Free movie review on film viewing guide: oceans (2010)

1. What is the title of the film, what (brief summary) is it about (subject, topic)?
The film that I chose to watch is Disney’s Oceans, which was released in 2010. This film is a documentary put out by the Disney Company that demonstrates ocean life. The filmmaker, Jaques Perrin, wanted to depict the mysterious life of the ocean and educate people about what happens beneath the water. 2. Why did you choose this documentary to view? What did you expect to learn or experience from this film? I chose this documentary because I have always loved all Disney movies because I think that Disney creates films that can be loved by people of all ages, therefore, I thought that since Disney made this documentary, it would have also been made in a manner where everyone would enjoy it. I expect to learn about the animals and plants of the ocean, including both the well-known and little known creatures.
3. What was the central point of this film? That is, what was the overall focus, goal or mission of the filmmaker? Think of it like an essay: What was the thesis statement? The purpose of this documentary was to educate and entertain the audience. It was symbolically released on Earth Day to represent the beauty, majesty, and importance of nature. Disney is a company which is in the entertainment business, and therefore this documentary was created to entertain viewers but also educate them on the life within the ocean.
4. How did the filmmaker support that central point? Topics? Facts? Stats? Interviews? Comparisons? Describe them; don’t just list them. The filmmaker supported the central point of this film by demonstrating the facts that were being explained. This film was basically composed of scenes from the wild ocean that were captured by filmmakers and crews. These scenes were them scripted into a narrative story and narrated within the film. The filmmaker used beautiful and interesting images to capture the reader’s attention, and therefore entertain them. They also used the information presented in the narrative to educate the audience about the ocean’s wonders.
5. How did this film compare to your expectations? What, if anything, did you learn from it, intellectually or emotionally? How did it impact you? That is, did it inspire you or change your perspective in any way?
I thought that this was a beautiful and interesting film. This is not the typical film that comes to mind when someone thinks of Disney movies, so it was different from my expectations because it was completely comprised of scenes that were shot in the wild, and contained no animations. I learned a great deal from this film regarding ocean life. It is interesting to realize that so much of the earth is comprised of ocean water, yet we know so little about what goes on. This film inspired me to change my perspective about the ocean because it makes me more away of how pollution can affect such a beautiful thing and I need to be more careful not to endanger it. 6. Describe at least five examples in the film in which the filmmaker effectively used some of the techniques listed below by making the scene easier to follow or understand, drive home a point, enhance the drama/emotion/impact, keep your attention:-Used cutaway shots to exemplify the speaker’s or narrator’s point- Cutaway shots were accurately used within this film because since the film was shot in the wild, a great deal of editing needed to be done to show the storyline of the animals.-Used sound, either natural or inserted, to enhance the scene- Film makers effectively used natural sound of the animals in the ocean, such as whales and dolphins. A second way that sound is effectively used within this film is the music used in the background, which set the feeling of each scene.-Used lighting, camera angles, camera movement (such as pan, tilt, zoom, dolly) or editing technique- Lighting was an extremely important technique in this film because since it was in a natural setting, lighting was most likely a large challenge. Lighting helped to set the feeling of the scene and allow the reader to better understand the emotions that the filmmaker was trying to present. Camera movement, especially panning in and out, was a major part of the success of the film. It was an essential editing technique due to the unscripted nature of the film.