Planet Earth’s Warning Call
Watch the following trailers of documentaries on our Planet and our impact on the natural environment. Write your personal response in the Padlet: Which trailer caught your attention most? Why? Which one do you find most effective in raising people’s awareness of the need to take action to safeguard and protect our environment? What are the concerns that are expressed by these documentaries. Why are there more and more political leaders and celebrities (Al Gore, Leonardo Di Caprio, Jeremy Irons) who want to become the ambassadors of planet Earth?
An Inconvenient Truth: Why this title? What does it mean? How would you paraphrase it?
You may find this link interesting to further investigate the issues at stake in this documentary.
The 11th Hour: What does this expression mean?
The official film website provides you with more interesting information.
What further information are you being provided with by the following message? Di Caprio himself reveals the meaning of the title. What are we urgently invited to reflect upon? How should we take action?
Trashed: what is the other issue that is dealt with in this documentary?
Once again, the official film webpage can result to be of interest for extra suggestions or information.
Now have a go at the Padlet
Now I would like you to listen to Leonardo Di Caprio’s Speech at the United Nations. The text under the video may help you focus on certain passages. I would like you to write down what strikes you most of his speech (choice of words, body language, the way he delivers his speech, the way he emphasises certain words or he creates pauses). What is the urgent message he is addressing to the UN Assembly? What are his demands/expectations? If you were invited to give your own speech at the United Nations, what would your strategy be? What would your catch phrase be? What would you emphasise?
Thank you, Mr Secretary General, your excellencies, ladies and gentleman, and distinguished guests. I’m honored to be here today, I stand before you not as an expert but as a concerned citizen, one of the 400,000 people who marched in the streets of New York on Sunday, and the billions of others around the world who want to solve our climate crisis.
As an actor I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems.
I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.
But I think we know better than that. Every week, we’re seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate change is here now. We know that droughts are intensifying, our oceans are warming and acidifying, with methane plumes rising up from beneath the ocean floor. We are seeing extreme weather events, increased temperatures, and the West Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheets melting at unprecedented rates, decades ahead of scientific projections.
None of this is rhetoric, and none of it is hysteria. It is fact. The scientific community knows it, Industry and governments know it, even the United States military knows it. The chief of the US navy’s Pacific command, admiral Samuel Locklear, recently said that climate change is our single greatest security threat.
My Friends, this body – perhaps more than any other gathering in human history – now faces that difficult task. You can make history … or be vilified by it.
To be clear, this is not about just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car. This disaster has grown BEYOND the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments around the world taking decisive, large-scale action.
I am not a scientist, but I don’t need to be. Because the world’s scientific community has spoken, and they have given us our prognosis, if we do not act together, we will surely perish.
Now is our moment for action.
We need to put a pricetag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas, and oil companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy, they don’t deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our ecosystems collapse.
The good news is that renewable energy is not only achievable but good economic policy. New research shows that by 2050 clean, renewable energy could supply 100% of the world’s energy needs using existing technologies, and it would create millions of jobs.
This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and water, and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation – if, admittedly, a daunting one.
We only get one planet. Humankind must become accountable on a massive scale for the wanton destruction of our collective home. Protecting our future on this planet depends on the conscious evolution of our species.
This is the most urgent of times, and the most urgent of messages.
Honoured delegates, leaders of the world, I pretend for a living. But you do not. The people made their voices heard on Sunday around the world and the momentum will not stop. And now it’s YOUR turn, the time to answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet … is now.
I beg you to face it with courage. And honesty. Thank you.
If on the one hand there are famous people who become spokespeople for a better future, celebrities who endorse the struggle against climate change, on the other hand there are young people, institutions and organizations who believe in taking action for mankind and planet Earth. Their words are as powerful as the words of stars or powerful people. Their words resonate and echo in the future. Watch these videos. What strategy do they use to raise the viewers’ awareness and to sensitize them to their cause? Discuss in groups. Then think of what images, refrains, catchphrases you could use in your own video. Would you use your own voices? Would you show your faces? Would you use photos or snatches of videos? Would you use a soundtrack?
There are different means used by institutions to fight for a cause. Videos are shot, messages are endorsed by popular people or commoners, or there is the use of social advertising. Do you find social advertising effective? Ineffective? Why (not)? Should governments invest more money on social advertising campaigns to be broadcast on tv or on printed advertising to be printed in magazines/newspapers or put on hoardings along streets or roads.
If you happen to find other interesting examples of social ads, please share them by posting the link in the comment space below.
Now click on sticky moose and let me/us know the ad you liked most? In class you will say why.
http://stickymoose.com/QUXheE7POmd2o5j
While surfing the net after interesting videos for you to watch, I came across this short film by Morgan Freeman “Our Future Narrated”. I found it pleasant and powerful at the same time and I would like to know what you think of it yourself.
I would like to conclude this learning path dedicated to the much-debated issue of climate change with a creative writing activity. I invite you to watch the marvellous short film by Werner Herzog, which invites us to look at the world through the “eyes” of a plastic bag. He drags us into an imaginary but realistic journey. You become that plastic bag, what are your emotions? How do you feel? What would you like to say? Let us hear your words, write a poem, choose the title and then post it on the Padlet below so that your classmates can appreaciate your poem.
Feedback. Take a few seconds to say whether you apprecaited this post or not.
I really liked Leonardo Di Caprio’s speech, and not only because I love him as actor.
He had to alert politicians about the situation of the climate of our world, of the dangers that the changes are unleashing on our planet and our lives.
He used an impact strategy to support his arguments, his calm in saying things was magnetic and the audience can not take their eyes off him, then, for the duration of the whole speech, he never stopped looking people straight in the eyes, they were like hypnotized by his look, with which he communicated them something he could not express verbally. His confident bearing is another aspect that stroke me, he was at ease on the stage, and this made what he was saying more convincing, people could trust him.
Then his tone of voice, the way the emphasized some words, the most important, to reach people’s minds and, linked to this aspect, the pauses he did during the speech. The audience had the time to reflect on what he had just said and think of the words he had emphasized. Then I think that also the fact he used scientific terms underlines the fact that before it has documented and concerned about the topic.
I really appreciated that he made a comparison between his job (as actor, he had a role in a documentary about the climate that is changing and the disasters of our planet), and the politicians one. He said that his job consists in pretending, he has to pretending if he wants to do his job well, whereas politicians have to understand that they are not pretending, they are working to make our lives better and they don’t have to take their role as a game.
Di Caprio said also that we are underestimating the problems that our planet has, and now is not just a matter of what we should do everyday to save energy, it is something bigger, that has to be solved seriously by our politicians.
So he is asking them to act, they have to solve the problems and not to pretend they doesn’t exist, because now is their turn and they have to understand how fundamental they are to change the destiny of our planet.
If I were invited to talk to the US nations about this theme, I think first I would get documented and try to write something to reach my audience’s mind. In front of them, I would watch them right in their eyes, just like Di Caprio did, and emphasize the most important words changing the tone of my voice. I would make references to daily situations, but even catastrophic disasters that everyone remembers to make real and concrete examples of what I am talking about. I would also use scientific terms and specific words to make my speech more credible and professional.
I think I would also invent some phrases to catch my audience’s attention, something like “The world is in our hands”, or “The answer is us” or “Our planet needs us”.
I would emphasize which the problems are, maybe making them more catastrophic using strong adjectives. But even which could be the solutions, what we as people would have to do, and what politicians would have to do, just as even Leonardo Di Caprio pointed out.
Thank you for these considerations of yours. I appreciated them. I agree with you that if you show “catastrophic” images you have a very powerful impact on your audience and you catch their attention, you rivet them. Yet, as you observe, you need to offer solutions too, because you do not want to plunge your viewers into a stage of hopeless desperation, that would not be the desired response to your talk/speech, would it?
What has striked me most of the speech of Leonardo Di Caprio was how he delivered it, he is an actor and as an actor he has pronounced every single word with a right tone of voice, with the pauses at the right moment. He has not used a lot the non-verbal communication ( for example he has not moved his hands, that in a speech is really important) but just how he has moved his eyes, looking at the faces of all the people present, he has been able to render his words powerful. His words create a strong message against global pollution, pointing out the alarming situation of the climate crisis. He has asked to governments and industries around the world to take action against this pollution because, he said, a single man can’t do anything but together we can save our world. He expect that we put a price tag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas, and oil companies. If I was invited to give a speech to the United Nations I would rely on my confidence in speaking and I would use my body to contribute in bringing my message. Than I would emphasize the difference between what can a single man (like me) does and what can the most important people of the all nations in the world do together.
Each person can contribute to curtailing the problem of climate change, you as a woman too. Think of what we did in class today, that is analysing and measuring our carbon footprint (http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/) and learning from the tips we are given to reduce it. You mention being struck by Di Caprio’s use of the voice and the way he powerfully conveys his message. You would ask the assembly members to listen to your speech by using Di Caprio’s persuasive debate skills. This site is really interesting:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8619277.stm
I really liked Leonardo Di Caprio’s speech, and not only because I love him as actor.
He had to alert politicians about the situation of the climate of our world, of the dangers that the changes are unleashing on our planet and our lives.
He used an impact strategy to support his arguments, his calm in saying things was magnetic and the audience cannot take their eyes off him, then, for the duration of the whole speech, he never stopped looking people straight in the eyes, they were like hypnotized by his look, with which he communicated them something he could not express verbally. His confident bearing is another aspect that stroke me, he was at ease on the stage, and this made what he was saying more convincing, people could trust him.
Then his tone of voice, the way the emphasized some words, the most important, to reach people’s minds and, linked to this aspect, the pauses he did during the speech. The audience had the time to reflect on what he had just said and think of the words he had emphasized. Then I think that also the fact he used scientific terms underlines the fact that before it has documented and concerned about the topic.
I really appreciated that he made a comparison between his job (as actor, he had a role in a documentary about the climate that is changing and the disasters of our planet), and the politicians one. He said that his job consists in pretending, he has to pretending if he wants to do his job well, whereas politicians have to understand that they are not pretending, they are working to make our lives better and they don’t have to take their role as a game.
Di Caprio said also that we are underestimating the problems that our planet has, and now is not just a matter of what we should do every day to save energy, it is something bigger, that has to be solved seriously by our politicians.
So he is asking them to act, they have to solve the problems and not to pretend they doesn’t exist, because now is their turn and they have to understand how fundamental they are to change the destiny of our planet.
If I were invited to talk to the US nations about this theme, I think first I would get documented and try to write something to reach my audience’s mind. In front of them, I would watch them right in their eyes, just like Di Caprio did, and emphasize the most important words changing the tone of my voice. I would make references to daily situations, but even catastrophic disasters that everyone remembers to make real and concrete examples of what I am talking about. I would also use scientific terms and specific words to make my speech more credible and professional.
I think I would also invent some phrases to catch my audience’s attention, something like “The world is in our hands”, or “The answer is us” or “Our planet needs us”.
I would emphasize which the problems are, maybe making them more catastrophic using strong adjectives. But even which could be the solutions, what we as people would have to do, and what politicians would have to do, just as even Leonardo Di Caprio pointed out.
Leonardo Di Caprio in his speech addressed to the UN Assembly an urgent message, that is the need of protection of our planet, we have to act, we have to safeguard it because we get only one planet. He encouraged us to face facts because we are, he said, pretending like he pretend for a living, that climate change was happening to someone else’s planet. But we do not have to. The fate of our earth and our very existence are in our hands. Our planet is falling down.
Therefore he demands us to roll up our sleeves and take action. For example putting a price tag on carbon emissions, eliminating government subsidies for coal gas and oil companies, scrutinize industrial polluters. We have to promote renewable energy because it is not only achievable but even a good economic policy, moreover it would create millions of jobs. We have to fight for clean water and a livable climate, to which we are entitled.
I really like what Leonardo Di Caprio said and I appreciate even the way he did it, using for example significant pauses or the way he uses the body language to emphasize some concepts. And if I were invited to give my own speech at the UN, first I would apply to the citizens like me, because I think that listen to a speech made by a normal person is maybe more comfortable than listen it from an authority or a celebrity. Because nowadays we used to listen to politicians, celebrities, religious people and in most cases we get angry with them because we don’t see results or revolutions ,and although I believe that to achieve a result we all have to put in more, and we all have to want certain changes, I think that the presence of a normal person at the UN Assembly maybe would involve people to listen and motivated them to act. Furthermore I think that I would use the body language too and I would even speak a little bit louder. To draw people’s attention I would use a sentence that I’ve heard from Barack Obama’s speech that is : we are the first generation to feel impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it. Then I would emphasize the fact of animal’s extinction and the problem of immigration.
I like your reference to Barack Obama and also to the issue of some animals on the brink of extinction.
“Part of what’s unique about climate change, though, is the nature of some of the opposition to action. It’s pretty rare that you’ll encounter somebody who says the problem you’re trying to solve simply doesn’t exist. When President Kennedy set us on a course for the moon, there were a number of people who made a serious case that it wouldn’t be worth it; it was going to be too expensive, it was going to be too hard, it would take too long. But nobody ignored the science. I don’t remember anybody saying that the moon wasn’t there or that it was made of cheese.”
— U.S. President Barack Obama, UC Irvine Commencement Address, June 14, 2014
Another interesting quote:
One of the big questions in the climate change debate: Are humans any smarter than frogs in a pot? If you put a frog in a pot and slowly turn up the heat, it won’t jump out. Instead, it will enjoy the nice warm bath until it is cooked to death. We humans seem to be doing pretty much the same thing.
Jeff Goodell
Leonardo Di Caprio’s Speech at the United Nations
Listening to a speech at the United Nations always strikes impressive and extraordinary emotions and a sense of admiration too, because I realize that it is the possibility of the life: you can speak to the people that represent the world and explain your own point of view, your ideas and opinions. They are heard from all the world and maybe they will somehow help to find the solution of a problem or simply stimulate the reflection or a more careful examination of it.
So the fact that I wanted to mark was the great excitement that a person would fell in that situation, and Leonardo Di Caprio, maybe thanks to his job, managed to hide his strong emotion with a clear, concise and heartfelt speech. I appreciated it a lot. Even if somebody wouldn’t have known him, he would have certainly understood he was an actor because his body language, the tone of voice and the pauses he did were all well arranged, natural and not mechanical. The speech was not too long and really well structured. He faced all the main points of the problem of the climate crisis: he explained the real and recent facts happened to the planet, the feedback of the governments to the problem, his thoughts and his solutions. He used simple words and short and incisive sentences. His body language wasn’t too exaggerated, but moderate: sometimes he used his hands to emphasize come concepts, to persuade more the audience or he moved his head from side to side of the hall. What caught my attention the most were his eyes, because it seemed that he could stare in the eyes everyone all the time. He created a special connection with the people and I felt myself involved in what he was saying. His tone was strong and determined and I could really understood he was entirely convinced of the things he thought. I like the fact he presented himself first of all as a citizen because he demonstrated a great sense of humility and that is not so trivial. He spoke with calm, honesty and firmness, his face was quite serious because of the important issue he was facing, but his words revealed a great sensitivity, humanity and individual responsibility. He was there because he felt compelled to do something, to raise awareness among the people who should and could do that something for the world. He showed them the real harsh truth and he required them to face it assertively.
I liked several sentences in the speech and also the way he emphasized them with the pauses he did. I love a sentence at the end that is : “Honoured delegates, leaders of the world, I pretend for a living. But you do not.” With the expression “I pretend living ” he referred to his job of actor, where he has to play different characters in fantastic contexts facing invented problems, while the leaders of the world have to face every day real problems that involve the whole humanity, so they cannot ignore them, they cannot ignore the humanity. He started with “Honoured delegates, leaders of the world” and this highlights more their importance in the world and their power to change things: they are not only ordinary citizens, but they also have a decisive role on the destiny. This claim of responsibility to the public is also contained in the sentence “You can make history … or be vilified by it.” I find that sentence really powerful and rhetorically very strong. It marks the fact that they have the “power of change” and they can decide how and when use it.
And I think the moment has come: “And now it’s YOUR turn, the time to answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet … is now. “ , “Now is our moment for action.”.
Di Caprio also highlights a point that I find really important, the collaboration between the community: ”…if we do not act together, we will surely perish.” Why do we find so hard working for a same purpose? I understand it is difficult reach an agreement on these important problems but we are talking about our lives, our future, our world. I think this is enough to make us cooperate and work together. It is our duty.
If I had the possibility to be invited at the United Nations to give my own speech, I would try my best to catch the attention of the audience and to use simple and sensitive words. I wouldn’t focus myself to explain the problem itself because, being at the United Nations with the leaders of the world I think they don’t need clarifications on the issue, but I would touch the emotional part : I would try more to sensitize them and to encourage more reflections on the planet and its situation, because it deserves it. I would use a lot my body language, above all my hands because I think they are a great way to create a bond between the speaker and the audience; I would meet the eyes of everyone during the speech and I would use a tone of voice really calm and firm, even if I would feel nervous and excited. I think I would bring at the meeting testimonials of several people like boys, children, seniors, workers of different fields, to witness their own world view and their possible solutions to the climate crisis. I would do that not, obviously, to realize practical and concrete projects of solution to the problem, but to ensure that the United Nations keep in mind their goal: make world and the people they live in happy.
And I think the main thing to reach that happiness is the love for our own planet. So finally I want to say that what our world is sending us is a demand for true love. And when you love someone or something, you stop seeing with your own eyes to see through the other ones.
Then fall in love with the planet, so you can see the devastation he holds through its own eyes and you can help it to heal forever! This is I what I would say.
Chiara your words, your speech would definitely have an impact upon the UN delegates. You will definitely make a change in this world, my special young woman. I wish there were many more women like you.
Last year in my AP Language Composition (english) class, we studied the art of rhetoric, particularly as it pertained to public speaking. Di Caprio did a truly phenomenal job of applying many great tactics orators have found effective. He not only speaks excellently clear, enunciating his words, but he addresses his audience well. Yes, they are a highly educated panel of people (the UN assembly), but his message is not over the public’s head. In other words, you and I can understand what he is both addressing, and advocating for. After his initial recognition of current problems; pollution, global warming, etc. (imploring the use of factual statistics and expert testimony), he gets down to the real backbone of what we’re going to do about it. The crude facts are necessary to build up his credibility, but I enjoyed most the persuasive tone he assumed; it warned his audience that this is no joke- he is serious. The United Nations likely receives many numbers and figures about world problems, but if they aren’t accompanied by a face, something that makes it feel real, then what’s the use? Di Caprio is an excellent representation; he is the face of the call to action. He is the figure pushing (because he passed the point of simply encouraging) for change. If I had to give a speech to the UN, I would hope to design my presentation along these lines; reachable to a wide audience, informative, but more importantly alive, real. In my experience with public speaking, I have found that you should try to draft your speech in a way that makes it memorable, otherwise, in my case, the judges, (in this case, the UN), will maybe appreciate it for a bit, then move on. I would open with my catch phrase, then throughout the speech lead up to a climax that closes with my catch phrase; “If we don’t take the time now, it will be lost.”
We are so lucky to have you with us this year. It would be great if you could possibly let your Italian classmates know something of the key/core concepts you did back home with your teacher of English. I am referring to the art of rhetoric, focussing on public speaking.
I love your catch phrase “If we don’t take the time now, it will be lost.” This contribution of yours is very precious, thanks.
DiCaprio uses civilized and vivid words in his speech. His body language is kept in the minimum so that it wouldn`t take the attention away from what he says. He appears serious through out the whole speech. He emphasises certain words throughout the speech, for example adjectives that describe how bad climate change has got.
While explaining the effects of climate change he uses simple examples about the damages that climate change has done to the planet. That way everyone can follow his speech and understand how serious the situation is. DiCaprio uses himself as an example of a concerned citizen and he suggests that everyone, including the politicians, should be as concerned that he is, even tough he doesn`t say it directly. The pauses during the speech give listeners time to think about what he said and he often creates pauses after claiming something. He doesn`t create pauses while listing the affects of climate change to make it more expressive.
The urgent message he is addressing to the UN Assembly is that politicians have to stop pretending nothing`s happening, they can`t just watch climate change get worse while they do nothing. The reason why politicians and people with power have to do something is that individuals can`t stop the climate change by themselves anymore. DiCaprio expects that something is done in favor of stopping the climate change or it will destroy human kind. He suggests that making people pay for the pollution they make would result in reducing of the pollution. He also demands that we have to stop letting industrial polluters pollute freely in the name of free-market economy, because they don`t deserve our tax money.
If I was invited to give my own speech at the United Nations, I would try to make people understand that climate change will eventually concern everyone, regardless of where they live or who they are. I would emphasise the fact that not all people care about recycling or other things that could prevent climate change, even if they know how bad climate change is. Some people also don`t believe in it or think that it`s not true because they can`t see the effects in their everyday life. That`s why we need laws and restrictions to limit the pollution people make every day.
Katriina, thank you for your analysis of the speech. You grasped the different meanings pauses can acquire. Then you hit the nail on the head when you point out that DiCaprio indirectly criticises most politicians: he is an actor and he is paid to pretend, they are politicians they are paid to act, instead they pretend nothing is affecting our world and there is not urgency to take action.
Hello Francesco,
It is me, Your beloved Plastic Bag. I am sure you recall what you did to me, the toughts of it still make me shiver. I remember it as if it were yesterday: It was a day like any other in the counter of the grocery’s, everyday many of my fellows were taken home by you humans and my mind raced thinking of the countless adventures that I would live outside of that boring old shop, I was restlessly waiting for my turn to come. And then you came, you were like a bright light that blinded me, you extended your arm to grab me, I was so full of joy and groceries, I had a purpose. But it wasn’t long before I realized yours were all a bunch of lies, after I was emptied out of the groceries you threw me away with other garbage.
At first I believed yours was a mistake but you did not come to find me in the trash bin. The days passed by, I was brought to a dumpsite and then I travelled. The world is perilous, vile beasts tried to eat me and I was dragged far and wide by the wind until I reached the sea. There I followed the currents and found the place I belonged to, the Vortex. I was welcomed by others like me, abanoned by their owners. I was enlightened, the Vortex taught me about the magic properties of the polyethylene that makes my body: It makes us immortal.
Now I shall come and have my revenge, It is too late for repentance, you will face my wrath. Brace yourself for I am coming.
Soon,
Plastic Bag
Who are you?
How did you get my adress? And how do you know my name? Is this some kind of threat letter or are you just another pollution preacher? And what even is the Vortex, are you part of some of those underground cults? In any case if you write me another letter I will call the police. You can go back and play with your fellow plastic enthusiasts for all I care, just stop bothering me with this trash.
My warmest regards,
Francesco
The trailer which caught my attention mosto was the trailer of “An Inconvenient Truth”. The main reason is because the title of the film it selfs, because it express in a few words, how is the global pollution seen today by the politicians and the big companies. It also caught my attention because of the images that are in the video, because they strongly represent the bad side of everything we do nowadays. But the most effective trailer was “The 11th hour”, because I think that it would better catch people’s attention, especially because of the famous actors that present the documentary. The concerns that these documentaries express are that we are going to disappear from this world if we continue to pollute it with our consumerist way of living. My personal opinion about the politicians, actors and celebrities that want to become ambassadors of the planet earth is that not everybody do this because he really think that we are going to extinct from this planet, I think that a large part of these “ambassadors of the earth” do this because they want the people to be with them, and to think that they are really doing something for our planet. But very few people are really honest. In fact the world economy is based on the consumerism and the non-renewable energy sources, so if we start to increase the use of the renewable energy sources, the world’s economy will crush.
The title that was chosen for the documentary “An inconvenient truth” was chosen because it shows perfectly how the global pollution is seen nowadays. The paraphrase of this title for me is “Something that would be better forget”.
The meaning of the title “the 11th hour” for me is
The informations that the message provided us is that the documentary will mainly contain interviews with people who will explain what is the global pollution and how can we pollute less using new technologies. We are urgently invited to think upon the way we live, the way we waste and pollute our world. The documentary suggest us to take action by buying less to waste less, and to try to use more new technologies that pollute less than the old ones.
The other issue that the documentary “Trashed” dealt with is the way the global pollution influence ourselves.
It was quite difficult to choose the most gripping trailer, but the first one definitively caught my attention the most. In fact, I think it shows in an excellent way how much humanity has produced over the years, and, consequently, how much rubbish has produced. It also shows to what our actions will bring us: natural disasters, hence hunger and diseases. The consequences I mentioned are already part of the present and they will be part of the future: that’s the gist, that’s what some people have not understood yet! I would shout it from the rooftops to make everyone gets it, in order to have real changes. We, but most of all adults, should have a single mission: to protect and hand on the planet intact to next generations. I would appeal to the adults to ask them how they could cause those problems and why they are not managing them with skill.
Moreover, I extremely enjoyed the sentences “If you love your Planet…” and “If you love your children…”: they can make you more involved and more impatient to help the Earth to go back to its primeval period when humans lived in harmony whit nature. These sentences make you understand you are part of this world and you should respect it, to respect also yourself.
I also appreciated that the video makes us think that WE are the problem, we are giving birth to “natural monsters” and, coherently, we should provide to them. People should understand that we live in this Planet and that we are polluting it, therefore we are harming ourselves! So, the question is “Why do we pollute?”.
Overall, these documentaries have in common three things: they deal with the dark side of humanity; they are about what our stupidity can bring us; and they introduce you to what we will come across if we do not wake up. Also, they share to be interpreted by three important figures of our times (Al Gore, Leonardo Di Caprio and Jeremy Irons) and that’s because the more celebrities show their interest in these issues, the more other people will be involved.
Further, I can say that in our everyday life we use a huge quantity of energy coming from several sources; nevertheless, human progress, that on the other hand contributed to improve our lives, has a downside: we are sacrificing the Earth’s health for our comfort! How selfish and lazy we are! We are destroying the pure beauty of Patagonia and Mount Kilimanjaro for futile reasons…
Finally, adopting the ecological policies necessary to combat global warming for many people would be an “inconvenient truth” because we will have to give up some of the luxuries that have become “necessities” in the last years. We should return to live as free individuals and not as slave of consumerism: the climate IMPROVEMENTS will come consequently!
Most of us already know that our planet is in danger, it is dying due to us and our pollution, but not everyone knows what could happen in the future and what is happening now in our planet: this is a disconcerting and terrible truth to tell!
In fact, between nature and humanity there is relationship, but now humans are slowly breaking this relationship. Even if we don’t consider that if nature will die, also humanity will die, but then, nature will born again and we don’t. So, we should think about this and improve our help to protect and respect our planet. The moment to act is now and we can’t wait because if we only watch, later we could not do anything to save ourselves. We have a difficult commitment, that is to repair the many mistakes that people before us did and pay the consequents, because the Earth doesn’t belong to us, we belong to the Earth and if we abuse of it, it will retaliate soon, through earthquakes, floods, cyclones or fire which destroy our forests.
One of the consequents of our pollution is the global warning, the death of many animals, the pollute of the air that we breathe and many others: all this is due to our pollution and our waste.
In fact, what I learned more by watching the short documentaries and videos is that we can stop destroy our planet by reducing our footprint! That means to reduce our using of energy which produces big quantity of pollution; to reduce our waste and the main important thing that we can do is recycling.
Recycling we can learn that many objects can be used and reused in different ways and consequently this can be useful to reduce our footprint.
Moreover, I discovered that a group of people has invented a way to increase recycling: for every quantity of things that people recycle, they get paid a little, so this increase the interest of people to recycle. This is an efficient way, but by it we can understand that for people the most important thing is the money, even if, only with the money we can’t live and it isn’t our happiness.
Due to pollution, food and water can become dangerous for our health and the panorama of a city isn’t as beautiful as before.
An idea to reduce our pollution is that we can use more public transport instead our car in order to reduce the producing of CO2, and use the renewable energy obtained by water, wind, the light and the heat of the sun.
Now, I am searching to reduce my family footprint in order to decrease my pollution and waste. Moreover, I’m searching to get aware people about the condition of our planet and help to save the world.
The title “inconvenient truth” means that we do not want to know the planet’s issues because the truth is scarier than everything else. And for being aware of what is happening around the world we have to acknoledge that this is our fault.
The expression 11th Hour means that our world reached the darkest hour. So we will be able to make a change if we will be mindful about the planet’s issues.
Di Caprio reveals that the 11th Hour is the last hour where change is possible. We are invited to reflect upon the attention that we have to have when we buy something.
We should take action by recycling, pay attention of how is produced what we buy and what will happen to it when we will no longer need it. We can furthermore drive a electrical car or use solar cells and do everything we can for making a change.
The other issue that is dealt with in “Trashed” is the waste that we produce. As a matter of fact we don’t think what will happen to what we throw away. The result of produce garbage which does not break down is that the trash is now everywhere and in our body too.
After I saw these trailers I am more aware of the issues of the enviroment and I know that we have to be more responsible of what we buy and we have to try to make a change before it will be too late. We have to be more careful of the way we treat our world.
The trailer that I like the most is “Trashed” because it underlines that our society is based on consumism. Everyday we pollute: we buy things that you don’t need, we waste food, we don’t recycle. In this way we increase our carbon footprint and sometimes we don’t even know it. We can take action for our planet everyday by following easy tips which can make a great difference.
In like the trailer “An inconvenient truth”, too. It shows how the earth will be if we don’t take action for our planet now, life would be more difficult and the future generation will live in a destroyed earth because of us, because we don’t want to save our earth, because we are so selfish.
These trailers teach that we must save our earth because it’s our home and it will be the home of the future generations, we can’t destroy ourselves because you don’t want to think about these topics, this is the truth and this is happening to our planet so it’s a problem that we have to deal with.
In my opinion celebrities and political leaders want to become ambassadors of the planet because they can convince people from all over the world that we have to take action, people can follow for example their styles of life, their tips, to make a great difference.
The second trailer: “the 11th hour” caught my attention most, because it shows all causes of the pollution to the environment and has interesting ideas to reduce this in the future. I like it when Leonardo Di Caprio says that the future is the new generation and young people can make a difference in the world. In my opinion this trailer is complete compare to the others as it illustrates the pollution in the past, in the present and in the future. We can understand that pollution is a big problem and try to resolving it isn’t like drink a glass of water. There is a high risk of losing control: the situation of the planet must be monitored. The 11th hour is almost gone and the next phase is due to begin, in the 12th hour the plan will be ruined and we could do nothing anymore; this the meaning of title of film, so it wants warn us.
“Trashed” shows how all people pollute the planet every day. This trailer is the most effective in raising people’s awareness of the need to take action against over pollution. It illustrates how a lot of young life is ruined by our pollution. An action must be taken now to help our children: recycling, turn off the water or lights when are not necessary would be a great start. In my opinion it is a trailer that can help people to understand in what a horrible situation a lot of innocent children live. We don’t understand that the air we are breathing is pollution, the food that we are eating is pollution, the Earth will become pollution, if we don’t save it.
Each of these trailers show us that there are a lot of problems and if we don’t do something the situation can become worse. All of these trailers are focused on highlighting concerns and problem about the environment as the pollution contaminated the water that people drink, the pollution changes the temperatures, so a lot of animals die and the climate changes.
In my opinion to include actors, political leaders and famous people in film or documentaries about pollution is a great idea. These people have the power to influence and correct the young generation.
We must remember “we are the problem, not the planet”.
In my opinion “Trashed” is the most impressive trailer of the three. I’ve liked it because it is based on the phrase “now we can’t ignore it”. It is true. We have produced so much trash and poor people all over the world live in landfill sites or their houses are full of garbage. This trailer is important because we have to change the situation, we have to protect our planet, not to pollute it. The climate is changing everyday and that’s bad. The teenagers are who have to do something useful for the planet. Anyway I found “the inconvenient truth” and “the 11 hour” strongly powerful to the fight against polluting, the first one shows how the gas contaminate is changing the features of the mountains. In these three trailers there are three famous actors… Why famous people are interested in this problem? In my opinion beacuse billions of normal people in the world are concerned in this topic and famous people research attention. But i like to think that because of the name of the actors, people will watch that video again and again and i hope that one day all of us will fix him or herself into a certain problem and maybe, in the future, he or she will try to resolve it.
The trailer that caught my attention most, is “An Inconvenient truth” because it is the most well constructed: I found in it some really powerful words that arrived directly to my core and closely linked to our life in our planet. This trailer’s name has also a really deep meaning because it makes us think about what is happening to our world and why are we harming it so much and also about what is the “inconvenient truth” that has been mentioned in the title.
But the trailer I think is the most effective in raising people’s awareness of the need to take action in order to save our environment, is “Trashed” because it shows better how humans are suffering because of the global warming and all the garbage thrown in the ocean and not recycled. “Trashed” also wants to tell us that the more we pollute our world, the worse we will live in our planet.
Anyways, all the documentaries have the same message to send to our conscience, in spite of the different ways they are made, and it is that we are all contributing in ruining our planet, and if we don’t act in order to save it, we’ll end up to live in a completely-polluted world. But when I watched the second trailer, I thought it was the most powerful in teaching to the watchers the way the world is going to end up, so the most powerful in making people aware of what is going on and making them think about what could they do for our planet’s environment.
All the trailers show the same concerns and they want the whole world to know them: global warming and all its aftereffects; ground, sky and water pollution; overpopulation; garbage accumulation; water crisis; using too many resources too fast.
The first trailer caught my attention the most because it is structured like a real movie trailer, a horror one, and comparing what we are doing to our planet to this type of movie, in my opinion, is very accurate.
I think that the most effective video is the fourth one because after showing how much waste we produce, it explains that we can change things, that there is still hope for us and for the Earth.
More and more celebrites and political leaders want to become ambassadors of planet Earth because they are aware that what they say can get to many people and that they can raise awareness better than anyone else.
In my opinion, the most interesting trailer is the first one, maybe because I have already saw the entire documentary and I understood the message that it wanted to send.
But it is the trailer that I liked most because it also shows you how we are changing our planet, how we are devastating the Earth.
I think also that “An Inconvenient Truth” can open our eyes and make us think that if we don’t do anything now, after it will be impossible to repair the disaster we have done.
Al Gore shows us how the Earth can present itself in the future; he shows us that a lot of people can die because of our actions.
The major concerns expressed by these documentaries are those related to climate change and the excessive accumulation of waste.
The documentaries explain how human activity is destroying the Earth.
There are more and more celebrities who want to become the ambassadors of our planet because, being famous, they have a greater influence on people and they are able to convince them more easily to roll up their sleeves and do something to safeguard the Earth.
1. Which trailer caught your attention most? Why?
All trailers caught my attention because they all highlight the urgency for actions to protect the critical balance of nature and human society. In particular, I was impressed by the message that only a radical change in our behaviours can ensure the continuity of human kind. The trailer that was most clear for me was the third one (Thrashed), as it gave me a very shocking but realistic picture of the impact of our misuse of resources and of consumerism on people and planet’s life.
2. Which one do you find most effective in raising people’s awareness of the need to take action to safeguard and protect our environment?
I think the most effective is the documentary titled “11th Hour” because it clearly points out that we are at a tipping point for our future and if we keep on postponing the necessary change, it will be too late. Images taken from real situations that have recently been caused by natural disaster give us the consciousness of what is happening to our environment if we betray the nature.
3. What are the concerns that are expressed by these documentaries?
The main concerns expressed by these documentaries are:
• The progressive global warmth of our planet, that’s causing permanent changes of our landscapes, such as the melting down of glaciers or the advancement of desert or the rise of the sea level that will flood over coastal areas.
• The climate change determining more violent thunderstorms.
• The potential extinction of the human being and the exhaustion of all the natural resources.
• The production of too much waste and the consequent pollution of our environment.
• The impact of the pollution on our health.
4. Why are there more and more political leaders and celebrities (Al Gore, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Jeremy Irons) who want to become the ambassadors of planet Earth?
Politicians are representing the social commitment to protect the environment, which becomes topic of public relevance. On the other hand, their participation to these themes increases their political visibility. Celebrities contribute to raise the level of attention of the people on these subjects.
5. An Inconvenient Truth: Why this title? What does it mean? How would you paraphrase it?
The title highlights the fact that all the dreadful natural events that are harming life on our planet are caused by ourselves. Paraphrasing it, I would say that what we are causing on our environment is unpleasant but true.
6. The 11th Hour: What does this expression mean?
This expression explains the fact that we are at the last minute to save the world and not end up in situation of no-return that would determine the extinction of all beings.
7. What further information are you being provided with by the following message? Di Caprio himself reveals the meaning of the title.
The 11th hour is the last hour when the change is possible and everyone of us can vote for such change: when we buy a product, when we decided its life cycle, we approved its composition, how it was made …etc
8. What are we urgently invited to reflect upon? How should we take action?
We are invited to reflect upon behaviours, solution that can be resource saving and using innovation to reduce waste and pollution.
9. Trashed: what is the other issue that is dealt with in this documentary?
The other issue treated by the documentary is about consumerism and the way we design and use products. While nature keeps on maintaining a balance by making up and braking down, the cycle of life, we continue to produce things that don’t break down and accumulate waste whatever, that is causing all type of illnesses, destroying eco-systems and harming life.
“The 11th hour” is the trailer that caught my attention most because it shows reality. The images and the videos are very impressive and when I watched them I though of me sitting in my chair watching the cruel truth, and I have been overwhelmed by the sensation that we must change the world. It is a trailer that in few minutes deals with different topics about our planet, such as pollution and climate change and the thing I find most interesting is that it doesn’t show only the effects that these problems have on the environment, but also on people. Humans being are the ones who destroy their planet, the ones who suffer from this and the ones who will suffer; because if people got sick and die now, in the future it will be worse. Every day in which we live our life without doing anything to change the world, even a little bit, is a lost day. Every day we live our life, in our little town, with other few people doing little things that we think are huge and we think that this our world. But it is not. Our world is a planet where while we are relaxing on the sofa other people are fighting each other, other children are dying, other animals are losing their home, and someone doesn’t think about it, someone is still watching tv eating a hamburger. We live in a big world, but these things happen outside your door. I think these are the concerns that are expressed by all these documentaries: we must change our planet in a better way for the future. In my opinion more, political leaders and celebrities want to become the ambassadors of planet heart because they have the power to be heard from many people, also from the ones sitting on the sofa eating a hamburger.
We are all living at “the 11th hour”: the last hour, the last moment in which we can change our planet. We can do this, and we have to this now.
All the trailers caught my attention in different ways but. The one which “shocked” me more was “Trashed”. It caught more my attention because it showed where most of the things we throw away go. I just didn’t imagine that there was that much pollution in our planet and I think we should try to recycle more and, if only we used more energy to think at things we can do to make our planet a better place I’m sure we will change it all. This is possible only if we have the help of most of the people and that’s another problem, people don’t really think at pollution and global warming as something really important, I’m not saying that they don’t care at all but they could care way more than this.
I think each trailer is as effective as the others in raising people’s awareness of the need to take action to safeguard and protector environment, it depends on the people you are talking to. People think in different ways and different things are effective in different ways for different people, intact the trailer that is more effective for me is “Trashed” but I know it isn’t the same thing for other people.
The concerns expressed by these documentaries are global warming and pollution. Each documentary tells us different things and all of them have the same importance but. The common things in all the three documentaries are that we need to do something, and we have to do that now because if we wait it’s too late.
I think that more and more political leaders and celebrities want to become the ambassadors of planet Earth because they understand the importance of the situation and they know that because of their popularity more people will listen to them.
An Inconvenient Truth
The title means that the things that the video is telling us are something people don’t want to know about because it’s easier to think “it’s all okay”, “there is no danger” and that we aren’t the cause of global warming and all the other things that are ruining our planet. This means that after seeing this video we can’t lie anymore, we have to do something if we want to live in this world and if we want our planet to be clean and not too hot.
The 11h Hour
The expression means that now we are in the 11th hour, we still have an hour until midnight, in this case midnight means the end. So the title means that we still have “one hour” to make our world a better place, to try not to pollute anymore and to do something for saving our planet.
The message of DiCaprio tells us we need to do something now before it’s too late.
Trashed
The other issue dealt in this documentary is pollution, the documentary shows us how much we pollute and tells us we need to change that. We produce more things than the one we can recycle and we throw away most of the things; the things we throw away finish in nature and pollutes our planet and we can’t continue like this, we have to do some changes…
The trailer that caught my attention the most was “The 11th our”. This is the one that I prefer and the one that, in my opinion, raise people’s awareness the most because it shows images of catastrophic events of people, animals and cities, so it invites people to think more about what they do and about things they do that are bad for the environment. Then, in the end, it suggests some solutions so there is a positive part of the trailer. The title in my opinion is also strong because it makes you feel that we are near the end. The concern expressed by these documentaries are the pollution, that is too much, and the natural disasters that happen also because of the pollution. They also show that some situations are extreme because of the pollution: there are some places literally full of thrash. Finally, in my opinion, the celebrities want to become ambassadors of the Earth because they can catch people attention because they’re famous and lots of people follow them. The political leaders, maybe they want to be ambassadors because the want people to vote them: many citizens are hit by catastrophes so, repairing the damages they encourage people voting them. However, both political leaders and celebrities understand that we have to do something for our planet.
“An inconvenient truth”. I think that they chose this title because the meaning of inconvenient truth is that it’s a thing that is really happening about the world, that is “annoying” and makes you feel bad because you know that humans are doing these things. I would write that like “Real facts that humans don’t want to hear”.
“The 11th hour”. The expression “The 11th hour” means that our planet in near to the end of its life because there are too humans using to may resources too fast, so the planet will soon run out of resources. If we don’t do something the plane will reach the “12th our” which could be a very difficult period because of the bad environment.
“Leonardo Di Caprio Youtube message”. In the message is said that environment is going to survive, and we will, maybe, not survive or maybe we will survive in a world where we won’t want to live, because of environment. We’re urgently invited to reflect about the vote. But the vote in the meaning of what we approve: the object, how was made and what will happen when we won’t need it anymore and we’ll throw it away. Therefore, she said that we vote every time we buy something. We should think more about an object when we throw it away, because we could no longer approve it. We should also try to consume fewer resources in less time and try to reduce our carbon footprint, for example driving a hybrid car and trying to use reusable energy sources like wind.
“Thrashed”. The documentary “Thrashed” deals about the problem of the garbage in the world. There is a lot of thrash everywhere: in the cities, in the sea, in the air, on the seaside and on the ground in general. There is garbage even in people and animal, and this can be dangerous for the health. It also deals with the fact that people are not aware of how much garbage they produce, and this thing has to be changed.
Definitely the last one: the quality of the images and the introduction immediately attracted me. While in the others (except the third) the introduction was a sequence of polluting’ s pictures, in this there was a little of introduction.
Another thing that made me prefer it from the others was that you get in touch with Jeremy Irons, and his trip around the world. I also liked that the people who appeare in the video are in different settings, the message that emerges is that anybody in any place is suffering the problem of polluting, and we have to work togheter to overcome this trouble.
However, I think the second one is the better to raise people awarness. I’m saying this because it’s the one that shocked me most, and therefore the one that will stay in my mind for a longer period.
The shocking images and the pace of the exposition are the strong point of the trailer.
I was aware of our planet situation, but watching these videos reminded me of how drastic it is. Global warming is a real problem, and the effects are going to be devastating: the rising of sea level is going to drown the houses of thousands of people, glaciers are going to melt down, and storms are going to become stronger and more destructive.
I’ve used the future, but we have already seen that the effects have already begun…
Unfortunately global warming isn’t the only problem: the garbage that we throw into the sea, or that we leave in the streets is making our world even more ill.
The problem is real, and another effect of the global warming is that storms are becoming bigger and bigger; if we keep behaving like this…the world will repulse us.
Sincerly, the first thing I’ve tought was “they do it to be more appreciated”, but then I said to myself than I shouldn’t be so strict, so I’ve tried to put myself in politicians and vips shoes: people were listening to the things I was saying! I’ve concluded that they’ve always been interested in environmental problems, but they’ve understood only in the last years that their opinion would make people more keen to do something for the Earth.
The trailer that I preferred was “trashed”. That trailer caught my attention because had short, but significant sentences with imagines that clarify what you read or you heard. The message was clear: we have to take action to do something that can really help the planet. The video says that we are doing lot of small things that aggravate the situation, for example we buy clothes, food, burn things and now we cannot complain that the planet is in this situation. Our body is full of chemical products even if we never worry about it. In the ocean there is more trash then life and this is a very big problem and we must do something to improve our planet. Now a day there are more and more famous people who want to become ambassador of the planet earth maybe because they want to live in a better place and they think about their children’s or nephew’s life for the future.