Open Planet Offers Free Nature Videos to Help Fight Climate Change
Open Planet, a free visual library, is making videos of nature free for non-commercial and non-profit use, all in an effort to help climate change efforts.
Open Planet’s library has more than 4,000 clips of everything from solar panels, deep sea footage, videos of natural disasters, and even images of daily city life. Users can search for specific footage with key terms for locations or weather phenomenons, for example. And while this early version already offers thousands of clips, a full public release is scheduled for early next year.
Open Planet is the result of a collaboration between Studio Silverback and Carnegie Mellon University’s Create Lab. Studio Silverback is the production arm of Silverback, which itself has produced numerous nature documentaries like Our Planet, and focuses on using film and storytelling “to reveal the urgent truth of our changing planet to a global audience.” The Create Lab uses technology and robotics to help make positive change.
The goal of Open Planet is to make footage of the world and images documenting climate change more accessible. As the group describes on its website, “We’re enabling everyone, everywhere to tell the story of our changing planet.”
In addition to specially-filmed content, Open Planet is working with a global network of filmmakers and production companies to grow its library, a spokesperson tells PetaPixel. Those interested in partnering with the group can reach out directly for information on how to collaborate.
“While the impacts [of climate change and biodiversity loss] are already being felt across the world, the problems and solutions are not being captured or made visible to others,” Open Planet’s website reads. “High-quality, credible, and inspiring footage rarely exists. If it does, it’s often rights-restricted or expensive, creating a barrier for most to use or access.”
Recently, Open Planet released its first collection, Project India, which looks at biodiversity, climate change effects, and sustainable solutions, all arising from the country. This added 1,600 clips to the Open Planet library.
“If we want to change how the world views nature, how the world tackles climate change, and how we look after people, then we have to change the story — and the way we tell the story. Planet India is our attempt to do that,” Colin Butfield, Open Planet Director and Studio Silverback Executive Director, explained at the Project India Premiere.
Image credits: Featured photo licensed via Depositphotos.
