The virtual reality film "Melting Ice" featuring Al Gore aims to help the audience connect global events to their personal lives.
Pushing past film’s ability to connect to the audience, Director Danfung Dennis created an opportunity for the audience to become an ice cap so they can follow the melting ice’s journey around the globe through virtual reality. Dennis made the film with the goal of bringing the audience’s idea of climate change from a concept to reality.
“You get to feel climate change versus just hearing about it," Dennis said. "You watch these massive glaciers just start breaking apart right in front of you, crashing into the water. You see the ice melt into these torrents of brown raging rivers. You start really getting a sense of the force and the scale of this weather event.”
With a 3D view and 360 degrees of virtual reality, Dennis hopes Melting Ice brings to life the consequences of climate change. He said ice caps are melting at higher rates than predicted causing rising sea levels. The film shows how Florida has already been impacted. Dennis wants the film to help individuals connect these events with their own actions.
“The hope is that people will think about their own carbon emissions," Danfung said. "And think about their own contribution to this problem. It’s important to remember that we all have responsibility. We all can take action every day. Whether it’s reducing your amount of driving, your travel, a plant based diet, all of these things can drastically reduce your own carbon emissions. And just thinking about the energy that we use and being conscious of where the source is.”
Dennis says that 2016 was the hottest year on record and that the heat could cause millions of people to be displaced due to rising shore lines.
“This is happening faster than predicted and so we have to respond urgently," he said. "The time is now. The time is to take action in our own lives and not wait for policy makers to solve this. It’s up to all of us to take action.”
