MEDIA ANALYSIS: Chasing Ice

The 2012 film “Chasing Ice” is a documentary available on Netflix about a group
of people and a particular person who has set his views on studying and observing the
ice movements in the freezing regions of the world. The environmental photographer
James Balog was seen in the film as someone who wants to show and convince the world
on what is currently happening to the environment. He produced the Extreme Ice Survey
(EIS) to support his study on the changes that have been happening on the northern
regions of the globe which include Greenland, Iceland, and Alaska.

Discussing the use of the title of the film being ‘Chasing Ice’ shows how he, and
several other people in his group, went out of their way to capture photographs and
observe the ice melts that are happening up until now. The fact that throughout the
movie, they have been taking notes and documenting the ice melting through
photographing moments in time for long periods of months to produce a frame by frame
motion visual to show the before and after effects in a more convincing way. The process
that it took for the researchers to document this shows how they had to chase something
that is running out. The ice, that holds a major responsibility for the Earth’s resources, serves
the main purpose of keeping the globe on a moderate climate. The title is clever and
true to its name as the film supports the figure of speech that people are actually chasing
ice or getting enough information from the ice that is melting and will soon run out. The
title gives out clues to its message for a lot of people in the world are aware that ice is
breaking into pieces and melting away in the ice regions and people would be able to
deduce that the film would be about ice, which the film is truly about.

The film provided tons of evidence to show viewers on what is currently happening
to our Earth from a smaller portion of the world’s area, which is the ice area. The film
showed a group of people studying the ice with that certain person, James Balog, who
was the driving force of the team that set out their plans of action and strategies in the
documenting process showing the ice melts that play a big role in controlling the climate.
In the beginning of the film, viewers are shown how people were having mixed thoughts
about the so called ‘climate change’ as it being some sort of belief but ended up being
something so true that it had been happening for so long. Seeing this behavior in human
culture showed how people can be blinded from the truth when not a lot of people are
willing to go out of their way to see what is truly going on in our world. Towards the end
of the video, the researchers succeeded in convincing people that ice was a big part in
the environmental changes happening on our Earth. The film showed the predicament
at hand and provided information about it through showcasing the researchers’
experiences, studies, and views over the whole situation that their visit to the places that
are affected and are the cause of the rest of the world which is being affected, as well.

To name some of the specific ideas and information presented in the film was
when the beginning of the film showed the situation happening around the globe in the
early twenty-first century and how rough the weather has become over the past few
years up until that time. The researcher, James Balog, was in search of views and answers
as to his will to study the beauty yet scary events that involve sea ice which gave in
another idea to the viewers that this man had fallen in love with his work as an
environmental photographer and will show how evident his job had become throughout
the whole film. The man showed how he had fallen in love with the bizarre-ness and
diverse behavior of ice and how it was so important to study it since it brings all the
reasons and information that the human population would need in order to act upon the
situation. He brought up how he learned in his work that he came up with the idea that
the most powerful issue of our time, which applies even up until now, was the interaction
of humans and nature. Thinking more about this idea that James had come up with
seemed truer and truer the more I thought about it and the more he showed it throughout
the entire film. Seeing this as a technique that could have convinced the audience,
especially me, and how effective this film is as he upheld his belief in his idea. This idea
had shown it being evident in the world now as things keep changing more on the side
of the worse and it all, on the blindside, can be felt because of our environment changing
drastically. Main areas that the environment of the rest of the world depends on, like ice,
had been affected by humans and what we’ve done to cause it and the film had shown
this through documenting the ice melts and the research that the survey had done to
convince the world using photograph and making it seem more real to people. The
documentary showed the what the researchers had done from the beginning to the end
to allow the audience to immerse themselves in their situation.

Reviewing the cinematic elements of the documentary are as if it were a normal

documentary on people observing and researching. The documentary showed people
and their progression throughout the whole film and how they were able to accomplish
the problem that was shown at the beginning of the film, which was to show people the
situation that is currently happening in the northern regions of the globe and how it
affects the rest of the world. In terms of camera movement, angles and how the shots
were presented were distanced when showing the researchers and the main point which
was the background when scenes were about ice while there are no black areas in the
video and it shows the whole scenery as if you were really there. There were scenes that
had to deal with ice and how the researchers were studying in it, thus the angles focus
on the two subjects, researchers and ice. If not about the researchers, then the camera
would be focused on the entire picture or view of ice to allow viewers to see not just a
small but a larger portion of the experience instead. There are many ways to see such a
large picture such as satellite views and using before and after images for it. For this
particular documentary, they showed what they could as if we were actually seeing the
experience with our own eyes, using conversation angles as well for when the people in
the film were interviewed or being documented. Face-to-face angles allow the
audience to immerse in an experience such that they are actually conversing to the
characters in the film. The lighting throughout the documentary was excellent as they
used it in a way to allow the audience to immerse themselves in the video. Putting this
with how they used natural sounds when the researchers were in contact with ice and
the excellent shooting would truly give a real and immersive experience for viewers.
Sound effects were not used in the documentary that much since documentaries are
usually serious and use natural sounds and some selections of music that make the scene
more convincing and interesting. In scenes of the film where they aren’t focused on the
researchers but only the ice, there are some parts where there is inputted music to
compliment the scenery. The music was heard in a mysterious, sad, yet beautiful way in
order to convey the way James had seen the ice. It would be as if the environment is
calling out for help and we need to help it, which gave the immersive vibe, yet again.
There were also scenes where the editing dealt with face-to-face scenes where the
camera is conversing with the people in the film and dubbing the conversation or
discussion into other scenes like showing more ice or another subject. This is a very
strategic way to keep the viewers interested in the film as people would tend to get
bored of just talking and letting them in on some scenes to allow the mind to look at the
situation at the same time being narrated about it is a way to bring the viewers to their
situation and actually talking to the researcher while looking at their view.

Seeing how the documentary, like all other documentaries, served the purpose of
informing the audience on what is going on around the world that we cannot see
ourselves in physical form, convinced and allowed me to immerse myself in their situation
which made the film seem real. And when viewers feel something so real, they become
convinced and interested more and more as if their eyes are hooked onto the screen
and feeling what would be on the other side. The documentary communicated a
message about our environment, about the ice, which is a big part of the cause of
climate change and that we are also the cause of it. It showed, somehow, a message
like, “This is what happens on this side of the world that you are causing blindly.” Feeling
a message like this touches viewers in a deeper connection especially when viewers are
very much aware that they are a part of the problem that the environment is dealing
with. So, it is right to say that the documentary communicated its objective successfully
as it applied many different techniques and elements in visuals and sounds in order to
convince me and many other viewers on what is going on in places we cannot physically
be in at the moment.