Essay Sample Answering Why Look at Animals through the Viewpoint of Winged Migration

The documentary "Winged Migration" demonstrates an interesting experience of duck movement. In particular, the film is considered impressive and shows the moving achievement of the ducks and their capability to draw individuals into a foreign world. Specifically, the birds travel as they undertake their semi-annual migrations over considerable distances. With that said, the documentary at hand tells a story of ducks flying south in the winter. Notably, they cover a long distance navigating by the sun, familiar landmarks, the stars, and the gravitational field of the Earth.

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It is important to understand that the documentary under review enables people to look at birds. To begin with, the film opens as well as closes with long aerial tracking shots indicating the birds in long-distance flight into the wind (Berger). This makes individuals comprehend the way it is difficult to fly such a long distance. The movie shows the way the birds stop to eat as well as feeding their young ones. On the same note, during the migration period, the birds court, mate, and go through chest-thumping rituals that are important aspects of their lives. It is evident from the documentary that birds experience hard times when migrating. For instance, the film shows a scene where a bird with a broken wing attempts to escape on a sandy beach but unfortunately is unable to elude the crabs that catch it. Specifically, this reminds viewers that the life journey is difficult and what matters most is how to get something to eat.

The documentary is a tour of the word that discloses beautiful landscapes that many individuals have never seen. The film provides an unexpected delight of listening to the numerous as well as varying voices of the birds as they talk to each other. On the same note, the selection of the music in the movie interacts with the visuals, as many of them are distracting and overwrought. It is noteworthy that the adequate scenes are either accompanied by minimalist composition or without music. Specifically, the thrill to fly with the ducks is anticipated with the portrayal of various impediments as well disasters that they experience on a daily basis.

The documentary is fascinating because it shows a variety of terrains and familiar landmarks from across the globe. For instance, the film takes viewers to different sceneries, such as paddies in China, grim and filthy industrial dusk, the great wall of china, a beautiful desert oasis, the world trade center towers, Saharan dunes, as well as Greenland glaciers, to mention a few (Vice). However, the fascinating sights of the documentary are when the birds do their thing. What is more, the film managed to show the birds' eye view on the wing, a blue macaw swooping inches that are above the chocolate-covered Peruvian Amazon, as well as pelicans skimming the surf. Viewers are capable of looking the birds as they flap or even float along.

It is important to note that the film presents beautiful transitions. For example, after watching a lone bald eagle in the Grand Canyon, a Canada Geese is introduced that looks out of place in the red desert. Afterward, hoof beats pick up as the geese pave the way for some wild horses driven by cowboys. Notably, the human presence is reduced in the documentary. It is evident that human presence has been eluded out of a number of scenes. For example, no sign of an operator on the shown Amazonian boat presented with the caged animals. The reason behind human absence is to indicate that birds are the dominant life form on planet Earth (Holden). It is evident that many shots in the film are unforgettable. For example, the presented reflections of Barnacle Geese flash as well as disappear as the birds fly over flats with numerous pools of water. On the same note, some scenes show Bar-headed Geese that sits calmly on a mountain in Nepal.

On the other hand, the film presents some weaknesses in techniques and sleights. For instance, the presented narration is considered superfluous. Specifically, it strains for the poetic; however, regarded pointless as the documentary progresses. What is more, the music presented in the movie is considered uneven. In particular, this arrays from low chanting punctuated by drums to a boy choir crooning gibberish, from brooding vibes to a plaintive oboe.

Additionally, the filmmaker of the presented documentary may have used a blue screen and other juxtapositions to place pelicans above a lightning storm, geese flying in the background as wild horses stampede, as well as other available precious scenes. In this case, the filmmakers must be patient to achieve an excellent nature shot (Glickman). However, to some extent, the filmmaker did not wait to attain the factor mentioned above. It is important to understand that as the film attempts to explain the movement of the birds, some of them were flown to Africa by plane for particular sequences. On the same note, individuals should comprehend that numerous close-flying shots rely on trained birds. For instance, the geese that were raised to adhere to ultra-lights even if when disclosed to human voices as well as camera sounds while still in their eggs.

The film identifies each species along with a number of facts as well as figures pertaining to its migratory characters that show the statistics. However, some scholars maintain that the information provided in this film is sketchy. They argue that the movie offers few general regulations as well as rules concerning the way birds' sensitivity to the cycles of nature and temperature function to direct them like a type of instinctive radar as well as the way every generation learns from the one before to determine different landmarks on the annual journey.

It is evident that the presented documentary is a tough-minded film that demonstrates soundtrack's ahhing oohing as well as the beautiful scenery on display. Nevertheless, the movie does not show close-up images of the birds devouring their prey. In particular, two scenes in the film indicate the birds struggle to free themselves from an artificial sludge (Ebert). On the same note, scenes indicate birds being picked out of the sky by some hunters. What is more, the movie does not present death graphic images. Nevertheless, it shows images of a wounded bird covered with crabs and the pictures are provided without editorial comment. In simple terms, the documentary does not require words to conjure its spell. The show of avian life accompanied with monuments speaks for themselves. It is evident that the film offers a comprehensive experience of being a flapping airborne creature with the wind in its ears.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Why look at animals?. London: Penguin, 2009.

Ebert, Roger. "Winged Migration." Nerd Wallet. 2 May 2003. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/winged-migration-2003. Web. 31 May 2018.

Glickman, Elena. "Winged Migration." YouTube. 4 Jan. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu6A7-VWHXg&t=228s. Web. 31 May 2018.

Holden, Stephen. "A Beady-Eyed Perspective on Migrating Birds." The New York Times. 18 April 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/movies/film-review-a-beady-eyed-perspective-on-migrating-birds.html. Web. 31 May 2018.

Vice, Jeff. "Film Review: Winged Migration." Desert News. 25 July 2003. https://www.deseretnews.com/article/700003279/Winged-Migration.html. Web. 31 May 2018.