Social Action and Community Media - One Strange Rock
One Strange Rock - S1Ep1: Gasp
Created by National Geographic and presented by Will Smith, One Strange Rock looks at how planet Earth may be the strangest lace in the universe. The pilot episode features astronaut Chris Hadfield - who spent one hundred and sixty six days in space - discussing oxygen. He shares the story of experiencing a sudden pain in his eye whilst in space, causing it to tear up. Due to the lack of gravity the tear grew and leaked into both eyes, causing momentary blindness. Her was told that there may be contamination inside his suit and so had to flush it out by releasing his oxygen supply. Following this hooking story, the programme then cuts to an astrobiologist in Dallol, Ethiopia, named Felipe Gómez Gómez. His favourite location, Dallol, has toxic air, no fresh water and no forms of life that require oxygen. He has, however, found bacteria living in an acidic lake. He says that without oxygen, life can't grow any bigger than the size of a "pinhead", and yet there is still life there. The programme shows scenic shots of this dangerous, acidic location, as well as footage of Gómez collecting some of this interesting bacteria. Open ended questions and statements attended to make the audience want to continue watching in order to find out what's going on.
After a few minutes of footage in this barren landscape, the documentary cuts to Danakil in East Africa as Smith begins to explain how there is enough oxygen on Earth to sustain so much life. Kidane Belay, an African salt trader, explains how his family have been harvesting a particular salt desert found in Denali! for many generations. Unknowingly, we all rely upon this desert due to dust storms that are capable of travelling right across the sea. By introducing this scene, the audience will begin to wonder what it's significance is to the Earth's supply of oxygen, and due to the lack of linear structure people are more likely to keep watching in order to gain answers. In this documentary, footage is shown of the dust storm - originating from the Danakil Desert - from space as it reaches South America. The African dust settles in the Amazon basin, fertilizing the ground and allowing plantlife to thrive. Smith explains that the rainforest produces "twenty times more oxygen than all the people on the surface of the Earth could consume", but because of the amount of life there it uses up all of the oxygen it creates. However, despite the fact that it doesn't provide us with any air it still helps us to breathe.
After having made this enlightening yet curious point, the documentary introduces climatologist Doctor Rosa Maria Dos Santos to help explain why, despite it not delivering any oxygen to us, the rainforest still helps us to breathe. It is revealed that water is carried up from the forest floor through trees before evaporating after reaching the leaves and becoming a "flying river" of clouds that travels over the top of the Amazon. These clouds condense into raindrops again after hitting the Andes and flow back into the Amazon basin. While doing so, rock is eroded, sending sediment and nutrients into the sea. This sediment contains silica, which an algae called diatom uses to create new shells, allowing it to reproduce. Diatoms can multiply their population daily, and they photosynthesize to create the oxygen that humans need.
The documentary takes an interesting twist when it explains that when diatoms die, and their shells collect on the sea floor - which can cause it to rise after many years - deserts can form. When sea levels drop to expose this sediment, it becomes a desert exactly like the Danakil Desert, where dust storms made up of deceased diatom shells that fertilize the Amazon rainforest originate from. The documentary comes back into a full circle, showing how a continuous chain of events allows life on Earth to breathe.
By having American actor Will Smith present this documentary, It is more likely to appeal to a wider audience as it feels more fresh and modern compared to other documentaries about similar topics. Appealing to a wider audience is key to creating a successful documentary as more people will receive the information being displayed. In addition to this, the programme delivers information in small sections before moving on to another location and sub-story. This means that viewers won't switch off and the pace of the documentary stays consistent and interesting throughout. By having small sections of information being delivered, people are more likely to retain the facts. This is because it is easy to remember multiple short sub-stories than one long and information-packed documentary. Because of this, I believe that this programme is a success. From the perspective of a viewer, I found it very informative and easy to follow, and I was captivated from start to finish.
Created by National Geographic and presented by Will Smith, One Strange Rock looks at how planet Earth may be the strangest lace in the universe. The pilot episode features astronaut Chris Hadfield - who spent one hundred and sixty six days in space - discussing oxygen. He shares the story of experiencing a sudden pain in his eye whilst in space, causing it to tear up. Due to the lack of gravity the tear grew and leaked into both eyes, causing momentary blindness. Her was told that there may be contamination inside his suit and so had to flush it out by releasing his oxygen supply. Following this hooking story, the programme then cuts to an astrobiologist in Dallol, Ethiopia, named Felipe Gómez Gómez. His favourite location, Dallol, has toxic air, no fresh water and no forms of life that require oxygen. He has, however, found bacteria living in an acidic lake. He says that without oxygen, life can't grow any bigger than the size of a "pinhead", and yet there is still life there. The programme shows scenic shots of this dangerous, acidic location, as well as footage of Gómez collecting some of this interesting bacteria. Open ended questions and statements attended to make the audience want to continue watching in order to find out what's going on.
After a few minutes of footage in this barren landscape, the documentary cuts to Danakil in East Africa as Smith begins to explain how there is enough oxygen on Earth to sustain so much life. Kidane Belay, an African salt trader, explains how his family have been harvesting a particular salt desert found in Denali! for many generations. Unknowingly, we all rely upon this desert due to dust storms that are capable of travelling right across the sea. By introducing this scene, the audience will begin to wonder what it's significance is to the Earth's supply of oxygen, and due to the lack of linear structure people are more likely to keep watching in order to gain answers. In this documentary, footage is shown of the dust storm - originating from the Danakil Desert - from space as it reaches South America. The African dust settles in the Amazon basin, fertilizing the ground and allowing plantlife to thrive. Smith explains that the rainforest produces "twenty times more oxygen than all the people on the surface of the Earth could consume", but because of the amount of life there it uses up all of the oxygen it creates. However, despite the fact that it doesn't provide us with any air it still helps us to breathe.
After having made this enlightening yet curious point, the documentary introduces climatologist Doctor Rosa Maria Dos Santos to help explain why, despite it not delivering any oxygen to us, the rainforest still helps us to breathe. It is revealed that water is carried up from the forest floor through trees before evaporating after reaching the leaves and becoming a "flying river" of clouds that travels over the top of the Amazon. These clouds condense into raindrops again after hitting the Andes and flow back into the Amazon basin. While doing so, rock is eroded, sending sediment and nutrients into the sea. This sediment contains silica, which an algae called diatom uses to create new shells, allowing it to reproduce. Diatoms can multiply their population daily, and they photosynthesize to create the oxygen that humans need.
The documentary takes an interesting twist when it explains that when diatoms die, and their shells collect on the sea floor - which can cause it to rise after many years - deserts can form. When sea levels drop to expose this sediment, it becomes a desert exactly like the Danakil Desert, where dust storms made up of deceased diatom shells that fertilize the Amazon rainforest originate from. The documentary comes back into a full circle, showing how a continuous chain of events allows life on Earth to breathe.
By having American actor Will Smith present this documentary, It is more likely to appeal to a wider audience as it feels more fresh and modern compared to other documentaries about similar topics. Appealing to a wider audience is key to creating a successful documentary as more people will receive the information being displayed. In addition to this, the programme delivers information in small sections before moving on to another location and sub-story. This means that viewers won't switch off and the pace of the documentary stays consistent and interesting throughout. By having small sections of information being delivered, people are more likely to retain the facts. This is because it is easy to remember multiple short sub-stories than one long and information-packed documentary. Because of this, I believe that this programme is a success. From the perspective of a viewer, I found it very informative and easy to follow, and I was captivated from start to finish.
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