Blue Planet Documentary Example

Blue Planet is a documentary series surrounding marine biology and environments of planet Earth. It is hosted by David Attenborough and is aired on BBC One which means it has around 50 minutes to teach their audiences on certain topics concerned within the episode. This means they have to focus on educating the audience and keeping their attention while having a short time to do so.
The camera continuously cuts between David Attenborough and the turtle. This is to remind the audience who is talking and what the subject of conversation is. This time it is the turtle. The positioning of David is low and closely next to the turtle. This is to used to demonstrate a bond between man and creature to the audience. It also shows that there is no hostilities from David as it appears comforting to the audience for David to be close to him.
The movement on screen is in sync with what is being said in the narration. In this case it is the scene where the turtle is burying its eggs. Davids narration fits perfectly with the actions on screen taken by the turtle. Their are also numerous close ups on both its face and eggs to allow the audience to bond with the turtle and it keeps the clip ethical as there is no sign of falsehood in what David is saying as its matched up.
When Lynn Peters is introduced, a medium shot of him walking towards the camera is shown. This establishes a clear shift in focus from the turtle. While he talks to the camera, its positioning is kept at a medium close up of Lynn as he discusses turtle meat. This creates the illusion that he is talking to the audience and educating them directly like some sort of teacher. When the topic of discussion focuses on leatherback turtles from Lynn, we get a wideshot of two turtles on the beach to show that he is expanding our knowledge on them and providing a different perspective.
Later on, the shot where all the different citizens gather around the turtle, The turtle is placed centre screen at a low angle shot. This makes the turtle appear vulnerable and is used to drive sympathy from the audience.
It then cuts to an establishing shot of the outside of a school to establish the next location. Inside the school we see a wide shot of the children in the school at their desks and then a low angle mid shot of Lynn teaching them. This makes him look powerful while he teaches the children and the audience. It also helps address the audience as it puts him in a position of power.The camera then cuts back and from shots of him asking questions and close ups of the children. This makes it seem as he is addressing the children and audience subsequently when the children ask questions the audience may have.