In rural South Carolina sits an advanced research facility. Behind these walls, engineers recreate hail, hurricane force winds, and simulate wildfires to understand how humans can adapt to the climate crisis. Adaptation provides a powerful testament to humanity’s ability to confront a changing world.
SUPPORT
Help us make this film a reality by making a tax deductible donation via our fiscal sponsor, 5 Point Film Festival. Any donation, big or small, helps in the creation of Adaptation.
FISCAL SPONSOR
5 Point Adventure Film Festival is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to sharing stories of adventure that have the power to ignite positive social and environmental change in our local communities and around the globe. The festival is founded on five principles - respect, commitment, humility, purpose, and balance.
Our team is thrilled to partner with 5 Point as our fiscal sponsor for Adaptation, providing an option for any donations to the film to become tax deductible. All donations toward the creation of this film also support 5 Point, and their continued effort to champion established and emerging filmmakers.
THE RESEARCH CENTER
In 2010, the unique IBHS Research Center came to life to advance the scientific understanding of severe weather perils and their interaction with homes and businesses at full scale. The IBHS facility is equipped with the capability to produce hurricane force winds, wildfire simulation, and severe hail. This facility is advancing construction techniques in the face of chaotic climate change by enabling researchers to more fully and accurately evaluate various residential and commercial building materials and systems at full scale.
“We have the science. We have the engineering. We know what mother nature is bringing to our communities. Adaptation and mitigation is absolutely possible.”
- Dr. Anne Cope, Lead Engineer
THE STORY
Adaptation leans into an unconventional narrative approach, and relies on the audience’s ability to discern details of a story and place through visual and sonic cues.
In addition to the work being done at the facility in South Carolina, the IBHS team deploys to disaster zones to conduct field research. Audiences will see the real world implications of the facility’s research when we film with the IBHS team in the field.
THE FIELD
As the experimentation phase comes to a head, a transition to life outside of the facility will fill the screen. Scars of a recent wildfire in a forest, houses demolished in the wake of a hurricane, and golf ball sized hail strewn on sidewalks, allow the viewer to piece together that this work is purposeful and urgent. As this montage unfolds, several familiar faces seen in the research facility begin to appear as they survey collapsed houses in buildings at the site of a recent hurricane, and separately collect hail samples from a passing storm. Ultimately the “reveal” of these moments outside of the research facility will reinforce that the experiments conducted in the test chamber are not just simulations, but rooted in actuality.
THE FACILITY
Observational in approach, we will follow processes behind several experiments the IBHS research team is taking on through the course of several months at their research facility.
Audiences will see simulated wildfire embers float out of metal tubes, landing softly on roof tiles and window sills before catching flame. In another experiment, the test chamber’s wall of roughly 130 fans will whir to life, sending hurricane force winds up to 170 MPH directly into the chamber, demolishing any structure in its way. Engineers and climatologists will be standing by, observing the fruits of their labor and taking notes of the experiment's results. Diegetic moments of audio between these teams will help the viewer to understand the intention of the experiment and bring a foothold to the story.
Core Creative Team
-
Palmer Morse
Co-Director
-
Matt Mikkelsen
Co-Director
-
Hayley Nendal
Producer
-
Clay Barron
Producer