Master's Signature

EFFECTIVEESS OF FILMS I PROPAGATIG EVIROMETAL ISSUES

A comparison between live action and animation films

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science in Communication

Department of Media Studies Christ University, Bangalore

2012

Deepa Chandrashekhar Reg.No:1024017

Christ University Bangalore 560 029 Master's Signature

This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a master’s thesis by

Deepa Chandrashekhar Reg.o:1024017

and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made.

Committee Members:

______Dr. Sagarika Golder

______

Date:______

I, Deepa Chandrashekhar, confirm that this dissertation and the work presented in it are original.

1. Where I have consulted the published work of others this is always clearly attributed. 2. Where I have quoted from the work of others the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations this dissertation is entirely my own work. 3. I have acknowledged all main sources of help. 4. If my research follows on from previous work or is part of a larger collaborative research project I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself. 5. I am aware and accept the penalties associated with plagiarism.

Date: Signature of Student

Christ University

Abstract

Effectiveness of films in propagating environmental issues- A comparison between live action and animation films

Deepa Chandrashekhar

Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr Sagarika Golder Department of Media Studies

The thesis aims at finding out which is a better medium to communicate environmental issues. For the purpose of the research, four films were selected, two live action films and two animation films. 2012 and 8 Below are the two live action films and Wall-E and Madagascar are the two animation films. The study had a sample of 86 people, 45 females and 41 males respectively between the age group of 18 to 28 years. A survey was conducted, consisting of four questions each for the four films. The questions were devised to find out the theme of the films, whether or not the film has scientific grounding and if yes as to the reason why. After tabulating and analysing the results it can be seen that animation films are more popular as 76% of the sample has seen the animation films and majority of the sample believes the films have scientific grounding and that the issues and rendered in a comic fashion. 2012 and Madagascar have been watched equally by the sample, both of them have 80 percent.

TABLE OF COTETS

Chapter 1 ...... 1 ITRODUCTIO ...... 1 1.1Rationale ...... 1 1.2 Operational Definitions ...... 2 1.3 2012 ...... 3 1.48 Below ...... 4 1.5 Wall-E ...... 6 1.6 Madagascar ...... 7 References: ...... 9 CHAPTER 2 ...... 10 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 10 2.1Animation And America ...... 10 2.2 Up Close and Political Three Short Ruminations on Ideology in the Nature Film ... 12 2.3 The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar .. 14 References ...... 18 Chapter 3 ...... 20 METHODOLOGY ...... 20 References ...... 24 CHAPTER 4 ...... 25 AALYSIS ...... 25 Analysis for the film 2012 ...... 27 Analysis of 8 Below ...... 32 Analysis for the movie Wall-E ...... 36 Analysis for the movie Madagascar ...... 40 Rating of the Films ...... 44 References ...... 45 Chapter 5 ...... 46 COCLUSIO ...... 46 Educational implications ...... 48 Limitations to the Study ...... 49 Suggestions for further studies ...... 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 50 APPEDIX ...... 52

LIST OF TABLES

4.1 Table showing number of people who have watched 2012 and 8 Below 25 4.2 Table showing number of people who have watched Wall-E and Madagascar 26 4.3 Table showing choice of theme of the sample for the film 2012 27 4.4 Table showing number of people who believe the film 2012 is scientific 28 4.5 Table showing reason as to why 2012 is scientific 29 4.6 Table showing choice of theme of the sample for the film 8 Below 32 4.7 Table showing number of people who believe the film 8 Below is scientific 34 4.8 Table showing reason as to why 8 Below is scientific 34 4.9 Table showing choice of theme of the sample for the film Wall-E 36 4.10 Table showing number of people who believe the film Wall-E is scientific 38 4.11 Table showing reason as to why Wall-E is scientific 38 4.12 Table showing choice of theme of the sample for the film Madagascar 40 4.13 Table showing number of people who believe the film Madagascar is scientific 42 4.14 Table showing reason as to why Madagascar is scientific 43 4.15 Table showing the rating of the films on a scale of 1 to 5 44

LIST OF DIAGRAMS

4.1Pie Diagram showing number of individuals who have watched the four films 26 4.2Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film 2012 27 4.3Pie Diagram showing why people think 2012 is scientific 29 4.4Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film 8 Below 32 4.5Pie Diagram showing why people think 8 Below is scientific 34 4.6Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film Wall-E 36 4.7Pie Diagram showing why people think Wall-E is scientific 38 4.8Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film Madagascar 40 4.9Pie Diagram showing why people think Madagascar is scientific 43

iii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Image 4.1 Snapshot of Adrian Helmsely and Dr.SatnamTsurutani discussing 28 Image 4.2 Snapshot of the water that has heated up from the core 28 Image 4.3 Illustration of the Pangea 30 Image 4.4: Snapshot of an action sequence in the film. 30 Image 4.5:Snapshot of Volcano erupting in Yellowstone National Park. 31 Image 4.6:Snapshot of Paul Walker and Max reuniting after the bitter cold season. 33 Image 4.7: Snapshot of the sled dogs finding food 33 Image 4.8: Jerry and the family of his eight sled dogs 35 Image 4.9: Snapshot of Maya, the leader of the pack during the bitter cold weather 35 Image 4.10: Snapshot of a Dysfunctional Wall-E 37 Image 4.10: Snapshot showing how garbage is piled up to the height of skyscrapers. 37 Image 4.11: Snapshot of Captain McCree when he first saw the plant 37 Image 4.12: Snapshot of Wall-E when he first sees the plant 39 Image 4.13: Snapshot illustrating the four of them in their native environment in New York’s Central Park Zoo 39 Image 4.14: Snapshot illustrating how animal is behaving like a human 41 Image 4.15: Snapshot illustrating that the four of them have arrived to Madagascar 42 Image 4.16:Snapshot illustrating showing the penguins in Madagascar 44

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my guide Dr Sagarika Golder, for helping from choosing my topic till the completion; I would not have been able to do so without her invaluable help.

I would like to thank Christ University for giving me an opportunity to work on this Further more I would like to thank Father Biju KC our course co-ordinator to help us in through every step.

DEDICATION

To my family for always being there for me to guide me and to help me through my life. To the filmmakers and the whole crew who have spent years in making these films. To the late Steve Jobs, without whom Pixar films would not be in the shape it is now

Chapter 1

ITRODUCTIO

1.1Rationale

Environmental issues have been explained in many ways some effective and some efforts very futile. This dissertation aims to study, which is the better medium of explaining to the audience about environmental issues. Through a story individuals can get inspired to protect the environment. Several movies have been made to explain movies with environment protection as its basis. Stories have been moulded based on events that have actually happened in the past, and phenomenon that can happen in the future.

Live action films have real characters while animation movies have animated characters, which are digitally constructed. Animation as a medium of films gives moviemakers a chance to do a lot more by making things larger than life. A combination of mediums has also occurred but not very successful as a medium, examples could include movies such as Beowulf and Benjamin Button.

Events that could probably occur in the future are better explained through the medium of animation, and the researcher wants to prove by her findings that animation, as a medium is more effective. The topic is unique as it aiming to test the better medium when it comes to environment protection. Studies have been conducted independent of the two topics, environment issues, but to find out which is better than the other has not been done. A film has been analysed for many other aspects, but not for environmental issues, impact studies, theme studies and more have been done. But environmental issues have not been studied.

The researcher wants to find out which is better a medium for explaining environmental issues. Live action films and Animation movies are the two mediums, which she wants to analyse. Documentaries have been studied extensively across the globe but a comparison of these two mediums has so far not been done. Global warming is a serious issue, which needs to be represented by different forms of medium. Based on this research, moviemakers can understand which is the better medium for environmental causes.

1.2 Operational Definitions

Every research study has its own set of definitions applicable to the area of study following are the list of definitions applicable to this study-

Live Action Films: Apple’s British dictionary defines live action films as- live action in films involving filming real people or animals, as contrasted with animation or computer-generated effects. Animation Films: Apple’s British dictionary defines animation films as- the technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the film is shown as a sequence, also computer animation- the manipulation of electronic images by means of a computer in order to create moving images. Scientific grounding- Apple’s British dictionary defines Scientific as- based on or characterized by the methods and principles of science: the scientific study of earthquakes, relating to or used in science: scientific instruments.Grounding- basic training or instruction in a subject. Scientific grounding then means that has its base in science, things that have been observed and proven.

The researcher has taken four films as a part of her study. The four films were 2012, 8 Below, Wall-E and Madagascar

1.3 2012

2012 is a live action film with a cast, which includes actors- John Cusack, ChiwetelEjiofor, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, Tom McCarthy. (Emmerich, 2009). The Director of the film is RolandEmmerich who has a list of Academy Award winning films such as Independence Day(1996) The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998) and The Patriot (2000) The film has been given a rating certificate of PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested). The studio is Sony Pictures, the DVD was released on March 2, 2010, and the films runtime is 158 minutes. Roland Emmerich as a director/ producer has always taken films, which deals with large-scale disasters, Independence Day (1996), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and the latest film 2012.

The movie shows how the world is facing the eventual dooms day. The story is shown through a families point if view Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) who is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles who is a part-time limousine driver. Jackson takes his two children Noah and Lilly camping where he hears a radio programme which is explaining the theory that the polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar that the world will end on the 12 of December 2012. He has a map of the Ark project.

The movie starts off with explaining sun flares and its effects on water and heating up the earth’s core, the next scene is when Adrian Hemsley goes to talk to Carl Anheuser and tries to explain to him the problems the world is going to face. The world is going through a whole of crisis and the geological crisis is the biggest. The President of the USA then explains the situation of the world. A massive earthquake occurs where the road and buildings spilt it into two. Another earthquake happens which is even more strong, they family gets into the car the roads is falling down and the debris are following like water, the visual effects of the movie make the impact even more strong. Cassandra and Pacific fault starts to destabilise. The visual effects of the film make the impact of the destruction even more intense. He locates a map to find out the location of the ark is, a volcano starts to erupt. Once they find the map they barely manage to get onto the plane. The President of the USA does not want to leave and go to the Ark, an Ash cloud occurs, which engulfs Washington. Karpov and Antanov start flying to China, they leave the airport without permission. The Russian family

along with Curtis’ head towards China. In China they got down through cars and go up to the post.

Mass destruction around the globe is shown, how Tsuanmi’s engulf India, how earthquakes and volcanoes destroys continents. The ending of the movie shows the Ark’s that are built in China and by Chinese. They show the lives of people. Only some people have been chosen to get onto the Ark. The Curtis family struggles and finds a way into the Ark, how the Curtis family gets into the Ark. The Chinese worker is stuck, the hydraulics are jammed as a cable is stuck. The family is reunited after the struggle, they step out of the ark to see what is left of the world. The Himalayas are no longer the highest peak, the Drakensberg Mountains in Africa is at the highest point on earth, and Cape of Good Hope is where the Ark is going. A satellite image of Earth is shown which looks very different.

1.48 Below

8 Below is a live action film, which is a movie starring: Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, WendyCrewson.(DiGilio, 2006) Eight Below’sdirector is Frank Marshall who has a list of academy award films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Back to the Future (1985) The Sixth Sense (1999) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). The writers of the film are: David DiGilio, KoreyoshiKurahara, Susumu Saji, Tatsuo Nogami, ToshirôIshidô. The producers are ChristineIso the co-producer of the sci-fi film The Ring (2002), David Hoberman who is known for both several Television shows and films Monk (2002), The Fighter (2010), The Proposal (2009) and The Negotiator (1998). The film Eight Below has been rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested). Both Walt Disney Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment produced the movie. The of the film was released on the 20 th of June, 2006, the films run time is 120 minutes. (Internet Movie Database)

The movie is a real life adaptation of an incident that occurred in 1958 in Antarctica when the Japanese had gone to find out only 2 dogs survived.

The movie starts of with Paul Walker and Jason Biggs running around to reveal the exposition shot and the title of the movie. The movie is set in Antarctica, the first location is the National Science Foundation Base. The setting is shown more, by

showing the penguins jumping into the water. Jerry wakes up the dogs and feeds all of them fish. A private airplane lands introducing a character Katie, followed by Dr Davis from UCLA. The next morning they head out, Dr Davis is introduced to all the 8 dogs- Maya, Max, Old Jack, Shadow, Buck, Truman, Dewey and Shorty.

The journey to the location is hazardous, they have to move on ice, which at times is thin and can break easily. While they were crossing an ice path, the ice breaks, and Dr Davis falls into a crevice, all the dogs rescue him out. They setup a tent as night was approaching, the dogs are taken care of by Jerry, and they continue to travel the next morning. The Weather station notifies the Base that a low-pressure belt is on its way, later on it is communicated that a strong storm is on its way. A mercury stone needs to be located and the Dr insists on finding it. To locate it took a lot of time, they looked around a vast stretch and eventually they did find it. On their way back they were heading into the storm so the path was more hazardous. The Dr then slips and falls into thin ice, the dogs rescue him up, Maya crawls through and puts a lasso around the doctor. Jerry and other dogs pull him up, and take him back to the base. The weather conditions were getting worse, so they had to fly out with the Dr Davis.

Dr Davis is taken back and the dogs are tied, everyone clears the base and the weather conditions become very grave and they cannot return soon, so the dogs are tied they are calling for Jerry when the plane lifts off the base.

Due to the severe weather conditions the dogs cannot be brought back. The dogs escape and go around, the have to find food and they share amongst each other. Jerry goes to different locations looking for some way to go back to his dogs. The dogs health starts to deteriorate some even die and get injured. The dogs start to fight with other animals for food. Eventually Jerry does find a way to go back to the dogs. They found a helicopter, they land on a barge ship, through which they reach the Italian base, and they take a powerful mobile sledge to the American base.

For 175 days the dogs have been alone. Maya is injured. When Jerry reaches five dogs come back running to him, the fastest in the group was Max. The dogs and Jerry are very excited to see each other. Max takes Jerry to Maya, who is alive but very weak. For the six of them to survive through this arduous task and reach home is a very nice ending.

1.5 WallE

Wall-E is an animation film. With actors Ben Burtt, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, Elissa Knight, John Ratzenberger.(Stanton, 2008)The film has been directed by Andrew Stanton known for his films Wall-E (2008), Finding Nemo (2003) Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999). The movie was released in the year 2008. The website RottenTomatoes hasgiven the film a rating: 8.5/10. The film has been rated: G (General Audience). The studio of production is Walt Disney in association with Pixar

As said in the prologue of Wall.E in its Junior Novelization “In the vast region of outer space, beyond the twinkling lights of a million starts, a murky, smog covered Earth floats lonely and silent. The deepest oceans are all dried and gone. What had once been blue sky is now a dust-choked brown that can still look almost golden when sunlight filters through it… Day in and day out, for more than seven hundred years, he has worked to clean up the mess left by humankind. The scouring sands that sweep along the avenues seldom deter him as he thrusts his shovel-like hands into the heaps of trash and scoops it into the compacting unit in his chest. Once full he closes the squeaky doors of his front panel, shakes a little, and produces yet another perfect cube ready to be stacked. This is his directive. It is what he has been programmed to do. His name is Wall.E: Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth class. He is a robot. He is dented, dirty and rusted. And he is about to change the entire world.”(Trimble, 2008)

Wall-E is the protagonist of the film. Until the second half of the film no dialogues are present. The film exposition shot is of polluted earth; garbage is stacked up to the height of skyscrapers. Humans no longer inhabit Earth; Wall-E has been cleaning the earth for 700 years. He has lived a programmed life for 700 years, day in and out he cleans the earth. A unique characteristic of the robot is that he collects certain articles or items, which he finds interesting amongst the garbage he compacts, items such as iPods, old television, cassette tapes and songs from the 40s. He has no companion until the robot Eve comes to earth. The routine goes on; on the second day he breaks open a refrigerator to find a plant, which is a complete contrasts to the otherwise dusty

6 brown orange colour in the film. Wall-E is fascinated by it and he stores the plant and the mid in an old shoe.

The next seen is of the character Eve entering the story line. The first time they saw each other Eve shot Wall-E. Songs explains the scenes, as there are no dialogues. Wall-E and Eve talk to each other, and Eve asks Wall-E’s directive. Eve is able to pronounce Wall-E’s name correctly, but Wall-E calls Eve as Eva. Eve is a full form for Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator.

The plot thickens when Eve observes the plant and goes into lockdown mode, she is transported back to the Axiom, the place in which humans reside in the future. Wall-E goes along with her and follows her. The captain McCree is shown that plant life has been detected on Earth, he doesn’t know what a plant is and what it looks like. A video comes up explaining that Earth can be recolonized as photosynthesis has occurred. Auto the autopilot persuades him that there is no need to go back to earth; this is the conflict of the film. A fight for the plant occurs, the plant needs to be placed in a hologram so that the humans can go back to Earth. Wall-E and Eve are sent out as garbage and find their way back into the Axiom. They fight against the cleaning or steward robots. Once the captain is able to press the button the Axioms displays show the green leaf. The captain takes baby steps towards auto and disables him. The captain drives the Axiom back to earth. The cockroach is still waiting for Wall-E, humans gets back to earth, which is a whole lot cleaner than what they had left it as. Eva takes back damaged Wall-E and fixes him from the knick-knacks he had collected. The movie ends with the two of them holding hands, the movie ends with the song Hello Dolly, and in the visuals, plants are growing back again on Earth.

1.6 Madagascar

Madagascar is an animation film with an all star cast, the actors: are Ben Stiller as Alex, Chris Rock as Marty, David Schwimmer as Melman, Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria, Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien, Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice.(Mark Burton, 2005) The directors of the film are Tom McGrath who is known for his films Megamind (2010) Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005), Eric Darnell for Antz (1998) and Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), The Madagascar Penguins in a 7

Christmas Caper (2005), Gary Trousdale. The film is rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested). The production studio: isDreamworks Animated and it was releasedin the year 2005. The films run time is 86 minutes

The movie starts of in Marty dreaming about being in the wild and the penguins dancing along with him, and Alex following him in the jungle. It’s the first day and Alex wakes up all the animals his friends, Melman and Gloria in New York City’s Central Park. The day is Friday and school students are being brought Alex is the centre of action, which all the children are watching, the other animals are given no attention. The penguins are the next most watched act all the animals are fed. The penguins dig and come into Marty and Alex’s area, they want to dig their way through Antarctica, Marty gets inspired by this and wants to go to the wild. In the night all the animals celebrate together with him his birthday and Alex gives him a gift of himself. Marty then talks to them about going into the wild. Marty follows the penguins and goes into a shipping vessel, Alex, Gloria and Melman go out to find Marty, the zookeepers decide that it is time that the animals return to the wild. All the animals reach Madagascar.

The Lamurs in Madagascar are singing and dancing and performing a ritual while the four animals enter, they observe and think that these animals are Californian animals. The four of them are called Pansies, the song is played showing the characters in Madagascar Alex is made the head of the jungle as he is a Lion.

The conflict arises when a bunch of fossa arrive to kill the Marty, Gloria and Melman, Marty tries to persuade Alex to protect them, since Alex is a lion and the pride of the jungle. He hunting instincts begin to show. The Fossa try to attack the Lemurs, and Alex protects them, since Alex has been banished for a long time he became hungry and almost attacked Marty, he later comes back to senses.

The penguins did not like Antarctica and they land in Madagascar. Marty goes to meet Alex and call him so they can go back to New York. Meanwhile to Fossa come to attack them Alex and the penguins fight the fossa and scare them away. The Lemurs throw a party for them as they are leaving, the penguins did not tell the four animals that the fuel is over, this sets the stage for the second Madagascar movie- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

References:

2012. By Roland Emmerich. Dir. Roland Emmerich. Perf. Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor John Cusack. 2009.

Eight Below. By David DiGilio. Dir. Frank Marshall. Perf. Paul Walker. Walt Disney Pictures, 2006.

Trimble, Irene. Wall.E- The Junior Novelization. Mumbai: Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Pixar, 2008.

Madagascar. By Billy Frolick Mark Burton. Dir. Tom McGrath Eric Darnell. Perf. Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer Chris Rock. 2005.

Internet Movie Database. 2012 (2009) - IMDB. 17 September 2011 .

Internet Movie Database. Eight Below (2006) - IMDB. 17 September 2011 .

Internet Movie Database. WALL•E (2008) - IMDB. 17 September2011 .

Internet Movie Database. Madagascar (2005) - IMDB. 17 September 2011 .

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Reading of literature that has already been done helps researchers to gain better understanding of their area of research. Defining the problem of study is simpler and accurate for researcher, by reading up prior studies researchers can find out the kind of methodology they can use and also estimate the time they would take to complete their research. Following are some of the researcher works the researcher had gone through while researching.

2.1Animation And America

The book review explains how Animation is something purely invented by Americans just like Jazz and Broadway musicals, about how they are an indigenous art form for America. He then goes to explain the significance of the name of the book written by Paul Wells: “In enunciating itself, Animation enunciates America: history, mythology, freedom”. Author of Understanding Animation (Routledge,1998), and Animation: Genre and Authorship (Wallflower, 2002), Paul Wells now adds a third contribution to the ever-expanding field of animation studies, and one which, in many ways, is a continuation and partial repetition of both his earlier works. Urging the centrality of movement to the language of animation, his introduction also claims an essential radicalism in the epistemological nature of animation, which by its very nature abstracts reality. He goes on to suggest that even in its most popular form, the history of the animated cartoon in the United States has been a social history of modernity. In this, Wells also sees animation’s difference and otherness as expressive of America’s cultural contradictions and anxieties.”

Furthermore he goes about to describe the criteria that have been used to understand and explain animation films. He associates them to modernist practices and philosophic dimensions of avant-garde. Wells’ first chapter talks about the pre-Disney 10

era animation pioneers such as Otto Messmer, Winsor McCay and J. Stuart Blackton and their works have explored the limits of graphic pictorialism and narrative orthodoxy. He talks about the term that Wells coined “cartoonal attractions” to describe animation that foregrounds the graphic, non-linear specificities of the medium.

The second chapter talks of “The Disney Effect” it reads the studio as a central to postwar emergence of American culture, whilst careful not to claim the studio was the vanguard of modernist aesthetics. He notes that Wells locates the key modernist ethos to be situated in Disney’s organisational, technological, and entrepreneurial innovations, which were in certain ways more important than its aesthetic achievements, and which enabled its dominance up until 1941. (Thompson, 2004)

Then, in “New Disney, Old Stories,”Wells traces the post-Walt era through to Toy Story, marking the renaissance of the studio (and the industry, by extension) in the contributions of three key men: John Lasseter, the founder of PIXAR and the director of the first CGI animated live action, and the team of Ron Clements and Ron Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules). In the musical utopias of both classical and modern Disney, he identifies romantic yearning and the “maturation” story (from Bambi to Ariel) as the key to audience identification, and that, which subsumes the historical into the personal meta-narrative.(Thompson, 2004)

Disney style s identified by its strategically use of privileges emotion, agency, and the personal over the socio-cultural and political ideas that would be more evident in “cartoonal” animation. In the last chapters of Wells’ book he talks in detail about the movie Toy Story, and its characters. He acknowledges that Toy Story is a modernism not of shock or disorientation but of a “meditation of what it is to love, what is fundamentally human and what intrinsic values underpin our mortality.” Even more surprisingly, Wells points to the metaphysical here: “a return to spirituality that underpins radical modernism in the cartoonal and avant-garde forms” (Thompson, 2004)

The writer then goes about to explain the different criteria used by Wells to understand and analyse other animation auteurs such as Hanna Barbera’sHuckelberry

Hound, Yogi Bear and The Flintstones and to recent animation television shows such as The Simpsons. (Thompson, 2004)

2.2 Up Close and Political Three Short Ruminations on Ideology in the ature Film

The writer starts of his paper by discussing about how nature films have been admired by the public audience and in academic as well has been thoroughly ignored by film critiques across the globe and they are called nature films or the more current word he says is “wildlife film”. MacDonald says that humanities and science students have ignored nature films, as there is a gap between the two streams. Books have been released recently, and MacDonald believes that this will affect the popularity of these movies the examples he gives are Winged Migration by Jacques Cluzaud and Jacques Perrin, 2001, Deep Blue by Andy Byatt and Alastair Fothergill, 2003, March of the Penguins by Luc Jacquet, 2005. (MacDonald, 2006)

Scott MacDonald then gives a quote by Bill Nichols “For Nichols, the capacity of the photographic image to generate indexical representations of the world makes it valuable for scientific imaging, but cinema’s very usefulness to science “depends heavily on minimizing the degree to which the image, be it a fingerprint or X-ray, exhibits any sense of perspective or point of view distinctive to its individual maker. A strict code of objectivity, or institutional perspective, applies. The voice of science demands silence, or near silence, from documentarian or photographer.” Since documentary requires a “voice of its own,” according to Nichols—“voice of its own” meaning a clear or at least identifiable ideological position—nature film is by definition not part of documentary history”(MacDonald, 2006)

He then goes about to explain that science is a cultural attempt to find out what aspects of the physical world can be known through observation and experimentation, this is why scientific films have an aura of objectivity. This is primarily because nature films are categorised by the general public as a documentary.

Another reason he says for the lack of popularity amongst film critiques is that it does not have a specific genre as MacDonald says “It is hard to take a genre seriously if one has no sense of it as a genre—and especially since nature films are rarely

exhibited as instances of an evolving history.” Nature is something that changes, in educational institutions movies are shown to students which are old and which talks about things that were existent during the time of making the movie, this is one more reason as to why they are not categorised. Techniques also become outdated, a movie that was made in the 90s can be seen and understood in the 90s, but now the kinds of films are different and students would know watch those films he gives an example Bruce Conner’s recycling of material from outdated educational films in surreal montages Eg. Mongoloid, 1978.(MacDonald, 2006)

He then explains as to how nature filmmaking began, with EadweardMuybridges animal locomotion followed by the Zoopraxiscope . Films about wildlife and hunting were popular in the early 1900s Roosevelt in Africa (1910), shot by Cherry Kearton during Theodore Roosevelt’s African expedition in 1909, the evolution of such films is traced till the movie by Jean Painlevé The Vanishing Prairie (1954). The form has evolved a lot. (MacDonald, 2006)

Next he goes on to compare Disney and Painlevé films. As MacDonald says “Painlevé’s pioneering efforts to demonstrate the potential of cinema in scientific experiment and to establish the nature film as a form that combines good science with entertainment and aesthetic awareness precede Disney’s True-Life Adventure films by two decades.” World over people remember and talk about Disney and their movies relating to nature, generations have seen and grown up with both Disney movies and cartoon television shows. These true-life adventure films are durable as compared to nature films and animations, live action is something that always appeals to people. These movies that were made over 40 years ago are still available in video rental outlets. A combination of both mediums helps in gathering audience’s attention. As MacDonald days: “Disney nature photographers were sent into the field without a script and were supposed to capture the most interesting imagery they could find, and ideally, according to James Algar, “those unexpected and unpredictable happenings that cannot possibly be written into a story ahead of time.” But Disney made sure that the films that developed out of this cinematic research were as carefully constructed and entertainment-driven as any film produced by a Hollywood studio”(MacDonald, 2006)

The movie The Vanishing Prairie is discussed at length, a movie made by Disney the concluding narration of the movie says, ““Nature preserves her own and teaches them how to cope with time and the unaccountable ways of man. Mankind, in turn, beginning to understand Nature’s pattern, is helping her to replenish and rebuild so that the vanishing pageant of the past may become the enduring pageant of the future.” (MacDonald, 2006)

2.3 The 2012 Phenomenon: ew Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar

Robert K. Sitler According to the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar, a cycle of more than 5,000 years will come to fruition on the winter solstice of 2012. While this date is largely unknown among contemporary Maya, some participants in the New Age movement believe it will mark an apocalyptic global transformation. Hundreds of books and Internet sites speculate wildly about the 2012 date, but little of this conjecture has a factual basis in Mayan culture. This paper provides an overview of the primary currents in the 2012 phenomenon, examines their sources, and speculates about developments as this highly anticipated date approaches.

Robert K. Sitler explains what exactly is the Mayan Long Count “Maya used the Long Count calendar during what scholars call the Classic Period of their culture, which lasted from roughly 250–900 c.e. In fact, use of this calendar on the ancient Mayan stone monuments literally defines the Classic Period. The December 21, 2012, date simply marks the last day of the current b’ak’tun8 cycle, a period of 144,000 days roughly equivalent to 394 years. More significantly, it marks the end of the thirteenth b’ak’tun, the culminating period of a far larger calendar cycle that began on August 11, 3114 b.c.e.,9 and that will come to fruition 1,872,000 days later on the 2012 winter solstice. It is important to point out that this so-called Great Cycle was only a minor component in far larger chronological periods that theoretically extend infinitely backwards and forward in time within a system of exponentially increasing temporal cycles that have no final beginning or ending points.” (Thompson, 2004)

The movie 2012 is based on this phenomenon, the catastrophic changes of the world 14 has been shown in the movie. Tsunami’s swallowing entire nations up, glaciers melting rapidly, ash clouds engulfing countries, the movie explains as to what might happen on the 21 st of December 2012 as said by the Mayans.

Sitler then compares the 2012 phenomenon to the Y2K phenomenon he says “The Y2K phenomenon attracted the attention of millions around the world even though, in retrospect, the concerns about global digital collapse that reached international dimensions proved baseless. Similarly, public interest in 2012 does not depend on the date having any substantive significance beyond marking a cyclical change in an ancient calendar.” (Sitler, 2006)

2.4 The Impact of Science Fiction Film on Student Understanding of Science

Michael Barnett, Heather Wagner, Anne Gatling, Janice Anderson, Meredith Houle, and Alan Kafka

The paper has investigated the public understanding of science and has argued that fictional cinema and television has been particularly effective at blurring the distinction between fact and fiction. As said in the paper: “The rationale for this study lies in the notion that to teach science effectively, educators need to understand how popular culture influences their students' perception and understanding of science. Using naturalistic research methods in a diverse middle school we found that students who watched a popular science fiction film, The Core, had a number of misunderstandings of earth science concepts when compared to students who did not watch the movie. We found that a single viewing of a science fiction film can negatively impact student ideas regarding scientific phenomena. Specifically, we found that the film leveraged the scientific authority of the main character, coupled with scientifically correct explanations of some basic earth science, to create a series of plausible, albeit unscientific, ideas that made sense to students.” KEY WORDS: earth science; films; science in popular culture; student misconceptions. The researchers start with an introduction to the topic they give a quote by George

Deboer “ The science education historian George Deboer, identified nine major golas of science teaching that would advance the development of a scientifically literate citizenry. He noted that one of the major aspects of scientific literacy was the ability to understand reports and discussions of science that appear in the popular media. Unfortunately, as implied in the quote that’s starts this paper, for the average citizen, it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in an increasing visual society.” (DeBoer, G. E.) The blurring of fact and fiction according to the writers by visual media has corroded the public’s critical thinking skills and has hindered the development of a scientific literate citizenry. The researchers then quote National Science Foundation’s Science and Engineering Indicators, 2000, which explains how fictional media has corroded the public’s critical thinking skills and have hindered scientific literacy: “The amount of information now available can be overwhelming and seems to be increasing exponentially. This has led to "information pollution," which includes the presentation of fiction as fact. Thus, being able to distinguish fact from fiction has become just as important as knowing what is true and what is not (National Science Foundation, 2000, pp. 8-31).” (Dhingra, K) The researchers then explain what Dhingra discusses about films and television. Visual entertainment influences students’ understanding of science because education and entertainment often overlap which results in a combination of both fact and fiction. Also another area noted is that there are not many studies that have been done to examine the impact of popular culture films on student understanding of scientific concepts. Statistics were provided showing how American youth between the age group of 10-22, spends an average of 3 hours per week watching movies and 8 hours per week on television shows. So youth does watch both medium to analyse if they view film science could be an area of research. The topic the researcher has taken for her thesis is to find out which is better as a medium to explain environmental issues, live action movies or animation movies. This area has not been researched, though it a specific topic compared to the topic mentioned above, it aims at understanding whether individuals actually understand that environment issues are affecting the world over. 2012 as a movie has been categorized as a science fiction movie. As said on The Internet Movie Database “ An

16 epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.” (Michael Barnett, 2006) The researchers then quote Prince “Prince (1996) has suggested that in visual media, there are two standards of reality, referentially real or perceptually real. These two standards can be used to describe any filmed image, and they characterize the audience's relationship to that image. A scene in a film is 'referentially' either real or unreal that is, it depicts events that actually occur or exist, or ones that are imagined (Kirby, 2003a). The same scene is also either 'perceptually' real or unreal, meaning that it appears to be real or appears to be a fantasy (or to lack significant real-world elements). A perceptually realistic image is one that structurally corresponds to the viewer's audiovisual experience of three-dimensional pace” They illustrate an example given by prince about the movie Jurassic Park: “To make his point (Prince, 1993) uses Jurassic Park as an example of how film-makers create perceptually realistic images using digital technology: No one has seen a living dinosaur. Even paleontologists can only hazard guesses about how such creatures might have moved, let alone how they behaved. Yet the dinosaurs created at Industrial Light and Magic have a palpable reality about them which is due to the extremely detailed and realistic looking texture mapping, motion animation, and integration with live action carried out via high quality digital imaging.” (Michael Barnett, 2006) The next major topic they discussed was the understanding of students of Earth Science concepts. They have given several examples stating that students’ have made their own theories based on seeing television shows and movies, and these theories they have made or following are in complete contrast to what the scientific community has proved to research. In terms of earth science education there have been a number of studies have been done to examine students’ understanding of concepts. As said in the thesis “In general these studies have found that students do not understand the interior structure of the Earth, the direction of gravity at various points on the Earth, and how mountains and volcanoes form. Research has also found that students and adults Do not understand the theory of plate tectonics and/or the causes for earthquakes, and that they believe that earthquakes are caused by either unrelated natural phenomena (such as changes in the weather) or by supernatural forces.” (Michael Barnett, 2006) They conducted an experiment where there were two groups the experimental and

controlled group, one group of students were shown the movie The Core and another which had not seen the film. In-depth interviews were taken and the scores were given based on rubric ranging scores of 0 to 4. As said in the thesis “In short, the students who watched The Core had a larger tendency to think that the inner core of the Earth was a liquid rather than a solid.” The researchers have found three major themes that have described the impact of the movie on student’s scientific ideas.

The three themes mentioned are: 1. Misunderstandings built upon plausibility 2. Scientific authority of the main character, and 3. Movie images appear to be more memorable than hands-on in class experiences. (Michael Barnett, 2006)

References

Thompson, Dr. Kirsten Moana. "Animation and America." Film Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Winter 2004), pp. 53-54 58.2 (2004): 53-54. Sitler, Robert K. "The 2012 Phenomenon New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar." Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 9.3 (2006): 24-38 . MacDonald, Scott. "Up Close and Political: THREE SHORT RUMINATIONS ON IDEOLOGY IN THE NATURE FILM." Film Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 3 59.3 (2006): 4-21. Michael Barnett, Heather Wagner, Anne Gatling, Janice Anderson, Meredith Houle,Alan Kafka. " The Impact of Science Fiction Film on Student Understanding of Science." Journal of Science Education and Technology 15.2 (2006): 179-191. DeBoer, G. E. (2000). Scientific literacy: Another look at its historical and contemporary meanings and its relationship to science education reform. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 37(6): 582-601. National Science Foundation. (2000). Indicators: Science and Engineering 2000. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.

Kirby, D. A. (2003a). Reflections: Science in the cultural context. Molecular Interventions 3(2): 54-60. Dhingra, K. (2003). Thinking about television science: How students understand the nature of science from different program genres. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40(2): 234-256.

Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

The aim of the study is to find out whether which is a better medium to communicate environmental issues animation films or live action live action films. After reviewing several films, the researcher choose 2012 and 8 Below as the two live action films and the two animation films Wall-E and Madagascar.

The two variables of the study are the set of animation and live action films. The objectives of the study are-

a. Which film is more popular amongst viewers b. Which genre of film is more popular c. Which medium is more effective

The researcher had chosen a form of descriptive research. A survey had been devised and administered to a sample of 86 people. Descriptive research is a fact-finding investigation with adequate interpretation. It is the simplest type of research. It is more specific than an exploratory study, as it has focus on particular aspects or dimensions of the problem studied. It is designed to gather descriptive information and provides information for formulating more sophisticated studies. Using one or more appropriate methods collects data: observation, interviewing and mail questionnaire.

Descriptive research is applicable under four circumstances. Firstly the problem must be describable and not arguable. Secondly the data should be accurate and objective and if possible even quantitative and must be reliable. Thirdly it should be possible to develop valid standards of comparison and lastly it should have verifiable procedure of collection and data analysis.(O.R Krishnaswami, 2011)

A descriptive study aims at identifying the various characteristics of a community or institutions or problems under study, hypothesis testing cannot be done with descriptive research. However it “can reveal potential relationships between relationships between variables thus setting the stage for more elaborate investigation later.” (O.R Krishnaswami, 2011)

A descriptive study employs simple statistical techniques like averages and percentages. The researcher has found out averages and percentages for the data obtained through the survey.

Survey is a fact-finding study, it is a method of research involving collection of data directly from a population or a sample. It requires expert and imaginative planning, careful analysis and rational interpretation of the findings. Observation, or interviewing or mailing questionnaires may help in collecting data. The analysis of data maybe me made by using simple or complex statistical techniques, the researcher has used averages and percentages to analyse and interpret the data obtained through the survey. (O.R Krishnaswami, 2011)

The survey method has certain characteristics, it needs to be conducted in natural settings as it is a field study. Responses are acquitted directly from respondents. It can cover a large population thanks to sampling techniques. A survey covers a definite geographical area in case of this study it includes college-going students between the age ranges of 18 to 28.

A sequence of tasks are involved in carrying out a survey from the first of planning to the final stage of preparing the report:

1. Selection of a problem and its formulation, 2. Preparation of the research design, 3. Operationalization of concepts and construction of measuring indexes and scales 4. Sampling 5. Construction of tools for collection of data and their pre-test 6. Field work and data collection 7. Processing of data and tabulation 8. Analysis of data using statistical tools 21

9. Reporting findings. (O.R Krishnaswami, 2011)

Many enquiries aim to explain certain phenomena. Their function is to test hypothesis to explain the cause and effect relationship between variables and to assess the influences or various factors on individuals and their attitudes. All aspects of human behaviour, social institutions, economic system and business undertakings lend themselves to surveys. Surveys of opinions and attitudes deal with various issues, such as systems schemes and programmes. In case of surveys in the field of media, it helps in understanding why individuals use a medium and to what extent and what effects it has on their attitudes or perceptions. (O.R Krishnaswami, 2011)

In this study the researcher wants to find out which is a better medium to explain environmental issues, love action films or animation films.

A survey may cover all the units of a given universe; it is then called census survey. If the survey covers a fraction of the universe, then it is called sample survey. A survey may cover a small, highly selected universe as well as a broad segment or population depending on the study.

A survey consists of a set of questions, which can either be open-ended or closed ended. Open-ended questions give freedom to respondents to answer questions and give in-depth responses. Usually this is used for a pilot study, to get to know more about an aspect, which is relevant to the study. The researcher had devised an open- ended survey and had conducted interviews to get to know more about the films so that a multiple-choice questionnaire could be prepared. This multiple-choice questionnaire was administered to the sample. The major disadvantage with open- ended questions is that it takes a long time to tabulate and analyse data. Common responses are grouped into categories. Multiple-choice questionnaires that were devised for the study had questions related to the theme of the movies and weather or not the movie is scientifically true or not. A rating scale was also provided to see which film is more popular.

Non-probability sampling has been opted by the researcher. Non-probability sampling does not give a representative sample of the population. The primary methods of non- probability sampling are:

a. Convenience sampling b. Purposive or Judgement Sampling c. Quota Sampling d. Accidental Sampling e. Snow-ball sampling

The researcher for the study has used snowball sampling. This is a technique of building up a list or a sample of a special population by using an initial set if its members as informants. This technique is used for socio-metric studies. The researcher sent the survey to about 50 people and asked them to send it to people who would have watched the four films. This technique is useful for smaller populations for which no frames are readily available. Snowball sampling is used when there is no list of the population or sample of investigation. Snowball sampling is also called respondent driven sampling, getting individuals to refer those they know, these individuals in turn refer those they know. Other names for snowball sampling include chain sampling, chain-referral sampling and or referral sampling. (O.R Krishnaswami, 2011)

The statistical tools used for the study are averages and percentages. The survey was administered through Google Docs, the results were downloaded and entered into IBM’s SPSS software, the responses were totalled, and frequency and percentage tables were obtained through the application. The sample size was 86. The inclusion criteria for the study were that the individual must have watched at least two out of the four movies.

The researcher had done a pilot study on two other methodologies, in-depth interview and a descriptive qualitative survey. Both the methods were ineffective as the responses were at times inappropriate in nature. While conducting the in-depth interview the researcher asked science, humanities and commerce students. Science students had given scientific answers, humanities and commerce students showed a lack of scientific understanding of the movies and the topics that it dealt with.

When the researcher administered the descriptive qualitative survey, the responses were far too varied among the three streams. Descriptive answers usually provide a 23 better understanding for the researcher into the topic. With the responses obtained through the pilot study, the researcher had gain a better insight into the topic, more objective descriptions could be provided, through this method.

References

O.R Krishnaswami, M Ranganatham. Methodology of Research in Social Sciences. Bangalore: Himalaya Publishing House, 2011.

CHAPTER 4

AALYSIS

The questionnaire administered to the sample had four questions for each of the movies making it to a total of 16 questions. The questions were multiple choices. The sample had to choose the most appropriate answer out of the list of three to four choices; the questions were about the theme, if they felt that the film is scientific and the reason as to why the film is scientific in nature.

The first question of the survey was to find out which movie has been watched by the sample. Almost equal amount of the population has watched both the films 2012 and 8 Below.

Table 4.1 Showing number of people who have watched the films 2012 and 8 Below out of sample of 86 individuals.

2012 Frequency Percent- 8 Below Frequency Percent- Total Percent- age age age Yes 69 80 Yes 18 21 87 51

No 17 20 No 68 79 85 49

Total 86 100 Total 86 100 172 100

The following is a table, which shows how many individuals have watched the films Wall-E and Madagascar. Madagascar has been more by the sample.

Table 4.2 Showing number of people who have watched the films Wall E and Madagascar out of sample of 86 individuals.

Wall-E Frequency Percent- Madagascar Frequency Percent - Total Percent- age age age Yes 62 72 Yes 69 80 131 76

No 24 28 No 17 20 41 24

Total 86 100 Total 86 100 172 100

On comparing the data from the above two tables it can be seen that a total of 131 individuals have watched the animation films and only 87 people have watched the combination of the live action films. Only 51% of the population has watched live action films, while 76% of the sample has watched the animation films.

Based on the data obtained through the table it can be seen that the films 2012 and Madagascar are watched equally. Diagram 4.1: Pi e Diagram showing number of individuals who have watched the four films.

32% 32% 2012 8 Below Wall -E Madagascar 8% 28%

Analysis for the film 2012

What according to you is the theme of 2012? Table 4.3 showing choice of theme of the sample for the film . 2012 Choice Selected Frequency and Percentage An apocalypse waiting to happen 18 20.9% Destruction of the world 20 23.3% Global Warming and its effects 17 19.8% Not Answered/Applicable 15 17.4% Prediction made by the Mayans 16 18.6% Total 86

Diagram 4.2: Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film 2012 .

An apocalypse waiting 21% to happen 26% Destruction of the world Global Warming and 24% its effects 29% Prediction made by the Mayans

The sample size of the study was 86, 69 people have watched the film 2012, three questions were asked for each movie. The first question was - What According to you is the theme of 2012? By seeing the pie chart it can be seen that 29% of the sample has chosen the option destruction of the world. The movie through its intense visual effects has explained how harsh earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes can be. The first scene in the film , which shows, is when Curtis ta kes his family in a limousine, the ripple effect of the earthquake shows how the world is going to be destroyed. The destruction is shown till the end of the movie, where continents are wiped out, and how ash clouds engulf cities. Apocalypse waiting to hap pen is the second most opted

option. The Mayans have made a prediction explaining how the world is going to change drastically on the 12 th of December 2012. This prediction was made based on the Mayan Long Count which says that a b’ak’tun,cycle of 394 years ends on the 12 th of December 2012.. The third most opted option is that of Global Warming and its effects, 24% of the sample believes that the overall theme of 2012 is Global Warming and its effects. In the beginning of the movie 2012 Adrian Helmsely goes to India to meet Dr.SatnamTsurutani who has observed that solar flares are increasing the Earths core temperature.

Image 4.1 Snapshot of Adrian Helmsely and Dr.SatnamTsurutani discussing (Emmerich, 2009)

Image 4.2 Snapshot of the water that has heated up from the core (Emmerich, 2009) This is the first incident that explains the effects of global warming. The fourth and last option Predictions made by the Mayans has only 21%. The movie has not explained the prediction to that great an extent. Table 4.4 Showing number of people who believe the film is scientific Whether or not the film is Frequency Percentage scientific Yes 22 31 No 49 69 Total 71 100

The table shows the number of individuals who believe that the movie is scientific or not. Only 31% of the sample believes that the phenomenon explained in the movie is scientific or true. The following table explains as to why people think the film is sc ientific or true.

Table 4.5 Showing reason as to why 2012 is scientific

Reason as to why 2012 is scientific Frequency Percent Mayan Scientific Prediction 3 3.5 Not Answered 64 74.4 Reality element of the film 6 7.0 Scientifically explained through the Earths Evolution 13 15.1 Total 86 100.0

Diagram 4.3: Pie Diagram showing why people think 2012 is scientific

14% Mayan Scientific Prediction

Reality element of the film 27% 59% Scientifically explained through the Earths Evolution

The third question was to find out if the sample believes that the movie 2012 is scientific and the reasons as to why they do. By observing the pie chart it can be seen that 59% of the sample believes that the phenomenon can be scientifically explained through the earths Ev olution. The Earth of today has 7 continents and arranged on the world map, as we know it along with the seas and oceans. Long before humans arrived, the continents were one single landmass termed Pangaea. Situated between the north and South Pole, the tectonic ac tivities of the planet (being much more active due to the Earth's relatively young age at the time) caused the landmass to slowly dissociate.

Image 4.3 Illustration of the Pangea (Stanley, 2010) The next stage live action a large continent called the Gondwana with a few "islands'' broken away from the mainland. Over hundreds of millions of years the landmasses drifted apart via violent Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions to form the Earth, as we know it today. Large parts of the land sunk lower as the tectonic plates lowered in the magma they float on and subsequently became flooded with sea water to form lakes, isolated masses of land became islands. The Black Sea is an example. The Bible and many other religious texts talk of a great flood that possibly refer to the Black Sea or the Submersion of Northern Canada which formed the great lakes as the seas retreated. Reality element of the film make 27% of the sample to believe the film is scientific or true. The visual effects of the film make people feel that it is more real, which makes people believe that the phenomenon could happen in reality.

Image 4.4: Snapshot of an action sequence in the film. Where cars and roads are flowing like water, due to a massive earthquake .(Emmerich, 2009)

Image 4.5:Snapshot of Volcano erupting in Yellowstone ational Park.(Emmerich, 2009)

Only 14% of the population believes that the movie is scientific because of the Mayan Prediction. As seen earlier, the prediction made by the Mayans explains the end of a cycle of 394 years.

Analysis of 8 Below

What according to you is the theme of 8 B elow? Table 4.6 Showing choice of theme of the sample for the film 8 Below

Theme of 8 Below Frequency Percent Animal Cruelty 3 3.5 Not answered 67 77.9 Preservation of animals in 6 7.0 their environment Survival of the fittest 10 11.6 Total 86 100.0

4.4Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film 8 Below

16% Animal Cruelty

Preservation of animals in their environment 53% Survival of the fittest 31%

The sample size for the study was 86, 21% of the sample has watched the film 8 Below. Three questions were asked with regard to the film. The first question was theme of the film. On observing the pie chart it can be seen that 53% of the sample believes th at theme of the film is Survival of the fittest. The movie is a story about eight sled dogs, which were stranded in Antarctica during a very cold winter. Till the month of August the eight dogs had to fend for themselves in extremely hazardous weather cond itions, in the end of the movie only 6 dogs survive.

Image 4.6: Snapshot of Paul Walker and Max reuniting after the bitter cold season. (DiGilio, 2006) Preservation of animals in their environment has been selected by 31% of the sample. The sled dogs have been trained to move around in a cold climate, but when it comes to such intense climates, they need to be preserved in an environment, which does not harm them. 16% of the sample believes that the theme of the film is Animal Cruelty. The film explains how animals are not cared for by humans. They have been left alone in a harsh environment, which is a form of animal cruelty, as they are used to being fed by humans, to learn how to hunt in an environment, which is severely cold.

Image 4.7: Snapshot of the sled dogs finding food (DiGilio, 2006)

Table 4.7 S howing number of individuals who believe the movie 8 Below is scientific

Whether or not the film is scientific Frequency Percent Not answered 68 79 Yes 16 2.3 No 2 18.6 Total 86 100.0

Why do you think the phenomenon in 8 Below is scientific? Table 4.8 Showing the reason as to why 8 Below is scientific

Reason as to why 8 Below is scientific Frequency Percent Animals depend on humans for survival 3 3.5 Arctic animals are suffering 4 4.7 Climate Changes and its effects 4 4.7 Not answered 70 81.4 The movie is life like 5 5.8 Total 86 100.0

4.5Pie Diagram showing why people think 8 Below is scientific

Animals depend on humans for survival 19% 31% Arctic animals are suffering

Climate Changes 25% and its effects

25% The movie is life like

The third question for the film 8 Below was enquiring the reason as to why the movie is scientific. By observing the pie chart it can be seen that 31% of the sample believe the movie is scientific as the movie is life like, with the dogs inte racting with all the characters, the acting makes it almost like a documentary. The setting of the film adds to it, with the penguins and the other animals being shown, the 8 sled dogs are a family, with Jerry as their parent.

Image 4.8: Snapshot of Jerry and the family of his eight sled dogs (DiGilio, 2006)

Climate change and its effects and Arctic animals are suffering have been chosen equally. Climate changes are severely affecting the Arctic, winters are more harsh any for of life has problem surviving their, as observed in the film (Observe snapshot below). Arctic animals are suffering to a great extent due to changes in climate, as observed in the film, the dogs have a very hard time till the month of August, as the cold is severely bitter.

Image 4.9: Snapshot of Maya, the leader of the pack during the bitter cold weather (DiGilio, 2006) Only 19% of the sample opines that Animals depend on human for survival. The film explains how at least six of the eight sled dogs were able to survive the harsh cold; this goes to show that animals do depend on humans for survival. When the eight dogs are introduced, Jerry feeds them; this goes to show how they are dependent on Jerry for food.

Analysis for the movie Wall E

What according to you is the theme of Wall E? Table 4.9 Showing choice of theme of the sample for the film Wall E

Theme of Wall-E Frequency Cumulative Percent A story about Robots falling in love 7 8.1 Comic depiction of polluted earth 27 31.4 Global Warming and its effects 8 9.3 Not Answered 21 24.4 World and humans in the future 23 26.7 Total 86 100.0

4.6 Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film Wall E

11% A story about Robots falling in love 35% Comic depiction of polluted earth Global Warming and its 42% effects World and humans in 12% the future

The sample size for the study was 86, 72% of the sample has watched the film Wall -E. The first question for the film Wall -E was- what according to you is the theme of Wall-E? By observing the pie chart it can be seen that 42% of the sample opine that the overall theme of Wall -E is that it is a comic depiction of polluted earth. Earth to a great extent is polluted and the reduction of ga rbage is something countries across the world. In the movie the earth is severely polluted, only robots called Wall -E Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class habited the world in the beginning of the film. Garbage is stacked to the height of sky skyscrape rs, which has been piled up y Wall -E for 700 years.

Image 4.10.: Snapshot of a Dysfunctional WallE Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class (Stanton, 2008)

35% of the sample believes that world and humans in the future is the theme of the movie. In The movie an evolution of the Captains are show how over the past 700 years how they look, the latest captain McCree is fat, and his bone density is very low, all the characters are chubby, including their children. A story about Robots falling in love has been chosen only by 11% of the sample. Eve and Wall-E falling in love, brings about the human element of the film in the first half of the film. Although there are no major dialogues between them, the songs such as Hello Dolly, explains that they are falling for each other. Global warming and its effects have been selected only by 12% of the sample. Global warming is only an aspect of the film it is not a major theme of the film. Earth is severely polluted and there are dust storms frequently. The sun is also very strong;the colours of brown and orange in the film intensify it.

Image 4.11: Snapshot showing how garbage is piled up to the height of skyscrapers. (Stanton)

Do you think the phenomenon is scientific or true?

Table 4.10 showing number of people who believe the film Wall E is scientific

Whether or not the film is scientific Frequency Percent NA 30 35 No 2 2 Yes 54 63 Total 86 100

The following question shows why the sample believes that the film is scientific. Why do you think Wall -E is scientific? Table 4.1 1 showing reason as to why WallE is scientific

Reason as to why Wall -E is scientific Frequency Percent Earth can be polluted to that extent 54 62.8 Not answered 22 25.6 World is being cleaned up by machines 10 11.6 Total 86 100.0

4.7 Pie Diagram showing why people think Wall E is scientific

16% Earth can be polluted to that extent World is being cleaned up by 84% machines

The third question for the film Wall -E was to find out the reason as to why the film is scientific. By observing the pie chart it can be seen that 84% of the sample agrees that the Earth can be polluted to that extent. Garbage is something that needs to be reduced, if not taken care, it could be a serious issue and Earth may no longer be able to be live in. For 700 years the world is being cleaned up by Wall -E, garbage has been compacted to the height of buildings and skyscrapers.

Image 4.12: Snapshot of Captain McCree when he first saw the plant (Stanton, 2008) When the plant is detected by Eve and the Captain the joy can be seen. At the same time it is ironical in nature, the human does not know what a plant is, as they haven’t seen it, this must not happen in reality.

Image 4.13: Snapshot of WallE when he first sees the plant (Stanton, 2008) Only 16% of the sample believes machines are cleaning up that world. is compacted on a daily basis, but through trucks, soon it would be done my machines, in the future like it is shown in the film, the Wall-E robots are bigger and they are able to compact more garbage than the ones made 700 years ago to clean up earth.

Analysis for the movie Madagascar

What according to you is the theme of Madagascar? Table 4.1 2 showing choice of theme of the sample for the film Madagascar

Theme of Madagascar Frequency Percent Animal Migration 6 7.0 Destruction of habitat 10 11.6 Exploring Places 11 12.8 Not answered 19 22.1 Shifting from unnatural habitats 40 46.5 Total 86 100.0

4.8 Pie Diagram showing the percentage of the theme of the film Madagascar

9% Animal Migration

15% Destruction of habitat Exploring Places 60% 16% Shifting from unnatural habitats

Madagascar is the fourth and last film in the study. Three questions were asked related to the film, its theme, if the phenomenon is real or scientific and the reason as to why they perceive it to be real or scientific. 80% of the sample of 86 people has watched the film. The first question related to the film, was the audiences understanding of the theme of Madagascar. 60% of the sample believes that Shifting from unnatural habitats is the theme of the film. An animal is meant to be in its o wn environment. In the case of the film, the penguins are away from Antarctica so they want to go there and see their native habitat. When they went there they had got used to the environment in which they lived in, a Zoo in New York’s Central Park Zoo.

Image 4.14: Snapshot illustrating the four of them in their native environment in ew York’s Central Park Zoo (Mark Burton, 2005) The second most opted option is Exploring places which has received 16%, the animals went to Madagascar to see the wild, this is a sort of exploration. The animals are not used to being in the wild; they are used to being treated like humans, being fed like them.

Image 4.15: Snapshot illustrating how animal is behaving like a human (Mark Burton, 2005) The third option is destruction of habitat, the animals have gone into an environment which they are not used to, the animals are in a cultural area which they are not used to, the other animals are used to being in the wild. King Julian calls them pansies in the beginning, they are not used to the forest where there are torns and other harmful plants that they have never seen. The world in which they live in is very different. 9% of the sample believes that the theme is of Animal Migration. The animals migrated to 41

Madagascar so that they could see the wild and experience it, they wanted a change from their environment. Though migration occurs in reality, the way it has been done in the film is more different, it has been adapted to the film and the medium.

Do you think the movie has scientific grounding? Table 4.13 showing number of people who believe the film Madagascar is scientific

Whether or not the film has scientific grounding Frequency Percent Not Answered 19 22.1 No 32 37.2 Yes 35 40.7 Total 86 100.0

By observing the table it can be seen that 40.7% of the sample believes it is scientific in nature. The table below shows the reason as to why the sample believes the film is scientific.

Image 4.16: Snapshot illustrating that the four of them have arrived to Madagascar (Mark Burton, 2005)

Why is the film scientific? Table 4.1 4 showing reason as to why Madagascar is scientific

Reason as to why Madagascar is scientific Frequency Percent Animals are kept in the zoos 8 9.3 Destruction of culture 3 3.5 Exploration of the world is scientific 4 4.7 Issues explained through comic rendition 20 23.3 NA 51 59.3 Total 86 100.0

4.9Pie Diagram showing why people think Madagascar is scientific

Animals are kept in zoos

23% Destruction of culture

9% Exploration of the 57% world is scientific 11% Issues explained through comic rendition

The third question for the film Madagascar was to find out the reason why the sample believes the film has scientific grounding. On observing the pie chart it can be seen that the sample believes the issues have been explained t hrough comic rendition. Comic rendition is a technique used by filmmakers to make a serious topic to be understood by a lame audience. Documentaries have explained the same issues, but animation films explain them by making the audience understand it throu gh comical examples. The second most opted option is that Animals are kept in zoos, so it is scientific in nature. Penguins are native to a cold climate; they must be kept in an environment, which they are best suited to. With the case of the film, they mi grate to see if they are better suited to that environment, they are more used to being in the zoo. The four other main characters also face a lot of problem in the wild they are not used to wild.

11% of the sample had chosen the option exploration of the world is scientific, again in the movie exploration is shown, but it is explained through comic rendition. The animals first escape the zoo and then they are shifted to the wild. The animals explore Madagascar and find out the environment in the wild.

Image 4.17:Snapshot illustrating showing the penguins in Madagascar (Mark Burton, 2005)

The fourth and last option is that of the destruction of culture, which has been chosen only by 9% of the population. Destruction of culture is in terms of how the animals are not used to culture of living in a jungle or the wild.

Rating of the Films

The last set of questions in the researchers survey was a rating scale of the film, on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the least and 5 being the most. The following are the average scores obtained for each movie, by the sample of 86 individuals:

Table 4.15 Showing the rating of the films on a scale of 1 to 5

ame of the 2012 8 Below WallE Madagascar film Average of the 3.04 3.95 4.16 4.125

scores

The average scores of the animation films are higher than that of the live action films. The total score for animation films are 8.28 out of 10 and for live action films it is 6.99 out of 10. This clearly explains that the animation films are more popular and effective in nature.

References

Eight Below . By David DiGilio. Dir. Frank Marshall. Perf. Paul Walker. Walt Disney Pictures, 2006.

2012 . By Roland Emmerich. Dir. Roland Emmerich. Perf. Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor John Cusack. 2009.

Wall-E. By Andrew Stanton. Dir. Andrew Stanton. Perf. Elissa Knight and Jeff Garlin Ben Burtt. 2008.

Madagascar . By Billy Frolick Mark Burton. Dir. Tom McGrath Eric Darnell. Perf. Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer Chris Rock. 2005.

Stanley, Mark. The Emerald Coast White Quart Beach Challenge | wordrogue.com . 4 March 2010. 20 November 2011 .

Chapter 5

COCLUSIO

The researcher used a survey to collect data for her study. The sample for the research consisted of 86 people with an age range of 18-28. The survey was sent to the sample through Google Docs. The number of females is 45 and the number of males is41.

The four films that were selected were 2012, 8 Below, Wall-E and Madagascar. The film 2012 is a movie about destruction of the world based on the Mayan Prediction, the story is explained from the point of view of a family, how they go through a lot of problems before they are all united on an ark, which is a safe haven for people across the globe. The film has received several accolades for its visual effects, as the film makes the audience genuinely believe that an earthquake can occur with a great intensity. Roland Emmerich is the director and writer of the film as a director or producer he has always taken films, which deals with large-scale disasters, Independence Day (1996), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and the latest film 2012.

The film 8 Below is a story of 8 sled dogs, who have the withstand bitter winter for a period of 6 months. The movie is a real life adaptation of an incident that occurred in 1958 in Antarctica when the Japanese had gone to find out only 2 dogs survived. The story explains how the sled dogs had to be left back due to logistical issues; the story shows how both the dogs and the protagonist Jerry is coping with the separation. Due to the severe weather conditions the dogs cannot be brought back. The dogs escape and go around, they have to find food and they share amongst each other. Jerry goes to different locations looking for some way to go back to his dogs Eventually Jerry does find a way to go back to the dogs, he had reached late two out of the 8 dogs died, due to the intensity of the cold. For the six of them to survive through this arduous task and reach home is a very nice ending.

Wall-E is a film about the protagonist Wall-E. Until the second half of the film no dialogues are present. The film exposition shot is of polluted earth; garbage is stacked up to the height of skyscrapers. Humans no longer inhabit Earth; Wall-E has been cleaning the earth for 700 years. He has lived a programmed life for 700 years, day in and out he cleans the earth. A unique characteristic of the robot is that he collects certain articles or items, which he finds interesting amongst the garbage he compacts, items such as iPods, old television, cassette tapes and songs from the 40s.The story shows how humans have evolved over the ages and how the earth is being cleaned up by Wall-E’s. The story shows how a plant is discovered on earth which is garbage ridden. The end of the film shows how the humans return to Earth to start a new life, the plant acts as a metaphor to the earth being green and inhabitable.

Madagascar is an animation film with four main protagonists who are animals. The film has an all star cast, the actors: are Ben Stiller as Alex, Chris Rock as Marty, David Schwimmer as Melman, Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria, Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien, Cedric the Entertainer as Maurice.(Mark Burton, 2005). Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria are sent into the wild as they were misbehaving in the Zoo, they are sent to Madagascar into the wild. The story explains how animals adapt themselves to a new environment. Animals are meant to be in the wild, since they have been reared by humans in a Zoo, they become like humans, the film has explained about animals through comic rendition.

The findings of the research prove that animation films are watched more than live action films with environmental issues. With a sample of 86 people and having an inclusion criteria of having seen two films one live action and one feature film a total of 131 has been obtained which means that 76.16% of the sample or individuals have watched the animation films and only 87 people have watched the two live action films.

Each of the four movies, had three questions, the first one was to find out the theme of the film, the second whether or not the film is scientific in nature, and the third one to find out the reason behind why the film has scientific grounding.

The movie 2012 has the following results: The highest opted theme is Destruction of the world, 49% believe that the film is not scientific, 59% believe that the film is scientific because earths evolution is scientific

The movie 8 Below has the following results: The highest opted theme is Survival of the fittest, 18% believe that the film is scientific, 31% believe that the film is scientific because the film is life like

The movie Wall-E has the following results: The highest opted theme is that it is a comic depiction of polluted earth, 63% believe that the film is scientific, 84% believe that the film is scientific because the earth can be polluted to the extent depicted in the film.

The movie Madagascar has the following results: The highest opted theme is shifting from unnatural habitat, 40% believe that the film is scientific, 57% believe that the film is scientific because issues are explained through comic rendition.

Amongst the four films 2012 and Madagascar have been watched equally by the sample, while 8 Below and Wall-E have been watched lesser by the audience.

The environmental message is very clear in both the animation films, though issues are explained through comic rendition the effect is still strong. On observing the second question in the survey, the films Wall-E and Madagascar have a total score of 89; the question was to find out whether the sample believes the film is scientific. Live action films on the other hand have a score of only 38, which clearly illustrates that the audience believes that animation films are a better medium for propagating environmental issues.

Educational implications

In schools and universities across the world, documentary films are shown to explain environmental issues, at times students do not pay attention to this medium, so animation films can be shown to explain issues. Wall-E as a film explains issues such as garbage reduction and management. Issues such as preservation of animals in their own environment could be explained through the film Madagascar. With a film such a 8 Below issues related to the arctic and how animals are affected by it can be shown.

The film 2012 can be used to explains global warming, earthquakes and tsunamis, the instructor must keep in mind that the students should know that the effects are exaggerated.

Limitations to the Study

All research studies have its drawbacks; time constraint being the most Finding a sample of 100 was difficult as the inclusion criteria is that an individual must have watched at least two out of the four movies. Experimental method would have been more effective for this kind of a study. In-depth interviews of people who are in the field of environmental preservation would have been more applicable. The sample size is only 86, the researcher had sent it to over 200 individuals but after tabulation of data, it was observed that only 86 individuals have watched two films out of the list of four.

Suggestions for further studies

Further studies could include a comparison of three mediums live action, animation and documentary films. More number of films could be included and surveys can be taken to analyse which is the most popular and effective. A study could be made about movies of the same genre from different countries, languages or time periods.

BIBLIOGRAPHY