Analyzing The Film 'Blackfish'

Blackfish Analysis Draft
‘Blackfish’ directed/produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Manuel Oteyza, initially released in 2013, is a contentious documentary regarding Orca’s held at SeaWorld. The documentary gives a history of this topic especially focussing on the notorious killer whale Tilikum. Using filming techniques regarding language, audio, visuals and structure, Cowperthwaite positions the audience to accept that the whales are victims of society and have reasoning behind their killings, former trainers oppose the idea of whales in captivity and support doing something about the issue and SeaWorld is a criminal organisation who complete inhumane and dastardly deeds for profit.
Throughout the documentary, Cowperthwaite positions

the audience to support the idea that the Orcas are victims taken out of their habitats, therefore have reasoning behind ‘aggravation’ caused killings committed by them. Specifically focusing on Tilikum, the director gives a life story of the whales in captivity beginning with, probably the most influential scene on the audience regarding this representation, the whales initially being captured.

The language used in this scene also emphasises the directors point (the whales have reasoning behind their behaviour) - ‘But the orcas had been caught before and they knew what was going on and they knew their young ones would be taken from them.’ Stated Howard Garret – whale researcher. The director utilises this quote to inform the audience that the whales have been taken from their families and positioning them to accept that the whales have been treated just as harshly as they have treated SeaWorld trainers. Another important scene by Cowperthwaite involves visual film techniques where multiple pieces of archival news footage are shown foregrounding a singular piece of footage (where the audio is played) regarding the death of former SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. This scene has been used to enhance the audience’s focus on the shown footage making their understanding of the topic more substantial and therefore giving them a

greater ability to agree with the director’s viewpoint. ‘If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don’t you think you’d get a little irritated, aggravated maybe a little psychotic.’ – said Jane Velez-Mitchell a CNN anchor, this quote is referring to the confinement of Tilikum and reinforces the filmmaker’s message that restriction of the orca’s environment is cruel and positioning the audience to accept that orca aggravation from their environments causes their violent outbursts. Through the usage of powerful visuals and language surrounding two essential scenes Cowperthwaite has positioned the audience to accept her representation being ‘the whales’ behaviour is understandable and has reasoning’.
Cowperthwaite has used the former SeaWorld trainers as the second representation of the film, positioning the audience to accept them as ‘heroes’ and agree with what they say.

The structure of interviews in the film is the trainer’s voices describing the visual scenes combined with close-ups of their faces showing their emotions. A significant scene exemplifying this structural technique shows four of the previous SeaWorld trainers watching footage of themselves in the past. The scene then shows Dawn Brancheau, the trainer whom was killed by Tilikum, and the emotions on the faces of the trainers who knew her. The emotions shown by the trainers are gloomy, creating a gloomy and unhappy mood in the audience. It seems the director’s aim in enabling the audience to relate to such emotions, is to affect their perception and promote the audiences compassion and trust for the trainer’s perspective. Another significant scene, shot in SeaLand where Tilikum was held before being taken to SeaWorld, involves the combination of visuals with an interview of a former trainer. ‘Closing that door on him and knowing that he’s locked in there for the whole night is like – it’s a stab, it’s a whoa’. This quote is accompanied by the visual of the former trainer whom is on the verge of crying. The trainer’s emotions associated with the treatment of the whales promotes to the audience remorse and humanity. The use of this scene by Cowperthwaite makes the audience accept that the former trainers

are good people and want the best for the whales. By showing that the former trainers are both sympathetic for the deaths caused by the whales and the whales themselves the audience is positioned to accept that the former trainers are the heroes of the film and that their perspectives are to be supported.
SeaWorld as represented by Cowperthwaite are a half-witted and contemptible organisation whom complete inhumane deeds and do not recognise that they are doing wrong. A significant scene emphasising Cowperthwaite’s portrayal of SeaWorld is the capturing of the whales. The scene begins with fast paced imagery zooming in quickly on the subject, creating a sense of excitement in the audience. The enthusiasm shown in this scene represents the thoughts displayed by the whale hunters of the initial campaign – ‘It was a really exciting thing to do and so everyone wanted to do it’. By deliberately structuring the film and placing this scene and quote after showing the damage caused by the whales, it is accepted by the audience that the orca hunting campaign leaders were ignorant of the future implications of their actions, making SeaWorld seem imprudent and foolish. The foolishness of SeaWorld continues to be portrayed in a scene that shows SeaWorld gave very vague information to the trainers concerning the killer whales being dangerous. Multiple reports are then shown, accompanied by music that creates and inquisitive mood in the audience, of incidents occurring due to whales. The use of these techniques has been used to make the audience question whether SeaWorld care about the trainers or the whales and oppose them. The director has deliberately used structural and language techniques to represent SeaWorld as thoughtless and immoral.
Overall, the film Blackfish made by Gabriela Cowperthwaite powerfully positions the audience to accept that keeping killer whales in captivity is a cruel and inhumane business. Through the usage of film techniques surrounding language, visuals, structure and audio, Cowperthwaite has put across her point. Accompanying these techniques, the director has used three major representations validating her point. The combination of these techniques and representations is what positions the audience to accept Cowperthwaite’s point.