Jane Cheadle
Greening the Uncanny Valley: towards sustainable Animation & Video Effects production in the UK, practice and policy
Supervisors: Dr Pietari Kääpä, University of Warwick and Dr Leslie Meier, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds.
Project Summary
Animation and digital screen production play increasingly important roles of the UK’s film industry, yet their environmental impacts remain largely unknown.
Research on the emissions and resource demands of screen production focus on live-action film and industry sustainability frameworks prioritise visible production activities while overlooking digital infrastructures. Where scholarship does address sustainability in animation, it tends to concentrate on narrative representation rather than material impacts or labour relations and there is a marked absence of AV-based policy frameworks.
This research aims to identify mitigation strategies for sustainable production practice, contributing to more effective sustainability policy for animation and digital screen production in the UK, raising awareness among practitioners, industry bodies, policymakers, and supporting the development of sector-specific sustainability targets and strategies. The project hopes to contribute to emerging fields of production and environmental media studies, where the materiality of contemporary media systems is examined, foregrounding the insights of technical practitioners whose knowledge of AV digital production is central to the industry but rarely included at policy level discussion.
Bio
Through my work as an independent animator and animation lecturer, I’ve become increasingly aware of the gaps regarding sustainability policy and frameworks in my field. With colleagues, I run a project where students undergo BAFTA Albert sustainability training to map the environmental impact of their practical projects.
Through this process, the lack of developed VFX and Animation frameworks became clear and has motivated me to undertake research and activities to address this.