Documentary Review: Science of Babies

The documentary, National Geographic: Science of Babies is an observational piece that examines the complex and dynamic subtleties of baby development during the first 12 months.  This eye-opening documentary is literally set in stage at the beginning.  The picture opens with a curtain rising revealing the minute and seemingly normal activities of a baby, playing on an empty theater stage.  From this “center stage,” the narrator pulls the viewer into the first stage of the baby’s life, delivery.  Intense B-roll footage of baby deliveries as well as the post delivery process is shown.  However, the magic is shown in the experiments done.  Revealing infant-kind’s inheritance from evolutionary processes, the documentary unexpectedly discusses the magic of language learning, walking, social recognition and other behavioral biology changes a baby undergoes in just ONE year. 

            The documentary’s method of storytelling is literary and dramatic, and real-time in its cinematography.  In terms of the literary working, the concept of a baby is dramatically interpreted as a character on stage, learning, interacting, and experiencing.  One stage of the baby’s performance might be the throwing of a ball, and this catalyzes a camera documentation of research relating to motor skills development.  Researchers and Scientists become the center players now, portrayed through close up shots of Computer Screens and Machinery, Medical Imaging, and Animated shots of orbiting neurons of Baby’s inside world.   In addition to the more literal cinematography, the baby’s point of view is also figuratively established to give an insider view on how a baby actually develops.  This is done through clever camera tilts and jerks give the sense of how a baby walks at first. 

            Although, I loved the artistic and visual aspect of this documentary, the real treasure was the breathtaking discovery and research-based knowledge!  Scientists and Human Development experts from all across the spectrum contributed their perspectives on essentially evolutionary trends on why babies develop the way do.  Neurobiologists, Cognitive Scientists, Behavioral Specialists, and Pediatricians, gave a variety of inputs, resulted in a diversified knowledge.  For instance, when explaining why babies are able to process words in the way they do, Computer Scientists compared their ability to being superior to robots, while Pediatricians looked at the more social and environmental trends that allow one to learn words.  Psychologists focused on how babies loose abilities to detect subtlety in facial expressions of primates, but inherently learn how to do math.  These ground-breaking discoveries weren't the only impressive facets of this documentary.  The social and game/play-oriented experiments through which this research was done WAS ACTUALLY FILMED! Thus, I got not only a literary/informational perspective of the science in general, but also was able to see the proof and play behind it.

            I highly recommend this documentary to behavior science or biology aficionados.  The facts are packed with interesting NEW AND COMING research, as well as a plethora of scientists and well-reputable sources.  For the softhearted and baby-loving audience, this documentary has plenty of sequences of crawling, giggling, and happy babies, are sure to delight your guchi-goo!  A unique balance of biology and babies earns this documentary four out of five stars!