Life on BBC 1!!!

[bauldbairn]

They've been filming for the last 4 years, specifically for this series. I'm so glad they are concentrating on recording these amazing sights before they no longer exist!

Yep! Stephen Fry, Mark Carwardine and the "Last Chance To See" team has got us all thinking whats not going to be there in the future.

With Sir David taking 4 years to make docu's - wonder if there will be a time when the animals are extinct before the filmings shown, hope not!

 

[bauldbairn]

hmm that man with a stick who was sitting up the tree certainly had a relaxed view of protecting the camera crew.

Think if one of the natives that was supposed to be protecting me was up a tree for his own safety - I'd probably follow him!

 

[User169]

I think the Komodo dragons are a case in point that show that there's always scope for new series. It's only recently that studies have discovered that they are venomous, and only this series that's managed to film the way they hunt a large animal. And in the first programme they covered the cheetahs who have changed their behaviour to hunt in a pack - that's new to science too.

The evidence and what it means seems to be somewhat disputed:

Kurt Schwenk said he also doubts that venom is necessary to explain the effect of a Komodo dragon bite.

“I guarantee that if you had a 10-foot lizard jump out of the bushes and rip your guts out, you would be somewhat still and quiet for a bit, at least until you keeled over from shock and blood loss owing to the fact that your intestines were spread out on the ground in front of you.”

 

[abchandler]

The evidence and what it means seems to be somewhat disputed:

Kurt Schwenk said he also doubts that venom is necessary to explain the effect of a Komodo dragon bite.

The cut on the leg from the dragon bite that did for the buffalo over three weeks was hardly a blood and guts death though. The blood and guts followed soon after death however...

 

[User169]

The cut on the leg from the dragon bite that did for the buffalo over three weeks was hardly a blood and guts death though. The blood and guts followed soon after death however...

Which points even further away from komodos being especially venomous....

 

[User482]

Which points even further away from komodos being especially venomous....

I think the programme showed that the venom took a long time to have an effect?

 

[User169]

I think the programme showed that the venom took a long time to have an effect?

User482

I think the "venom" element is intended to explain why bite victims sometimes die especially soon after being bitten.

As I understand it, Komodos have long been known to have saliva brimming with pathogenic bacteria. This would accounts for deaths taking place some time after being bitten, but doesn't account those taking place very quickly.

The paper published in May 2009 suggests that Komodos have venom glands and that venom-like compounds may be isolated from their saliva.

The authors may be right, but Kurt Schwenk's explanation of shock/blood loss seems plausible too.

 

[User482]

DP

I doubt that blood/ loss shock was the explanation in this case, as the bufffalo only received a small bite to the ankle in the initial attack. My understanding was the same as yours - pathogens in the saliva causing a gradual weakening of the victim. But equally, could a weak venom not do the same?

 

[Arch]

With Sir Richard taking 4 years to make docu's - wonder if there will be a time when the animals are extinct before the filmings shown, hope not!

Um, wrong brother, you mean Sir David? Sir Richard's films are rarely documentary....

And of course his part in Life is really only as narrator, unlike the series in which he appears on camera. Still, a wildlife film isn't a wildlife film without his voice.

I like this new trend for having a little 10 minute slot at the end to show how they film a certain part. Looking at the effort involved to film the penguins/seals/killer whales in episode one, it's not suprising they take 4 years to complete.

Something else I like to remember is that much of the sound is dubbed on in the editing suite, since the camera will be too far from the subject for the sound to be captured. For every polar bear crunching across snow, there's a foley artist scrunching a bag of powder in time to the film.

 

[Archie_tect]

For every polar bear crunching across snow, there's a foley artist scrunching a bag of powder in time to the film.

...no sound recordist would be daft enough to get anywhere near close enough to half the footage to get the actual sounds, i would hope.

 

[bauldbairn]

Um, wrong brother, you mean Sir David? Sir Richard's films are rarely documentary....

And of course his part in Life is really only as narrator, unlike the series in which he appears on camera. Still, a wildlife film isn't a wildlife film without his voice.

I like this new trend for having a little 10 minute slot at the end to show how they film a certain part. Looking at the effort involved to film the penguins/seals/killer whales in episode one, it's not suprising they take 4 years to complete.

Something else I like to remember is that much of the sound is dubbed on in the editing suite, since the camera will be too far from the subject for the sound to be captured. For every polar bear crunching across snow, there's a foley artist scrunching a bag of powder in time to the film.

Yip! Stand corrected - bit tired - had flu n all that(I'll correct it quickly before anyone else see's ). Still mix their names up when not looking at them. Its like a right / left thing never confused unless I think about it.

Good the cameramen are getting recognition now after all it is them who are putting in the graft.

I absolutely hate the thought that they have to mix / overdub sounds and try to forget about it - thanks for reminding me. The underwater ones are the worst.

Once saw a docu that they went to great lengths to record the actual sounds with high tech equipment, can't remember who though - it'll come back to me.

 

[Arch]

I absolutely hate the thought that they have to mix / overdub sounds and try to forget about it - thanks for reminding me. The underwater ones are the worst.

See, I like that idea. Although I rarely think about it while watching. I heard a programme on R4 about foley artists on films, and it was fascinating, they go to a lot of trouble to find just the right noise. And they really do use coconuts for hooves, and have to learn the right rhythm for each gait. But I'm a sucker for behind the scenes stuff.

 

[bauldbairn]

See, I like that idea. Although I rarely think about it while watching. I heard a programme on R4 about foley artists on films, and it was fascinating, they go to a lot of trouble to find just the right noise. And they really do use coconuts for hooves, and have to learn the right rhythm for each gait. But I'm a sucker for behind the scenes stuff.

Yeh! Think it's like a proper "trade" and they do take it very seriously. The coconuts for hooves thing has never been the same since "Holy Grail" - every time I hear a horse on TV/Film I expect them to be walking/skipping and clipping the shells together.

Have a funny feeling the docu' I was trying to remember about "real sounds" had Simon King in it and the guy(sound recordist) hated not hearing natural sound in his films. I'm sure he was using directional equipment developed and used for spying. Spring/Autumnwatch, Big Cat Diaries type of thing probably.