Català
Español2017 has been declared by the UN as the Year of Sustainable Tourism. All over the planet have emerged initiatives that lead to reflect on a concept that is undoubtedly determinant for the maintenance of our landscapes.
One of the slogans chosen to communicate initiatives around the Year of Sustainable Tourism has been “Travel. Enjoy. Respect”. The slogan seems to me to be right. The advertisement that drives the campaign has a leitmotif, the will to promote respect for the cultures and landscapes of the planet.
The video consists of a first part elaborated with photographs of landscapes from around the world and portraits of people from different communities; in a second part, differentiated from the first because the ambient sound becomes evident, the moving image takes over as the pre-eminent material of the spot. In this case, it is about perspectives that illustrate vehicles entering into landscapes that invite to the adventure. The announcement closes with the slogan of the campaign and the logos of the institutions involved in its dissemination.
Throughout the spot, which lasts little more than a minute, a series of text messages overlaid on the image provide reflections on the spirit that should guide the conduct of travelers. These reflections could be summed up in curiosity to understand and respect to accept the particularities of the places and people that we visit.
In general terms, there is no doubt that audiovisual language has a great responsibility in stimulating our desire to know places. Some studies certify that the dissemination of promotional audiovisual content through social networks has a great influence on the final elections of travelers.
Do not forget that we retain 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear and 80% of what we look at. A fact for curiosity. It is estimated that, in 2018, more than one million minutes of video will be published on the Internet. This means that the human being would need 5 million years to see all the content that will be published every month of this year.
Precisely because the audiovisual is a determining language to configure the imaginary on the places, it is essential that the creators who carry out tourism communication projects let us reflect on the importance of our role.
Too often, producers force ourselves to take on the orders of our customers by providing technical innovations that may not be fully justified by either the script or the spirit of the place we have to communicate. After all this is not only the search for the impact of the observing eye, but also the need to meet certain marketing objectives.
The technique has allowed surprising points of view – the views from drones – and amazing visual effects – the time lapse – at an affordable cost. It seems that everything is worth to convert the piece that we are elaborating in memorable. To persecute and to transfer the beauty of a place is not bad, on the contrary; we are paid for it justly, but we must not fall into the imposture of selling an unreal image of the places or, much less, of altering the spaces that we are going to portray.
The balance is difficult, but my experience of more than 15 years producing and performing audiovisual pieces to show natural and human landscapes has led me to assume that there is only one way: to connect deeply with the place, experience it consciously and then to communicate it with criteria and sensitivity.
The ultimate goal of audiovisual language is the same as that of any art, to emotion. In the touristic films, in addition to the search of emotion, the desire to encourage the discovery is added. Then, more than other audiovisual genres, the touristic films have to connect with the essence of the sites in order to communicate with criteria.
In the trophy ceremony of the first edition of the terres Catalunya tourism film festival, held in Tortosa in early June 2017, one of the world’s top experts on Sustainable Tourism, Swen Waterreus, explained that each person passionated by sustainable development has to integrate this concept in his or her day to day in the same way that, for example, can get to integrate the patterns of a healthy diet. “If you take them with effort and tenacity, in the end you no longer have to think about them because they are part of you.”
What can an audiovisual producer do to contribute to the sustainability of a space that must be documented? I can think of a few examples, such as involving professionals from the region within the crew or hire catering to local companies and even make sure that the products for cooking them are grown in the area. All this, tools to contribute to the production of audiovisual pieces aligned with the criteria of sustainable development.