Movie Review: Blackfish by Gabriela Cowperthwaite

In 2013, Gabriela Cowperthwaite produced a documentary called Blackfish. The film follows the story of Tilikum, an orca held in captivity that has been responsible for the deaths of many trainers, including the highly experienced Dawn Brancheau. Cowperthwaite’s purpose in producing the film is to convey the message to the audience that capturing and holding orcas in captivity is cruel and inhumane. She proposes many conventions to encourage the audience to sympathise with killer whales. She utilizes archival footage, sound in the form of music, and interviews as a part of the various conventions used to promote that sympathetic reaction.

One of the main conventions that Cowperthwaite utilizes in Blackfish is archival footage. This technique is found throughout the film but is especially evident during the introduction scenes, capturing of baby orca’s scene, the Loro Parque scene, and the scene of Dawns death. Archival footage is used to help give evidence to what is being said in the film. This helps with credibility and assists the audience in feeling the emotion that the author wishes to obtain from the scene. The capture of baby orcas, for example, uses archival footage as one of their main conventions during the scene. The footage contains recordings of the orca capturers, lifting baby orcas from the water, and taking them away from the parents. The effect that the footage makes assists the audience in understanding how cruel and immoral it is to do this, while also creating a sense of sympathy for the baby and adult orcas. The effect created in this scene is very similar to the effect that this convention makes in the rest of the film. The footage acts as evidence, helping the audience believe what is being said, while also working to attach the audience to the scene emotionally.

Another convention used in Blackfish is sound. Specifically, the non-diegetic sound, music. It is applied in most of the film but is especially present in the Loro Parque scene, and Dawn’s death scene. Music is used in film to promote a certain atmosphere to accompany a scene. This encourages the audience to perceive a certain emotion towards what is happening, enhancing the experience of the scene.  An example of this is the Loro Parque scene. Several styles of music are utilized which help to provoke a reaction from the audience. At the beginning of the scene where the town Loro Parque, and characters Alex Martinez and his fiancé are introduced, a happy and cheerful feeling Spanish, styled music is played. Cowperthwaite uses this music to produces a positive atmosphere, assisting the audience in quickly taking the side of Alex and his fiancé. Additionally, this helps the author place blame onto SeaWorld for what is about to happen at Loro Parque. Later in the scene, the music changes when archival footage of Alex training is shown. The music becomes melancholy and foreboding, producing an impression to the audience that something tragic will happen to Alex. Due to the pre-existing bond that is between the audience and the couple, blame can be quickly put on SeaWorld because the audience feels sympathy for the unfortunate accident that happens to Alex. Viewers will see that the aggressive whales of SeaWorld are to blame, as well as the poor standards of Loro Parque. Cowperthwaite proceeds to use music throughout the film to achieve certain atmospheres from the audience, ultimately helping them believe the overall message of the film.