Planet Earth 2007

Planet Earth

Presented by: David Attenborough

Genre: Documentary (Mini Series)

Year: 2007

Episode Watched: 2 (Mountains)

For the documentary unit, I was searching for documentaries that could inspire me in further developing any ideas for the project under the Nature and WIldlife subgenre. That's when I came across Planet Earth when searching for nature documentaries. The mini series was presented by David Attenborough in where he would discuss in great detail about a specific natural location like in this instance mountains as well as its inhabitants. In just 20 minutes of watching the mountains episode I was already fed information on the local inhabitants of 2 completely different mountain environments. He discussed about the mountains themselves going into a lengthy detail into their history, current envirment, climate as well as the wildlife surrounding the locations ranging from what they are to where and how they live as well as how they interact with eachother to how they survive. One thing I noted when watching the documentary, is that David, usually takes short rests after describing the location, environment or its wildlife, which gives us the viewers, a chance to register everything he mentioned before moving on to te next subject. 

During those breaks there is always background music that merges perfectly with the visuals. Speaking of the visuals, Most of the shot sizes used in this episode of planet earth a a variety of long shots, establishing shots, mid shots and close ups. The establishing shots in the episode were aerial shots which showed the vast landscapes surrounding the mountains. The mid shots and close ups were used to get a more visible shot of the local wild life's activities while, David is describing the local wildlife in terms to how they survive. Long shots were used to show large groups of the local wildlife like a family of pumas. Another use of long shots were that of the landscape in case a natural event like an avalanche occurs.

WHAT INSPIRED ME TO THE PROJECT

What inspired me the most about this episode is mainly the shot styles. Though I understand the way the shots were filmed are difficult in terms of aerial shooting, it was the use of shot sizes that greatly inspired me the most for documentary production. The location for the project is a nature reserve with a large view which qould be perfect for an establishing shot. As for the close ups, there are some unique wildlife within the nature reserve which I can take the oppertunity to shoot. For mid-shots, I am inspired in using mid shots as well as long shots to showcase a group of local wildlife for the documentary.

Another inspiration that came as a result of the episode is the method of presenting that David Attenborough showcased. The way David has spoken (in great detail about a location and the local wildlife) with a pause for about 5 seconds before moving on to the next subject. It gave me a new perspective of maintaining a calm mind when speaking and preparing on what to say next. I intend to simulate this method when needed.