Documentary Research

Howard Smith

‘The Blue Planet’ is a BBC documentary, narrated by David Attenborough. David Attenborough is famous for narrating nature and wildlife documentaries and is one of the UK most famous for what he does.

It was first broadcasted in the UK in September 2001. Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans”, each of the eight 50 minute episodes examines a different aspect of marine life. The underwater photography included creatures and behaviour that had previously never been filmed.

The series won multiple Emmy and BAFTA TV awards for its music and cinematography.

Documentary ModeThe Blue Planet is produced in a reflexive mode. With narrative from David Attenborough. The narrative is a voice over of shots of animals and wildlife and how animals live.

With David Attenborough’s narrative it creates an atmosphere for the viewer where they can engage with the content on screen and forms a relationship between the voiceover and the viewer.

This is definitely something I want to try and include in my documentary as I feel I will have a great effect on the consumer.

Documentaries

BBC documentaries are usually made to provide a form of entertainment with the viewing on screen yet with form of educational purpose, to inform and make the consumer more aware of a situation or more knowledgeable about a subject. i.e. in The Blue Planet consumers will become more knowledgeable about animals living in the sea.

BBC mainly produce documentaries about nature and educational documentaries but sometimes about serious events or social issues.