The potential of sustainable screenwriting

Art can lead to conversations about environmental issues. British director/ producer Jessica Wheeler who known for stop-motion short films such as Euphorbia (2017) and Growing Plains (2021), speaks about green storytelling.


What sustainable screenwriting approach are you taking?
My approach draws on images of the uncanny and avoids didactic language around climate urgency by using a speculative fiction narrative. Growing Plains asks questions through image, texture, and sound design about the symbiosis between humans and the natural world. Dialogue is avoided. I wanted to paint quite an extreme speculative portrait where humans have an alternative biology. These uncanny images might not immediately change minds, but I hope they deter apathy. They might lead to engaged conversations. I certainly don’t take a prescriptive approach to sustainable screenwriting. Just as each animation project may require a different technique, each project may likewise require a different means of sustainable storytelling. It’s not always conscious, but sustainability often weaves its way into my films, whether it’s a choice of character or materials.

What potential does green storytelling offer stop-motion animated films?
I’d probably first ask: what potential does stop-motion animation offer green storytelling? Thinking about planet placement and the ways in which film and television writers are trying to normalise sustainable activity, stop motion has the unique advantage of creating limitless worlds and images. If you can imagine it, you can probably animate it. The challenge comes with communication, the ability to engage people’s emotions, and the creation of stories that provide an embodied experience. Let’s think about the positive impact stop-motion films make. Green storytelling has the potential to open a range of interesting images and expressions that are related to our world and how we view it. Green storytelling, like off-screen discussions about climate change, does not exist in isolation, but is instead motivated by the social and political questions that we continue to face.



Does an eco-conscious story also require the use of environmentally friendly materials in a stop-motion production?
It doesn’t require it, but if you’re telling an eco-conscious story, and you’re not thinking about the materials you’re using, then it might be worthwhile to ask yourself why you are telling this story….