Encounters at the End of the World is most assuredly a documentary, featuring interviews of real workers and scientists at a research center in Antarctica. From a certain lens, this film can be perceived as a nature documentary not because of the penguins and harsh, frozen landscape, but because of the humans at the center being observed so removed from their homes and the rest of society at large.

The first shot of the two above is a long shot reminiscent of those used when observing animals from afar in documentaries such as Planet Earth or Our Planet. Stefan Pashov, climbing down from the large piece of machinery, can be compared to a monkey in a tree or a lion in the middle of the African Savannah. The film wants the viewer to notice him as a subject, and this is what he does now; operating machinery is his new habitat in this almost case-study-like film.

In the second shot, William Jirsa is found and interviewed in a setting that does not initially become recognized as located in Antarctica. The gardens that surround him give the feel of a much more typically “natural” environment. The production crew also makes a point of keeping his awkward gestures, such as him scratching his nose, in the final cut of the documentary. This shot also reveals just how isolated the team is from the rest of society, as norms throughout the film seem to be different at the facility compared to the ones many of us practice at home. The awkwardness and social tension is incredibly thick both in this shot and in other areas of the film, which is part of what is being studied about them, as a typical nature film would showcase to you all of the interesting or odd social characteristics and behaviors of the animals under observation.