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Lucy Carroll

Professor Benjamin Good

RC 1000

07 March 2021

Who Knew Coral was so Important

With it covering about 70% of the Earth and containing 97% of the world’s water, the

ocean is as said in the documentary, Chasing Coral, “an almost-alien world,” with thousands of

miles of unexplored depths and millions of known and unknown species. The Earth’s oceans

play one of the most important roles in the continuation of life, both in the water and on land.

The ocean controls the weather, climate, and provides homes and ecosystems for a huge

variety of life, many of which provide food for humans and other animals. While this vast body of

water gives so much, it has been taken advantage of, causing harm to many who call it homes.

In Chasing Coral, the director and those involved tell the story of the dying coral reefs around

the world as well as use many rhetorical techniques to inform the public of these disastrous

occurrences and bring a sense of urgency to the downward spiral that the Earth’s oceans and

the planet as a whole are heading in.

Within the film, there are many different techniques used to share the director’s, Jeff

Orlowski, message with the audience. Some of the major tools used are visual and auditory

presentations. The whole point of the documentary was to obtain visual representations of the

bleaching events taking place in order to bring awareness to the public, so the imagery is

extremely important in their case. Through the documentary, many images of the ocean, coral

reefs, marine life, and bleached coral are shown in order to tell a story. For example, at the very

beginning, while Richard Ververs is narrating about the fascinating world that is the ocean,

brightly colored images of a variety of marine life are displayed before the audience, ranging

from fish to turtles, and more, helping convey that “magic of the ocean” that he sees. At the
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same time, when any of the interviewees are speaking on the coral bleaching or the death of the

reefs, images of those occurrences are shown to make the whole experience more than just

words, but rather something that can be seen. There are also many comparison images that

show the before and after of different areas and their damage, such as the coral at Airport Reef

or that of the Elkhorn coral from 1971 to the present. Another example would be comparing the

expressions of Zach Rago flying over the Great Barrier Reef and flying home. Comparing his

excitement heading into the project to his saddened expressions leaving Australia shows the

hurt and distress he feels over the death of the reefs. All of these tools help appeal to pathos

and the audience’s emotions as these kinds of images can help create an emotional connection

to the issue at hand. Paired with the imagery is music to fit the atmosphere set up by those

pictures. For instance, when the beautiful shots of the ocean were being displayed, calming,

more positive music was played, as well as when the images of the present-day Elkhorn coral

were shown, darker, sad music was played. This same tool was used during moments of

passion and panic, with differing fast-paced instruments in the background. Music and other

sounds amplify the audience's sense of pathos and emotions and add to the experience as they

watch the film.

To take imagery a step forward, other tools utilized in Chasing Coral were the interviews

with the multitude of people involved and what they had to say. While these would be expected

in a film like this, they play a huge role in establishing credibility, as well as reaching out to the

audience, person to person. Many of the interviewees were people at the top of their field, from

marine biology, climatologists, to more specific occupations like coral reef biologists. There were

also those with less scientific backgrounds like Orlowski who is a filmmaker, Trevor Mendelow

who is an engineer, and Andrew Ackerman who is a divemaster and underwater

cinematographer. All of these people appeal to ethos and give credibility to the information that

is given within the film as well as assure the audience of the film’s accuracy and

professionalism. When listening to each person speaks, there is a serious tone, but there is also
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a lot of passion and fascination behind their words. These sentiments can especially be heard

when listening to Rago or Ruth Gates when speaking about coral and the reefs. When hearing

people speak passionately on a subject, it draws the audience in and they become more

inclined to listen. Many of the interviewees also use personal anecdotes and experiences of

diving, their time on the reefs, childhood memories, etc…, like when Rago talks about his

childhood learning about the taxonomy of different coral or Ove Hoegh-Guldberg speaking

about entering his field after falling in love with the Great Barrier Reef as a teenager. All of these

examples allow for the audience to see the passion and emotion of other people, appealing to

their own emotions and hopefully enabling them to feel similarly and build their own

connections. When that can be achieved, audience members may sympathize with the speaker

or feel more inclined to take action.

A key technique that is often overlooked is the placement of scenes and images, and

their timing. During the film, Orlowski was able to share their story in a way that could keep the

audience engaged the entire time. In the telling of Verver and the others’ mission to obtain

sequential images of the coral bleaching events, Orlowski depicted their trials and successes in

a similar way to a good plot structure of a story or movie. The audience is taken on a

rollercoaster from the crew creating the underwater cameras to the cameras being flooded,

fixing the cameras, only for the images to come out blurry. All eventually leading to the crew

heading to Australia to manually take photos of the Great Barrier Reef, for storms to cool the

waters south of the reef, forcing them to move once again. Even though this whole process was

done over many months, the audience was constantly jumping from one major event to the

next, always left on their toes for more, utilizing the rhetorical appeal, kairos. When presenting

an issue and trying to get the audience engaged, finding ways to keep them interested ensures

that the presenter’s full story will be taken in. Another big example was the direct call to action

made by Orlowski and Ververs at the end of the film, calling out to scientific communities and

anyone related around the world to help capture and record bleaching events, as well as
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“average” people to get involved in any way they can. Placing the call at the end of the film, after

the audience has been made fully aware of the issue at hand and had an opportunity to make

their own connections and thoughts on the topic, is the perfect time as the audience will be the

most receptive to their message and plea.

When attempting to persuade an audience, there are so many subtle pieces in play, like

words, pictures, people, and music. All of these elements combine to sway thoughts and

emotions one way or another. In the case of the team for Chasing Coral, they used these

elements to inform the audience of coral bleaching and its greater effects on the ocean and

world, as well as touch on other related issues like climate change without alienating the

watchers. In doing so, they can reach the most amount of people and gain the most support.

Coral bleaching is just one sign of a much larger issue, global climate change, that is quickly

gaining on humanity as a whole, and the more people aware of this, as well as what can be

done to slow or stop its effects on the world and its living creatures, the better it is for everybody,

both now and future generations.

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Works Cited

Orlowski, Jeff, director. Chasing Coral, Netflix, July 2017, www.netflix.com.