This documentary was created for geologists and other people interested in understanding how the Scotland landscape was formed and the history of the planet’s formation. The main purpose of this documentary was to explain how the planet and Scotland’s landscape were formed many years ago (Higher, 2013). The director wants the audience to understand that the earth was once a solid planet divided due to internal forces that pushed the earth’s crust, dividing it into different continents that are seen today.
Before watching this documentary, my prior knowledge of planet formation was a bit fragmented, although I had a few insights into how the planet formed. I knew about the earth’s crust but did not understand how massive forces were formed that could move rocks above each other. I expected an explanation of how Scotland’s landscape was formed and the history of rocks. I also expected to understand how the different continents were related because I had prior knowledge that the earth’s continents were anciently connected. I had questions about how the earth’s crust moves, the forces that cause it, and how the rock layers of the Scotland Mountains were formed because of many contradicting theories.
The documentary was filmed in Scotland, it provides a detailed explanation of how the Scotland landscape was formed and planet formation. It explains the formation of different continents through the movement of the earth’s crust. It starts by explaining the rock formation process in the mountains of Scotland, whereby it resulted from forces that pushed the old rocks above the new rocks (Higher, 2013). It then continues to explain how the forces that pushed the earth’s crust occurred. This is done by showing how the magma underground moves in a rotational method called convection. Through convection, the magma underground creates horizontal forces that push the earth’s crust apart or close (Higher, 2013). It is through these forces that Scotland collided with England, moving the mountains and shaping the landscape.
I like the sound effects because the soundtrack is in line with the images in the documentary. The images were sharp and clear to provide an exact view of the location. The filming was done excellently using different camera angles, including the eye level, low angle, and high angle also called the bird’s view. These angles helped to watch the mountains from different perspectives and get an exact image of what the Scotland Mountains look like. I also like the interviews, and the one that caught my attention was when the interviewer demonstrated how the earth’s crust moves using blue and red ink because it provides such a practical example. The documentary also used special effects such as pyrotechnics to show how volcanic eruptions.
The part of the documentary that I liked most was explaining how the earth’s magma works to push the earth’s crust. This is a phenomenon that was explained so nicely that I understood it clearly. I have learned that rock layers were formed from forces pushing the rocks against each other, and that is why ancient rocks were on top of younger rocks in the Scotland Mountains. I have also learned the fossils found in England and wales matched the ones found in continental Europe because it was once the joint land before being separated by the earth’s crust. One limitation of this is that the documents were incomplete, and there is no way to know if there were other geologists and their views. All in all, I would highly recommend it to my friends because it shares a great piece of geological knowledge.
Reference
Higher. (2013). BBC- Men of Rock 2/3 Moving Mountains- Legendado 720p. [Video]. Web.