Research

Natural History Documentary programmes

The Blue Planet

One natural history documentary that I studied was 'The Blue Planet'. The Blue Planet explored the worlds oceans, rivers and lake, looking at marine life all over the planet. From this documentary I saw the typical documentary conventions which i had learnt from class. This includes voiceover by Sir David Attenborough, facts and statistics, cinemtography (long shots, low angle shots, close up), edits (pan, tracking, tilt, cut)etc. But I also picked up on a technique that is more noticably used in wildlife documentaries. I learnt from my research that whenever they show an animal e.g. A Polar Bear, they will give an introduction to the animal and a small fact about them (this could include their size weight and height, population, features etc.). But what i really learnt that i feel will help me take my documentary up a level, is that as the the narration follows the animals behaviour. For example (from the Blue Planet), a Walrus goes to swim into the ocean, so Attenborough says 'Walrus tend to make daily journeys out into the sea in search of clams'. This shows that he is explaining why the Walrus has gone swimming. Its not gone into the water just to have a swim, but to search for clams to feed on.

Autumnwatch
Another Documentary which i anaylsed for my research was another BBC documentary 'Autumnwatch'. This documentary is presented by Bill Oddie (left), Simon King and Kate Humble. Once again i was looking for documentary conventions. Both 'The Blue Planet' and 'Autumnwatch' maybe wildlife documentaries, however the presentation and the way both documentaries were constructed were the opposite. The Blue Planet just showed the marine animal with David Attenborough narratoring on the animal and it's behaviour. On the other hand Autumnwatch has a combination of a voiceover and the presenter themselves actually presenting the programme. Example, when Simon King was talking about the Red Deer in the Island of Rum, the camera was interchanging between Simon King (the presenter) and the animals. Another technique used that was not in the Blue Planet was replay action used by Simon King when he was explaining an incident of a fight between two Red Deer. Another difference was that in Autumnwatch they gave the animals names, just like people e.g. Caesar, Maximus, Percy etc. Similarily they both introduce the animal and explain the animals behaviour, however in Autumnwatch the presenter sometimes tries to interpret and then tell the audience what the animal is thinking or saying if they was a human e.g. When one male Deer comes to challenge another Red Deer for the right to own the best patch, Simon King says what the current owner of the patch says "How dare this fellow try to take over my patch". This demonstrates that he is talking on behalf of the Deer and basically translating, from his interpretation of its behaviour, what the animal is saying, thinking, so we as the audience can understand what is going on. Once again the use of facts and statistics, cinemtography and editing etc.

From My Research

From my research, which i believe has helped me have a better insight into how to construct my documentary and also what kind of footage i actually want. I have learnt that there are two ways of presenting a wildlife documentary, so i've decided that i would like to combine both styles into one. Using the main voiceover idea in some areas and presenting some parts of the show as well.

Animals that I intend to capture

This is a small list of animals that i intend and hopeful of capturing for my documentary:

• Blackbird (bird)
• Red Fox (mammal)
• House Sparrow (bird)
• European Magpie (bird)
• Ferel Pigeon (bird)
• Woodland Pigeon (bird)
• Rats (mammal) - Maybe, but very unlikely
• Robin (bird)- maybe
• Black-Headed Gull (bird)
• Common Gull (bird)
• Grey Squirrel (mammal)
• Blue Tit (bird)
• Carrion Crow (bird)
• Common Gull (bird)
• Great Tit (bird)
• Starlings (bird)

In addition i have researched all about these animals and for each one i have made a animal profile (Name, Scientific name, habitat, description/Info, Behaviour, Diet, Conservation status and reproductive biology). The majority of this information that I have gathered will be in my documentary.