Elon Musk and Tesla to appear in documentary film

Both Elon Musk and Tesla are set to appear in a much-anticipated documentary film, Racing Extinction, this week on Discovery Channel. Recently, after an exclusive screening of the film, Elon Musk joined The Wrap* panel on stage to discuss important issues surrounding carbon emissions. “It’s really important that people demonstrate to governments around the world that they care about climate change,” Musk said at The Wrap’s Screening Series at Paramount Pictures. Musk was joined by the film’s director Louie Psihoyos, an Oscar winner for his previous acclaimed documentary “The Cove,” along with composer J. Ralph. 

“The wilingness is there, you just have to activate people with something that is familiar. People look to the Tesla as the future, as credibility and something that can change the world...” Ralph explained. Check out Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaking out on the tactics used by the oil and gas industries and the need for collective action (see below)...

“The issue we’re facing is that, even the vast majority of scientists, even those that don’t have a vested interest and aren’t crazy, even they think this is a serious issue,” Musk explained. “The rules of the game fundamentally favor bad behavior,” Musk noted, recognizing the challenge of confronting powerful industries that are heavily subsidized by governments. “The oil and gas companies have basically infinite money. They’re using the same playbook as the tobacco industry did.” 

The director, Psihoyos, also previously sat down with The Wall Street Journal and explained why he turned to Musk to appear in the movie, "Elon Musk, to me, is a real-life superhero. He is the real 'Iron Man.' I wanted to use him just as an inspirational character for young people. He’s building rocket ships to supply the space station. Tesla isn’t just the best electric car in the world, it’s the best car in the world in Consumer Reports. He’s a big-picture thinker that’s actually putting everything on the line, including his fortune, to save us. And telling that story is pretty epic. Because you need young people that are heroes for people to look up to.

Another surprising star in Racing Extinction is a must-see, breathtaking Tesla Model S. This completely customized Tesla Model S that appears in the film was designed, engineered and converted into an "undercover mobile eco-projection vehicle” integrating both cutting-edge software and hardware to record and deliver content. Check out this clip from the film...

Source: Wired

Wired explains, "The filmmakers bought the Tesla after meeting with Elon Musk himself, who appears in Racing [Extinction], and Obscura [Digital] embellished the exterior with a coat of electroluminescent paint, which can toggle the car’s color from black to luminous blue when a current is applied. 'It’s like a modern-day Bond car,' Psihoyos says." 

Source: Wired

Wired elaborates, "[The movie is] in part a story about global warming, whose main cause is ubiquitous yet mostly invisible to the human eye. So in Racing Extinction, Psihoyos employs an infrared camera fitted with a color filter that brings into stark relief the sources of carbon dioxide in our environment—the lawn blowers, smokestacks, and parades of smoldering tailpipes on a rush-hour freeway. Seen through the camera, an Airbus 380 gliding down the runway at LAX appears dragonlike, billowing gas. In a voice-over, Psihoyos reflects: 'To be able to see this hidden world, it’s like you’re let in on a magic trick, but the magic trick is actually killing the planet.’"

To catch both Elon Musk and this must-see, customized Tesla Model S in Racing Extinction, tune in to Discovery Channel this Saturday night at 9pm EST.

====

*Source: The Wrap