are one method of promoting awareness within the film community, as the leaders among those groups believe there is a market demand for their films, other than the eco-fringe that dominates their current consumer base.
 * Movie Theaters**

The most dangerous stage for the movie industry finds us at home. Home theaters represent one of the most popular forms of consumption in the United States. Combining television, video, audio, gaming and other uses, Sony's website declares its products energy use to have increased by 2% from 2008 to 2009, resulting in 23 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions for the year. This example only considers one company's products. Additionally, Sony does not account for outdated products which may still be functioning in the market. We can likely multiply these figures by Sony's numerous competitors, resulting in a staggering amount of total emissions for home theaters as a whole. Aside from the energy use, these systems present the problem of electronic waste, which greatly affects poor people in developing countries, such as China and Ghana, where electronic waste is melted down in order to capture and sell materials on crude recycling markets. According to a study on Ghana, 12 million computers are disposed of annually, while 10% of that figure are recycled or re-manufactured and 80% are exported to developing countries. The consequences of crude recycling various health risks, including cancer and increased birth defects, and the stakeholders are far from our home theaters. In order to counteract this type of waste and injustice, policy needs to be implemented to include stricter regulation on recycling exports and imports. Technology companies should be required to implement take back and reuse plans from their consumers, perhaps offering a discount for goods that are returned. This type of program would require a great amount of investment on the part of the corporation and is therefore unlikely without government influence.
 * Home Theaters**

Sources: 1. iHollywood Forum Announces First Hollywood Goes Green Summit on December 11-12, 2007. (18 October). //Business Wire.// Retrieved November 2, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 1368078101). 2. [] 3. [] 4. [] 5. [] 6. [] 7. [] 8. [] 9. [] 10. [] 11. [] 12. [] 13. []

Peer Reviewed: 1. [] 2. Taarini Chopra, & Erin Elliott. (2006). Behind the Green Screen. //Alternatives Journal, 32// (4/5), 31-32. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1193606861). 3. Oteng-Ababio, M.. (2010). E-waste: an emerging challenge to solid waste management in Ghana. //International Development Planning Review, 32// (2), 191-206. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from ProQuest Social Science Journals. (Document ID: 2022130111).

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