We are making an animation to be shown to delegates in mid January at the International Negotiating Committee (INC5) meeting which is being held in Geneva and is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme. The INC5 is writing a Globally Binding Treaty that will eliminate the use and trade of mercury and mercury containing products. Dental Mercury accounts for 10% of the annual global emissions (340 tons) and therefore is considered a significant contributor.
Unfortunately, we will not be attending, but the IAOMT’s group of experts will represent the consensus that mercury amalgam is a risk to the environment, dental workers and the general public, and whose use should be discontinued as there are many suitable alternatives available.
Since we’ll be covering the environmental angle of dental mercury in the film, I’ve long thought that a high end animation showing the many pathways dental mercury takes on its journey into the environment was needed. Since the IAOMT is an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) they will have a table with materials to present information to delegates.
The video below is the outline for our animation, Dental Mercury’s Toxic Journey into the Environment. While quite painful to watch, this shows how we start to flesh out our rough ideas with visuals, the script and timing. I’m always amazed at how the collaborative process can take something so raw and refine it into something so professional. We have a month and a half to make this animation look amazing.