I decided to research Blackfish due to it being a well received documentary.
The structure of Blackfish is evidently very complex. It is made up of interviews with former Sea World trainers, experts, archive footage, montages etc.
The documentary begins with some ominous sounding music fading in. At the same time the screen fades from black to a deep blue colour (like the sea). Titles appear and display the date 'February 24, 2010 SeaWorld Orlando' - it then becomes apparent that this is the date that the trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the killer whale Tilikum. This is revealed through a recorded phone call to a Fire Rescue department claiming that a trainer was in the water with a whale that no one is supposed to be in the water with. This is followed up by a phone call to the sherif's office claiming that a whale had eaten one of the trainers. These phone calls introduce the subject of the documentary - the dangers of working with whales and why whales act in such a way to the people that care for them. Archive footage of the trainer with the whale plays during these phone calls (as well as various titles).
To contrast to this sombre opening, after the title of the documentary appears, the happy / upbeat trailer for SeaWorld plays. This contrasts to the 'real events' which are actually taking place in SeaWorld. This paints SeaWorld as the enemy and establishes the theme of this documentary - uncovering the lies told by SeaWorld and their treatment of the whales which results in them acting in such a way to trainers.
This is followed by the introduction of the interview subjects of the documentary. All of the interview subjects (apart from one or two experts) are introduced very early on in the documentary. They begin to talk about their experiences at SeaWorld whilst archive footage of their training plays. They all talk about what made them want to be a trainer and what their training experiences were like.
The whales are painted as the victim in this documentary - they only killed the trainers due to their treatment and frustration at being in captivation.
Further in the documentary, experts talk about the capture of these whales from the sea and the unfair treatment at SeaWorld. One expert claims that if you stay out of proximity with the whales then you won't get killed - demonstrating that the deaths of the trainers can't really be blamed on the whales - this is the way that killer whales behave when they're frustrated.
Archive footage shows the capture of the whales whilst the people involved in the capture talked about their experiences. They talk about the brutality of capturing these whales - how some die as a result of this - how the adults tried to protect their young. One of the people involved in these hunts, talks about his regret at being involved with these hunts. This again helps to paint SeaWorld as the enemy.
The documentary continues to show the different events at SeaWorld, more interviews with trainers and archive footage. There is a lot of actuality footage which helps to demonstrate the message that the documentary is conveying - the aggression / frustration of the killer whales caused by being captive at SeaWorld. This actuality footage adds a lot of weight to the argument due to it being real / natural behaviour which supports their message. The documentary mainly explores the death of the trainers and why this was allowed to happen. It also exposes SeaWorld and the lies they tell - e.g. they claim that killer whales only live until about 25-30 years old (and that this is a lot longer than in the wild because they can provide veterinary care) but experts expose this lie by showing the killer whales who live in their natural habitat live a lot longer / equivalent to human life spans.
The documentary finishes with the message that SeaWorld should free the killer whales who are healthy enough to survive in the wild or release them to open ocean pens. This should be done for the health of the whales and also for the safety of the trainers to prevent any more deaths occurring. The closing images shows the former trainers going out to watch whales in the wild - where they should be.
How Has This Influenced Our Documentary
- Blackfish had a clear message to portray - that keeping whales in captivity is not only cruel to the whales but also dangerous for the trainers. The documentary also clearly showed SeaWorld as the enemy due to their treatment of these whales. This has influenced our documentary as it shows the importance of having a clear and focused angle - this makes the audience support who you tell them to support. For our documentary, we would like the audience to support the young drivers by realising how unfair insurance prices are for them and how ridiculously expensive driving is. This means we need to paint teenagers in a positive light and the insurance industry in a negative light.
- Blackfish didn't have a presenter. Instead, the narrative was told through archive footage and interviews with former trainers and experts. A presenter really wasn't needed because their angle was clear and the audience could tell just from the interviews who's side to take. This has influenced our documentary as we think we will need a presenter in order to make our documentary more clear. Although we have a clear angle, we feel that a presenter would be better to reinforce our message. We also have a lot less interviews than Blackfish and therefore a presenter feels necessary in order to bridge any gaps.
- Blackfish used a lot of archive footage to demonstrate their point as well as entertain and interest the audience. We hope to include archive footage of old cars in order to demonstrate the differences between driving about 30 years ago compared to driving today.
- The main thing this documentary has shown me is that it is important to have a clear and focused angle in order to make the audience support the ideas that you present. Without a clear and focused angle, the audience will become confused as to which side they are supposed to take.
The structure of Blackfish is evidently very complex. It is made up of interviews with former Sea World trainers, experts, archive footage, montages etc.
The documentary begins with some ominous sounding music fading in. At the same time the screen fades from black to a deep blue colour (like the sea). Titles appear and display the date 'February 24, 2010 SeaWorld Orlando' - it then becomes apparent that this is the date that the trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the killer whale Tilikum. This is revealed through a recorded phone call to a Fire Rescue department claiming that a trainer was in the water with a whale that no one is supposed to be in the water with. This is followed up by a phone call to the sherif's office claiming that a whale had eaten one of the trainers. These phone calls introduce the subject of the documentary - the dangers of working with whales and why whales act in such a way to the people that care for them. Archive footage of the trainer with the whale plays during these phone calls (as well as various titles).
To contrast to this sombre opening, after the title of the documentary appears, the happy / upbeat trailer for SeaWorld plays. This contrasts to the 'real events' which are actually taking place in SeaWorld. This paints SeaWorld as the enemy and establishes the theme of this documentary - uncovering the lies told by SeaWorld and their treatment of the whales which results in them acting in such a way to trainers.
This is followed by the introduction of the interview subjects of the documentary. All of the interview subjects (apart from one or two experts) are introduced very early on in the documentary. They begin to talk about their experiences at SeaWorld whilst archive footage of their training plays. They all talk about what made them want to be a trainer and what their training experiences were like.
The whales are painted as the victim in this documentary - they only killed the trainers due to their treatment and frustration at being in captivation.
Further in the documentary, experts talk about the capture of these whales from the sea and the unfair treatment at SeaWorld. One expert claims that if you stay out of proximity with the whales then you won't get killed - demonstrating that the deaths of the trainers can't really be blamed on the whales - this is the way that killer whales behave when they're frustrated.
Archive footage shows the capture of the whales whilst the people involved in the capture talked about their experiences. They talk about the brutality of capturing these whales - how some die as a result of this - how the adults tried to protect their young. One of the people involved in these hunts, talks about his regret at being involved with these hunts. This again helps to paint SeaWorld as the enemy.
The documentary continues to show the different events at SeaWorld, more interviews with trainers and archive footage. There is a lot of actuality footage which helps to demonstrate the message that the documentary is conveying - the aggression / frustration of the killer whales caused by being captive at SeaWorld. This actuality footage adds a lot of weight to the argument due to it being real / natural behaviour which supports their message. The documentary mainly explores the death of the trainers and why this was allowed to happen. It also exposes SeaWorld and the lies they tell - e.g. they claim that killer whales only live until about 25-30 years old (and that this is a lot longer than in the wild because they can provide veterinary care) but experts expose this lie by showing the killer whales who live in their natural habitat live a lot longer / equivalent to human life spans.
The documentary finishes with the message that SeaWorld should free the killer whales who are healthy enough to survive in the wild or release them to open ocean pens. This should be done for the health of the whales and also for the safety of the trainers to prevent any more deaths occurring. The closing images shows the former trainers going out to watch whales in the wild - where they should be.
How Has This Influenced Our Documentary
- Blackfish had a clear message to portray - that keeping whales in captivity is not only cruel to the whales but also dangerous for the trainers. The documentary also clearly showed SeaWorld as the enemy due to their treatment of these whales. This has influenced our documentary as it shows the importance of having a clear and focused angle - this makes the audience support who you tell them to support. For our documentary, we would like the audience to support the young drivers by realising how unfair insurance prices are for them and how ridiculously expensive driving is. This means we need to paint teenagers in a positive light and the insurance industry in a negative light.
- Blackfish didn't have a presenter. Instead, the narrative was told through archive footage and interviews with former trainers and experts. A presenter really wasn't needed because their angle was clear and the audience could tell just from the interviews who's side to take. This has influenced our documentary as we think we will need a presenter in order to make our documentary more clear. Although we have a clear angle, we feel that a presenter would be better to reinforce our message. We also have a lot less interviews than Blackfish and therefore a presenter feels necessary in order to bridge any gaps.
- Blackfish used a lot of archive footage to demonstrate their point as well as entertain and interest the audience. We hope to include archive footage of old cars in order to demonstrate the differences between driving about 30 years ago compared to driving today.
- The main thing this documentary has shown me is that it is important to have a clear and focused angle in order to make the audience support the ideas that you present. Without a clear and focused angle, the audience will become confused as to which side they are supposed to take.
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