Attenborough: Saying Boo

to a Sloth!
By Robbie Nicholas
 The Beginning
This documentary is both expository and participatory as Attenborough
exposes the world of a sloth by taking part in front of the camera
The documentary opens with a close-up of David Attenborough,
portraying the participatory style of documentary. This is very intriguing
as it gets the audience concentrating right from the start.
The use of Attenborough talking directly to the camera from the
beginning is very effective as it forces the audience to listen to what he
is saying and are immediately in touch with the topic.
Interaction
Attenborough then begins to interact directly with the subject of the
documentary, the sloth.
The use of this interaction allows Attenborough to examine the sloth
further because he can get close to it and therefore look closely at
what he is talking about.
As the documentary is about the sloth, it also allows the audience to
get a realistic impression of the size and pace of the animal
Realism
Attenboroughs use of the time-lapse of his events is a
useful indicator for how slow the sloth is

The way he talks about real events such as his setting

up the filming of the documentary and relating that to
the sloth adds realism

When Attenborough gets close to the sloth and shouts

boo, the sloth has absolutely no response, which helps
emphasise the points Attenborough is making
Sound
Attenborough talks throughout the documentary with no
background music

There is no voiceover as Attenboroughs voice is so

dominant

There are the sound effects of the jungle to keep the

audience feeling more a part of the documentary