An Exploration of the Effects of Coral Bleaching through the Lens of Stop Motion Film

Our thesis project leverages the cultural power of film and media to empower students to learn about what coral bleaching is, how scientists are working to mitigate this issue, and offer accessible options for intervening into this crisis. It bridges the gap between common views of corals either being full of spectacle or being bleached and lost to death and empower viewers to find their own personal connections to coral ecosystems. The target audience is students from middle to high school, but kids of any age will be able to view and learn from it. In addition to bringing attention towards this issue, the film teaches students how they can implement sustainable practices to decrease their own environmental footprint and help to slow the decline of coral reefs. Within this film, there are three main topics covered: what coral reefs are, what coral bleaching is, what scientists are doing to help prevent it, and how the viewer can help mitigate the effects of coral bleaching. By sectioning the video in this way, we hope to create a story for the viewers to learn and care about the corals while also learning about the precautions needed to reduce coral bleaching events. Our vision for this project was to create a short educational video that had an engaging narrative and imagery while simultaneously empowering the viewer to care for coral reefs and our oceans. While doing this, we were inspired by educational videos such as BrainPOP created by Dr. Avraham Kadar and Crash Course created by John and Hank Green. This stop motion animation was filmed with cardstock paper and sticker props to create the colorful imagery that we envisioned. We wanted to raise awareness about what is happening in our oceans and show viewers why they should care, especially those who live in land locked states such as Arizona or do not get to visit the ocean regularly.