Blue Planet III

Dir: Jo Haley, Yolly Bosiger, Natasha Fellows, Eva Spielvogel, Sarah Conner, Rosie Gloyns

Narr: David Attenborough

Comp: Hans Zimmer, Thom Lukas, Laurentia Editha

The third installment in the Blue Planet series, and the second for Hans Zimmer, who returns with a fresh, yet familiar score.

As with his work on Blue Planet II, Zimmer utilises an ethereal mix of instruments, blending electronic water soundscapes with a gentle orchestral texture underneath. This is a really popular timbre in nature-focused films and documentaries, the main theme of Blue Planet III particularly is remniscient of Simon Franglen's score for Avatar: The Way of Water.

The collaboration with JADE is the standout theme, with its poignant minor mode, and soaring VI, VII progression in the climatic moments of the track. Again, similarly to Blue Planet II and Avatar: The Way of Water, Zimmer sometimes resolves the climax on an Eb major chord - our relative major and a technique used to resolve onto a hopeful tone, emphasising the beauty and wonder of the natural world. The lyrics are a little on-the-nose "yet we need them to survive", "how do we get out of the net" but the rhythmic contrast of the vocals to the instrumental harmony demonstrates that sense of pace and urgency perfectly, even without the lyrics. JADE's high notes in this climax are the peak emotional pulls, followed by a percussive 'crashing' of the waves.

Diegesis in this score and other nature documentaries is so fascinating to explore. The aforementioned waves as one example, and also other bubbling water sounds that (uniquely to oceans) are pitched ambient sounds, as opposed to rustling trees or moving sand in land-based documentaries. Consistent across both, is the relationship between animal song - or pitched animal sounds - and the scores. Whale song and dolphin whistles particularly lend themselves in this instance, the sounds are so alien compared to what us humans can produce, yet the way documentaries present these gentle giants makes us immediately receptive to their song. The idea that other species experience music has been hotly debated for years, and without saying anything, arguably Zimmer lends his opinion to this argument by embedding them in his score, convincing audiences that these other species have shared music experience with our own.