(Suggested Intro and show description)
For many of us, nature films on television are as close as we'll ever get to the Serengeti Plain, to Denali, to the Great Barrier Reef. We trust that the film makers who actually go to those places, will bring us back an entertaining yet accurate portrait of nature. After all, we call them "documentaries." But how well do nature films really reflect nature? To find out, Producer Guy Hand treks to Wyoming's Teton National Park and one of the largest gatherings of wildlife film makers in the world.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
(Suggested Intro and show description) For many of us, nature films on television are as close as we'll ever get to the Serengeti Plain, to Denali, to the Great Barrier Reef. We trust that the film makers who actually go to those places, will bring us back an entertaining yet accurate portrait of nature. After all, we call them "documentaries." But how well do nature films really reflect nature? To find out, Producer Guy Hand treks to Wyoming's Teton National Park and one of the largest gatherings of wildlife film makers in the world.
2 Comments
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Review of Nature Bites: The predatory nature of nature filmsThis piece reveals that nature documentaries are anything but natural. One could feel cynical to learn that these films are edited and produced much like action films --but one could also take comfort in the knowledge that nature actually moves at a much slower pace. This piece is sound rich as Guy Hand mixes interviews, nature sounds and film clips to make a fast pace and comprehensive report. This is the kind of piece that you would expect to hear on ATC, ME or Living on Earth. It would be appropiriate to broadcast on shows that focus on the environment, the media, or entertainment. |
Broadcast History
Aired in November 2003 on Living On Earth (16 min. version)
Aired in Apri 2004 on NPR News 91 in Idaho (13 min. version)
A print variation on the same theme ran in the L.A. Times and the Baltimore Sun on Sept. 28, 2004
Transcript
- 1 Montage of wildlife film noises, growls, and squacks
- 2 If you haven't noticed, it's a jungle in there. Your TV set harbors
a certain feral element. From the old Disney to the new Discovery,
from Wild Kingdom to Animal Planet, television and nature share a
long relationship.
- 3 Dramatic wildlife soundtrack music
- 4 For decades, that relationship was built around big-budget wildlife
films with pristine landscapes, grand music and god-like narration.
- 5 Mt. Rorima, the site of a legendary lost world of dinosaurs . . .
- 6 These are the films that follow lions across the African plain,
elephants through the Thai jungle, or leopards over the Himalaya.
- 7 And as cable networks multiplied, television's appetite for wildlife
programming only grew.
- 8 Up next on Animal Planet , , ,major funding for Nature . . . coming
up next . . . in this episode...
Read the full transcript
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Steve Sergeant
Posted on September 16, 2005 at 12:01 AM | Permalink
Review of Nature Bites: The predatory nature of nature films
This piece illustrated credibly why I find so many wildlife films and television disturbing and not credible. It makes the case that honest portrayals of the wide range of wildlife and their behavior are not sensational enough for commercial media outlets. It appeals to the idealism of listeners who might want to learn about the natural world from more balanced, accurate portrayals.