Commissions - Blackfish

Blackfish

I feel very strongly about this documentary, it is close to my heart since i care a lot about animals. Blackfish really makes you understand the terrible truth behind animal captivity, it saddens me greatly. The creators of this documentary know how to hit the audiences with emotions, they knew exactly how to process the story across and what shots to include. Produced in 2013 and directed by Gabriela Cowpethwaire, it tells the tales of the beloved yet infamous killer whales. Despite the fact that in the wild the creatures are viewed as 'Friendly Giants' when held in captivity these animals have the capacity to kill viciously. Blackfish really strongly puts the point across that orcas should NEVER be held in captivity and that is an appalling treatment of killer whales. Mostly aimed at 'Sea World' in America it also expresses the way other animals feel in captivity, and Cowperthwaite knew how to portray that through the screen to make sure the audience understand. No matter how dark or sad the film is, it will go to deep ends to try and explain the situation to the viewers and that is was a documentary should consist of. 

During 'Blackfish' the documentary constantly integrates visual footage, this is very sore to watch since us the viewers have never seen these animals be so mistreated.  The imagery of blood and suffering of the animal makes the audience very concerned for the orca, almost wanting to rescue them in any possible way. The suffering is a genuine concern of ours, the visuals that grab the viewers by the stomach is touching. One segment in particular is where Tamarie an instructor places her foot down on an orca and quickly lifting it constantly. Moments after Tamarie is grabbed by the foot and dragged into the tank with the orcas. Our hearts stop at this moment, you can see Tamarie was in pain she was being killed by those whales, she walked out of the water with broken bones and this clearly shows how these orcas could turn deadly. By seeing such a horrific situation you cannot help but feel sorry, this is what most documentaries use real visual clips of incidents especially dark documentaries. We really wanted to implement this in our own documentary and show how many young drivers are killed on the road, but the visuals were simply too horrific to watch.

It was a very emotional video, the sound was enhanced so that viewers could hear the pain that not only Tamarie is going through but also the orcas. There are no records or any statistics of Orcas harming anyone in the wild, but in tanks they kill and hurt so many trainers and innocent people. If you were stuck in a bathtub for 20 years wouldn't you go crazy? In attempts to gain sympathy for the orcas, Blackfish really humanizes some of the animal's mannerisms. As mentioned in the film, killer whales live in large families and have a strong sense of community. Included in this documentary was a commercial of a killer whale giving birth to baby Kalina. Little did the trainers and audience know that after four and a half years, Kalina was taken from her mother and was shown being immobile in the corner of the tank, screeching and crying. This really represents sadness, anyone would feel sorry for that orca. If anyone was striped away from there mother at such a young age they would cry and beg to be taken back. Being able to see and hear that tragic response of the mother makes us the viewers feel sorry for the orca. The viewers are left feeling helpless, it really gives the viewers an ability to sympathise with the orca on a personal level with a mammal other than humans.  

Through its various techniques and emotional appeals, Blackfish is able to really captivate its audience and evoke the feelings we have about the controversy surrounding killer whales. By using all these tactics viewers are always able to understand the documentary's argument against holding such big mammals in a prison-like environment. The film effortlessly exposes the harsh treatment of killer whales; And there is a reason to why Seaworld did not want to participate within this documentary, they did not want to expose their ugly tactics. 

Blackfish had one set goal, to make sure that the audience know how these whales are kept in captivity and how they are mistreated. They want to shut down Seaworld and make sure that people do not pay to see these animals be the entertainment. Blackfish used a different sort of tactic that me and my group used for our documentary, they did not have anyone presenting because their visuals was enough of a story line, where as our documentary needed a presented as it did not have enough visuals. Blackfish doesn't have much in common with our own documentary but it inspired me to think about including actual real life event visuals, this really stands out to audiences and makes them want to carry on watching the film. It is almost impossible to turn away while watching Blackfish and that is exactly what we wanted to do with our own project. I feel like if we had followed onto a darker side of young drivers and used effective visuals people would really take action and be careful on the roads. It is a massive inspiration to a lot of people, Blackfish is a huge hit and it will never die down, knowing Seaworld did not want to participate within this documentary just shows how much of this captivity is actually ongoing. It is a tragic thing that needs to stop, not only to orcas but other animals that are being ket in cages and tanks.