sniktawk

Having just had a night on GeoWild of Joubert documentaries, you should be able to guess my answer.
Also why do we now have to see constant film of the filmakers, rather than concetrate on the animals?

HariS

Actually - i just watched a stupid stupid show on AP called "In the Lion's den" or something like that! Have no clue as to who made it, but, it was a pointless exercise where the presenter (either American or Canadian going by the accent) took to walking as close to a pride of lions with cubs in Thornybush over a 12 week period. Trying to get closer and closer ....... didn't stay to watch the end of it, so haven't a clue as to what happened.

Cheers

PS: Ken - i suggest avoiding the above show

thit_cho

Hari, I saw that show last year, and I think at the time it generated a long thread (universally critical). He did another show when he "swam" with great white sharks.

amolkarnik

He's done more with Elephants and Hippos in SLNP. Ridiculous!!!

In a different note - Did anyone catch Spy in the Tigers Den on BBC2 last night? They filmed a tigress bringing up 4 cubs in India's Pench National Park using a set of cameras embedded in fake tree trunks and logs and one mounted on an elephants tusk. Its awesome. Watch it on BBC iPlayer.

divewop

Oh yeah, the favorite tiger, lion, ele, and hippo tamer (Ha!) who everyone is referring to is Dave Salmoni.

He is now on some show called "After the Attack" about folks who have survived attacks by wild animals.

Haven't watched it and am not planning to. I'm sure it will be over-dramatized and over- sensationalized like the rest of his shows.

HariS

Thanks, Michael - will search for the thread. I couldn't sit through the whole episode, was awful.

Hari

cary999

I agree with divewop, and after seeing his "lion den" program I don't watch anything done by Dave S. That program was, he was, so stupid I couldn't believe it.

As for films about the film makers (sniktawk), I very much enjoy those. It fascinates me the work, patience, effort, skill of devoted film makers. Have you ever seen "Winged Migration"? A great film and the making of it is unbelievable. I like to see the process and making behind things. Probably just the engineer in me. The "making of" programs of just about anything interest me. I even enjoy watching actors or musicians rehearse for a show!!!!

regards - tom

sniktawk

Carry999

I think you misunderstood my point about the inclusion of filmakers in wildlife documentaries.
In this particular fim almost one third was dedicated to the Jouberts looking smug and pontificating about how wonderful they are, this has no place in wildlife documentaries.


I am also sick and tired of the "dangerous" films that seem to be the fashion nowadays. Lets just have animals rather than irrational acts of "bravery".

Jeremy Irons might portray paedophiles well (Lolita) but his voice is very grating and of course his script is largely nauseating falsehoods.

cary999

sniktawk - then guess you also do not like the BBC's Big Cat Week series? What for you is a real good example of a wildlife documentary? Everyone I can think of has a narrator and script and is more for entertainment than anything. Do you like the old old Marlin Perkins Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom series? (May have been broadcast before you were born . Wild Kingdom debuted on TV in 1963).

regards - tom

thit_cho

I can't stand Big Cat Diary, not only because of the focus on the hosts, but because of the very repetitive shots (cheetah chasing gazelle, leopard dragging something up a tree, etc.), and also because of the breathless anticipation of the hosts. Also, the play the same musical themes over and over. To me, if you've seen one Big Cat Diary, you've seen them all. I know I'm in the minority, but hasn't the series run its natural course? It seems to be on an endless loop.

I like some of the Jouberts stuff -- didn't they do Eternal Enemies, which I thought was good, and the documentary where the lions hunted elephants.

I also saw a documentary years ago, I think filmed in Kruger or Mala Mala, about a vanishing water hole (in fact, that's what it may have been called) and I recall being rivited to the action (and inaction).

HariS

Yup - BCD was okay in the early years, but, got too annoying and focused on the presenters more than the animals themselves. They were good hosts, but, the show lost intensity......

Tanky

I saw Jonathan Scott in Bandhavgarh a few weeks ago. BCD will be back this year. It will have three weeks of pre-recorded action but will also be broadcast live from Kenya each night. He also mentioned they have vehicles equipped with night vision cameras and driving aids.

Personally I like BCD - it gives at least a brief look on how it really is for the animals and the difficulties in sometimes finding them. There's no splicing of shots from different shots and different animals like some the films that come out of Mala Mala and SA. I'm surprised people dislke it so much they can't stand it...it's African wildlife filmed and presented by top professionals - no bells, whistles or false stories.

I think the Joubert's docs are good but overpowered by the preposterous narration.

However, as amolkarnik mentions the Spy in the jungle series on BBC1 at the moment is absolutely fascinating - brilliant innovation, fantastic filming and Sir David Attenborough narrating. However, some may not like it as it tells a story and each week ends on a 'crisis' for the four tiger cubs.

Patty

You mean you guys don't like all the shots of Saba's bare feet?

sniktawk

BDC is by and large good filming but bad storytelling, why do they think it is necessary?

I find Saba's moustache more interesting than her bare feet.

Good film making is very hard to come by of late, as someone has pointed out even David Attenborough is joining the ranks of the dumbing down brigade.

The best in recent years has to be " Silent Roar: Searching for the Snow Leopard " by Hugh Miles and Richard Kelly.

afrigalah

I can give an insight to this because my career included several years (two and three decades ago) on TV production, on both sides of the camera.

Producers recognise that the majority of viewers have a short attention span, and their main weapon to counter this is a variety of showbiz tactics. Over the years, such tactics have become more and more blatant. "Infotainment" was not an idle invention.

Most so-called nature documentaries (including BCD) are no longer to my taste. I don't need to be entertained to be informed; I would rather read a good text with excellent real-life images than a 'Captain Marvel' comic.

sniktawk

John,

I could not aggree more with your comments.