An interpreter's guide to filmmaking

Abstract

Politically divisive topics like climate change are notoriously difficult to effectively communicate to the public. Using a different communication approach called interpretation within the filmmaking process, we can bridge the gap current climate change films have today with their audience. Interpretation means "a mission-based communication process that forges emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resource," according to the National Association of Interpretation (What is interpretation?). In this paper I will analyze the history behind interpretation and the methodology in implementing this communication style within films. Through the works of various filmmakers such as, My Octopus Teacher (2020), Ice on Fire (2019), and Ocean Souls (2020), my own experience creating an interpretive short film, The Dolphin Dilemma, this paper will discuss how specific interpretive communication methods can take politically divisive subjects, like climate change and more effectively communicate science within documentaries.