Strategies for Engagement: Three Case Studies
By Nicole Wackerly and Maggie Burnette Stogner
Compelling storytelling taps into an audience’s emotional core. How we create that emotional connection influences the level of viewer engagement and how they might be motivated to take action. As environmental film and media makers, the emotional journey on which we take our viewers is a key component to changing hearts and minds. Taking a hard look at the creative design of our environmental, nature, climate, and science media helps establish intentional impact early on.
In our article “How Do We Change Hearts & Minds Through Emotional Impact?,” we explore some of the emotional tones that you can use to connect with different audiences. Do you take a doom-and-gloom approach to engage people’s fears or to stimulate anger or outrage? Do you inspire awe and curiosity that encourages hope and resilience? Or do you reach audiences through laughter? Often, it is a combination of emotional tones and creative approaches that succeed in conveying your message.
Are you unsure of where to start and could use some inspiration? Let’s explore a few films that incorporate strong emotional components and the creative choices the filmmakers made in doing so.
OUTRAGE
Sea of Shadows (2019)
This investigative thriller uncovers illicit fishing practices and triggers the audience’s sense of outrage. Their primary impact goals followed a theory-of-change framework that had multiple layers:
- To save the vaquita porpoise,
- To identify the sources of the conservation crisis, and
- To build local capacity for long-term implementation.
The team wanted to engage a diverse viewership that didn’t necessarily identify as environmentalists. Rather than focusing solely on the plight of the vaquita porpoise, they chose to frame wildlife crime as a global security threat. Their storytelling strategically links this conservation crisis to larger systemic failures (i.e., government corruption, crime syndicates, regional poverty and lack of alternative livelihoods). By connecting viewers to a poacher trapped by his debts, the film evokes empathy. The film’s narrative resonates with local communities through its relatable, multifaceted characters and stories that accurately reflect their distinct struggles and intricacy of the issue.
The film had potential to go several ways — will it be a conservation success story or an international crime bust? They meticulously planned what footage each potential storyline needed for success. Ru Mahoney joined the team early on as an impact producer in order to strategically map out the impact campaign regardless of the final narrative. The filmmakers formed partnerships to ensure that the film’s goals would be carried on long after the film team left. Their outreach strategies were also comprehensive, launching a public call to action. Check out our Full Sea of Shadows Case Study to discover the impact of the film and dive deeper into the complexities of its creative design, collaborative models and outreach strategies.
AWE
Nómadas (2020)
In this classic natural history film, the narrator takes viewers on an illustrious journey through the natural beauty of wildlife in Mexico, providing storylines rich with scientific information and highlighting the importance of open borders. The film’s primary audience are residents of Mexico, with an impact goal that sheds light on important conservation issues.
Intimate close-ups and immaculate drone footage inspire awe, entrancing viewers in the beauty of Mexico’s wildlife and protected landscapes. The film is also laced with dramatic, action-packed scenes that plunge us into the struggles faced by these animals. We develop empathy with the individual animals we follow within their communities, due in part to the deliberate use of anthropomorphism.
Director Emiliano Ruprah was intentional in his choice of visual storytelling to connect the hearts of viewers to the rich biodiversity and the value of migrating species. Fully immersing and filling viewers with awe makes their hard-hitting message about the rapid decline of species especially poignant. Nómadas is also the first all-Mexican production of a blue-chip natural history film. Ruprah hopes this inspires future wildlife films to be made in Mexico by Mexicans. To read more about this film’s impact strategies, check out our Full Nómadas Case Study here.
LAUGHTER
Spotlight California (2016)
Studies indicate that applying humor to your film’s approach is more likely to bring people together around an issue. Comedy is shown to reduce counter-arguing over controversial issues, like climate change, and help bond people from disparate backgrounds.
Spotlight California is a five-part documentary web series that “spotlights” the “California you don’t see on postcards.” Comedian Kiran Deol takes viewers on an entertaining, informative road trip through California, exposing the consequences of lax regulatory enforcement of oil and gas industries. Philanthropist Tom Steyer’s progressive advocacy organization, NexGen America, financed the creation of this environmental impact series with producer Ali Hart. They emphasize their goal to raise awareness around California’s environmental issues and highlight people and organizations working on solutions and fighting the fight.
The team hoped their combined use of humor and investigative journalism would make content more palatable and engage a wider audience. Throughout the series, Deol converses with Californians hit the hardest by water and air pollution. Hart and Doel joined forces to determine ways to interweave factual data with short comedic bits. In Episode 2 (“Water & Oil”), for instance, they expose the use of recycled oil water, yet end with a comedic sketch of Deol using wastewater terminology to describe wines as she hosts a wine tasting.
To heighten the investigative feel, they used handheld camera techniques. They juxtaposed awe-inducing nature shots against the harsh realities of environmental devastation. Each 9-minute episode ends with a call-to-action where Steyer invites viewers to take action and support local environmental organizations. Check out our Full Spotlight California Case Study here!
To Wrap-Up
Setting the right emotional tone for your desired audience is an important step to reaching your impact goals. It influences how your viewers interact with your content and whether they’re motivated to act. Sometimes a little laughter goes a long way, such as with Spotlight California. The filmmakers combined comedy with hard-hitting truths over California’s environmental issues.
Diving deeper into each case study of the films discussed here illustrates that while emotional tone is significant, you can’t stop there. There’s more to be done in terms of your creative design, collaborative models and outreach strategies to ensure your film reaches its impact potential.
Check out our article “Who Are the Real Experts?” to learn how your choice of experts and participants can make a difference. For future articles exploring other aspects of the Impact Spiral, impact assessment tools, and case studies on impactful films, be sure to subscribe to Storytelling for Impact!
See CEF Impact Media Report for full case studies and references.
