A-Level Media Studies: Blue Planet II episode one - 'One Ocean'

Presented in note form following initial reactions to the episode. Apologies for grammatical issues.

A montage of generically typical establishing shots of ice, water and Attenborough's boat, accompanied by choral and equally grandiose classical music
"This is Blue Planet II"
Environmental message instantly established

Title card - 'One Ocean' followed by super slo-mo crashing wave. "The surface of the ocean conceals the many creatures that live beneath" functions as an enigma code for the audience
Super-slo-mo indicates extremely high production values
"They do so for the sheer joy of it"
"You have to travel with them, in to their world..." direct mode of address, providing the audience with an escapist gratification.
Non-diegetic soundtrack briefly ceases, replaced with pleonastic clicks and grunts of dolphins exploring.
Themes of family established through wise adult and curious youngster archetypes so beloved by TV wildlife documentaries

Another vast, grand establishing shot, before again taking the audience below the surface of the water.
Time-lapse photography
Enigma established - "he does something few believe a fish could do"
Use of foleys positions audience with the tusk fish, and montage editing reinforces meaning
"whoops!" imbuing this fish with anthropomorphic traits again allow the audience to identify with a plucky, clumsy underdog
The gratification of knowledge is reinforced throughout, including by Attenborough's admission that "fish are cleverer than you might suppose", which also functions as a jokey mode of address to the audience.

Yet another grand arial establishing shot. The soundtrack becomes more intimate, and lacks the aquatic instrumentation of before.
Non-diegetic sound suddenly low and murderous with pleonastic crashes as the terns are eaten from below. Low angle shots establish these fish as the definite antagonist (thanks Matilda!), and a binary opposition to the plucky 'fledglings'
Once more, the gratification of knowledge and information provided through the villainous, antagonistic fish having the depth perception of a bird.
Noble, driving music accompanies a montage of the 'fledglings' approaching 'the training grounds', once more encoding a range of ideologically motivated character archetypes
That the fledgling is now able to escape demonstrates the final phase of a Todorovian narrative: a partial restoration of the equilibrium, reinforced with wistful music
Immediately following super slo-mo near miss, a match on action to the young tern, with a laughter like chirp anchoring the joyousness of having escaped certain death. Once more, human emotions applied to animals for the purpose of providing a compelling narrative to the audience

Guess what? An arial establishing shot!
"The oceans hold 97% of the water in the world" - the gratification of information
A range of computer graphics demonstrate the power of nature in a visually appealing way.
"in it's lifetime, a large storm can produce enough energy the equivalent of 10000 nuclear bombs - anthropomorphisation AND a cool fact!

Potentially grotesque animal presented as being elegant and beautiful, anchored once more through the choral, delicate soundtrack
"stimulates many of the planktonic creatures to luminesce" lexis is more technical than the Jeremy Kyle Show (!), though utilised in a poetic manner as opposed to coming across as scientific jargon. Consequently forms a double mode of address for much younger and much younger audiences.
"only now do we have the technology to record their faint glow" - not only a boast about how ridiculously expensive this show is, but also an explanation for the comparatively low film quality for the subsequent imagery
"An extraordinary ballet of life and death" - once more, faintly middle-class connotative language

"A rare visitor" - demonstrates the significance of recording this act
A series of establishing shots of the landscape of New Zealand - Mew Zealand explicitly
"constantly chattering" - comedic connotations from the dolphin's noises
Rapid editing between underwater and birds eye shots
Once more, an establishment of the protagonist and the antagonist: "the false killers have detected them...the killers quicklt close in on them"
"something truly extraordinary" - fast paced editing suddenly slows, soundtrack changes to major key, emphasising the significance of the impending "friendship"
Ome unified army" - reinforces possible LOTR reference, BUT ALSO another example of anthropomorphism

Established "lounging" in the sun. Allows audience to identify with the pet-like animal. However this sequence is very short

Extreme close ups of misshapen fish face - "in female fish terms, he is particularly handsome" - joke further anchored through comedy instrumentation
Many extreme C/Us of this couple suggesting many weeks of filming
POV shot entering hole, music becomes threatening, a montage of shots demonstrates a shift from sex to sex.
The freakish grotesquery is emphasised through a series of fast edits
"The territory has a new ruler", once more establishing a new equilibrium

Microlight establishing shot of icebergs
All non-diegetic sound cuts out, creating a significant change of pace
The orca themselves teased through shots of fins breaking the water in the lazy Nordic sunlight
"these particular orca are fish hunting specialists. They work as a team..." once more, utilisation of human centric terms such as specialist and team bestows human qualities on these animals, allowing the audience to identify fully with them
Hans Zimmer's soundtrack at this point really emphasises how much this documentary actually uses the conventions of the action/adventure genre. Reinforces a dominant reading of the brutal raw power of nature.
Sudden introduction of an antagonist - humpback whales, their size emphasised through pleonastic and bass heavy groaning
Montage of underwater C/Us and birds eye arial shots establish a sense of scale

"worrying signs"
Slo-mo shots of stalactites melting
"a profound impact
Utilisation of reaction shiots, emphasising the severity of the situation and the presence of the polar bear
"but she too has young ones to feed. What is a mother to do?" Continual reminders to the audience that we are not watching animals, we are watching mothers. This allows the audience the gratification of personal identity.
The "desperate" situation of the rapidly melting ice blocks. The montage insinuates that the fight causes the 'berg to crumble, establishing an atmosphere of anxiety and frustration
Plaintive piano and choral music anchors image of mother walrus 'kissing' her cub
'our blue planet' - snese of of ownership and responsibility

"Blue Planet II has been four years in the making", a reminder of the quality and expense of the show
This making of lists an array of extremely expensive and new equipment, emphasising the veracity of the show
Approachable Australian cameraman demonstrates the international reach of the BBC

A-Level Media Studies