Frozen Planet Learner Response

Institution:

I think that by including behind the scenes footage of the documentary, the BBC hope to get across the recognition they want for the producers and cameramen/women of the show, as this is rarely seen in wildlife documentaries where only the animals and presenter are shown. Also, the BBC is seen as a traditional and old fashioned. Showing the behind the scenes footage show that they are trying to innovate through technological change. This shows the BBC is moving with the times so they can meet their consumers needs.

Furthermore, the BBC may have wanted this series to stand out from other successful documentary series. This can be seen as the Frozen Planet series brought in an audience of 7 million strong. Also, The BBC are emphasising the difficulty of filming this series, by including the extra footage, as it took 4 year to film using a vast amount of finance. This all could help improve the image of the public service broadcaster.

Forms:

Pace of editing varies throughout the clip. This is done to achieve many things. Such as when the penguins are shown in slow motion. The change in fluidity provides a change from the norm/faster paced editing style. Also, the narrative provides us with the characters, which links back to Propp's theory. The slow motion shots were only shown when the problem with the camera was resolved. The sound in parts like this helps the audience to know what to feel. When the problem was presented, non-diagetic sound helped the audience feel remorse for the cameraman. When the problem was resolved, the reward was given (the slow motion shots) and a non-diagetic sound was played to make the audience feel happy. There provide action codes from Barthes theory. Also, The diagetic sound of the penguins landing on the cameraman allows the audience to feel like they are part of the scene.

Representations:

I think, through a behind the scenes section, the camera crew come across as people who know what they are doing and are professionals. However, they are seen to be a bit experimental. This can be seen when one cameraman scuba-dives underwater and films under the ice to see thing from the penguins perspective. The theory of Berger can come into play here. Berger says "Men act and women see". This can be seen in the clip as there were only white males operating cameras and no females to be seen. This can support the Levi-Strauss theory of dominant ideology driving stereotyping as this emphasises the 'white, male, middle class nature of the BBC'.

Audience:

The BBC's motto is "to enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain". Evidence proving that have achieved this is seen when reading that the program brought in at least 7 million viewers. And that this is the most viewed natural history series in the UK. The have also proven that they can inform and educate alongside entertaining. This can be seen when a penguin belly flops in slow motion. This comical element is only shown after has been educated. Also, Medhurt's theory as stereotypes being used as a type of shorthand is seen as this gives the audience a lot of information in a short space of time.