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planet earth (1 Viewer)

sue webster

Well-known member
what do you think of the new series planet earth? its fantastic and seeing wildlife ina new way makes it all the more interesting. . ialso enjoy bill oddie`s programmes too and hands on nature is great too. pit there is not more wildlife and environmental programmes on tv and dump some of the rubbish thats on. would be great to have a bird watchers programme with ordinary birders sharing their passion and give useful tips for the less experienced plus some great places to go with access to public transport. my local patch is rspb sandwell valley near birmingham and its great! sue .
 
Looks fantastic but it really is all about the image. I actually noticed a factual mistake in last night's episode, something I've never done before with a BBC Natural History Unit production, well none I can remember. The producers seem to have had fun playing with their new toys. Even though I've enjoyed the sharp images the series is not captivating. I enjoyed Michael Portillo's programme about Spain much more, even though as a politician he should have been put up against a wall. But he came across as a guy that was really enjoying the trip and all the new wildlife he was being introduced to.

Adrian
 
sue webster said:
pity there is not more wildlife and environmental programmes on tv and dump some of the rubbish thats on. would be great to have a bird watchers programme with ordinary birders sharing their passion and give useful tips for the less experienced plus some great places to go with access to public transport. my local patch is rspb sandwell valley near birmingham and its great! sue .
That's exactly why we created www.wildissues.tv In the near future we will have programming to cover the needs of birders of every level.
 
Dipper said:
I actually noticed a factual mistake in last night's episode, something I've never done before with a BBC Natural History Unit production, well none I can remember.



I didn't see but am interested in what mistake was made.

Regards
 
I thought the Snow Leopard chase in episode two was brilliant and the migrating Snow Geese in episode three was quite impessive.
 
PaulK said:
I thought the Snow Leopard chase in episode two was brilliant and the migrating Snow Geese in episode three was quite impessive.
HI PAULK , like you i thought the snow geese part was great but why o why did they feel the need to play music in sted of just the wild calls of all those geese , regards derekjake. :-C :-C
 
The mistake was regarding "the world's only freshwater seal species in Lake Baikal". There are also freshwater seals in Finland, thousands of miles from Baikal in Lake Saimaa, not many of them but they exist. Is it the same species, don't think so. Lake Baikal is supposedly the "oldest lake in the world", so I presume the seals have been there for a few million years. Saimaa is a young lake created after the last ice age, the Saimaa seals a result of the lake being cut off from the sea at some time.

Do we hear music when watching wildlife? I certainly do not. Natural sounds would be much more preferable to a symphony orchestra or whatever. But we should ask ourselves, what is the target audience? True naturalists or the armchair subspecies. I think the armchair naturalists vastly outnumber the real outdoor types and are looking for entertainment not information or education. Hence the popularity of celebrity wildlife programmes.
 
Dipper said:
The mistake was regarding "the world's only freshwater seal species in Lake Baikal". There are also freshwater seals in Finland, thousands of miles from Baikal in Lake Saimaa, not many of them but they exist. Is it the same species, don't think so. Lake Baikal is supposedly the "oldest lake in the world", so I presume the seals have been there for a few million years. Saimaa is a young lake created after the last ice age, the Saimaa seals a result of the lake being cut off from the sea at some time.

Do we hear music when watching wildlife? I certainly do not. Natural sounds would be much more preferable to a symphony orchestra or whatever. But we should ask ourselves, what is the target audience? True naturalists or the armchair subspecies. I think the armchair naturalists vastly outnumber the real outdoor types and are looking for entertainment not information or education. Hence the popularity of celebrity wildlife programmes.
HI DIPPER, i think you hit the nail on the head about the music , well put , regards derekjake,
 
Thank you Derek.

I must point out that I do think the photography is amazing and the work that goes into getting the footage is way beyond anything I could even dream of, total respect to the cameramen/women.

Adrian
 
In the scriptwriter's defence, a quick google reveals the baikal seal is the only seal species that lives solely in freshwater. The lake Saimaa ringed seals are a freshwater subspecies of a largely marine species
 
Dipper said:
Natural sounds would be much more preferable to a symphony orchestra or whatever.

I think, sound is impossible to record for filming from such distances. If they put "natural" sounds, they would be artifically added sound from elsewhere.
 
jurek said:
I think, sound is impossible to record for filming from such distances. If they put "natural" sounds, they would be artifically added sound from elsewhere.

i'm not sure but i think that is exactly what they have done in many sequences
 
James Lowther said:
In the scriptwriter's defence, a quick google reveals the baikal seal is the only seal species that lives solely in freshwater. The lake Saimaa ringed seals are a freshwater subspecies of a largely marine species

Thanks. Just discovered the Ladoga seal subspecies on my google search. Didn't know about that one at all. Learn something new everyday!! :t:

Adrian
 
James Lowther said:
i'm not sure but i think that is exactly what they have done in many sequences

Yes, you've got it spot on, and that's what REALLY annoy sme about this programme - all the cutesy little vocalisations that are dubbed on for dramatic effect.

Take, for example, the caribou calf being chased by the wolves. It was bleating away. Miraculous sound recording, seeing as it was filmed from about 1km away. When something is being chased, it doesn't bleat in a heart-tugging telegenic fashion, it's too busy breathing to keep its legs pumping.

And the polar bear cubs: cub falls over, cue cute cub snuffle noise.

And the snow leopard: capturing footfall sounds across a valley, eh? Unlikely, seeing as snow leopards have furred feet, so they don't even make footfalls.

It really really annoys me, as it is dishonest, and it is purely for dramtic effect. Virtually all of the sound on there is dubbed on, none of it is real, and it isn't even used honestly. The BBC seem obsessed with this, and they should sack the geezer doing it. Not only did they mess it up with the snow leopard, but on another programme on BBC, about Springwatch's barn owls, they actually dubbed in wing flap noises for flying barn owls. Barn owl wings, swishing!

And while I'm ranting, I also noticed a factual mistake in Planet Earth: in the sequence with African Hunting Dogs, they claimed they are the rarest carnivore in Africa. This is not true, as that accolade belongs to Ethiopian Wolves, which were even featured in the same series. There are about 3-5000 dogs, and about 500 wolves.

Makes you weep when you think back to Living Planet and Life on Earth, doesn't it?
 
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Poecile said:
Yes, you've got it spot on, and that's what REALLY annoy sme about this programme - all the cutesy little vocalisations that are dubbed on for dramatic effect.

Take, for example, the caribou calf being chased by the wolves. It was bleating away. Miraculous sound recording, seeing as it was filmed from about 1km away. When something is being chased, it doesn't bleat in a heart-tugging telegenic fashion, it's too busy breathing to keep its legs pumping.

And the polar bear cubs: cub falls over, cue cute cub snuffle noise.

And the snow leopard: capturing footfall sounds across a valley, eh? Unlikely, seeing as snow leopards have furred feet, so they don't even make footfalls.

It really really annoys me, as it is dishonest, and it is purely for dramtic effect. Virtually all of the sound on there is dubbed on, none of it is real, and it isn't even used honestly. The BBC seem obsessed with this, and they should sack the geezer doing it. Not only did they mess it up with the snow leopard, but on another programme on BBC, about Springwatch's barn owls, they actually dubbed in wing flap noises for flying barn owls. Barn owl wings, swishing!

And while I'm ranting, I also noticed a factual mistake in Planet Earth: in the sequence with African Hunting Dogs, they claimed they are the rarest carnivore in Africa. This is not true, as that accolade belongs to Ethiopian Wolves, which were even featured in the same series. There are about 3-5000 dogs, and about 500 wolves.

Makes you weep when you think back to Living Planet and Life on Earth, doesn't it?

O, give them a break! No music, no artificially added "natural" sounds; where do you stop? Should all cutaways be banned? After all, virtually every behavour sequence is made up of many shots pasted together. They are trying to entertain and educate a wide audience. Just how many people would watch natural history programs that consisted of a long sequence of silent, disjointed clips?

As to the mistakes; thanks heavens we don't make any ourselves.

Serious point; I talked about birds to a Cub pack this week (8-10 years old). Their knowledge of birds and wildlife in general was incredible and much better than mine at that age. Where did they get that? From the BBC of course.

Andy
 
Egret said:
O, give them a break! No music, no artificially added "natural" sounds; where do you stop? Should all cutaways be banned? After all, virtually every behavour sequence is made up of many shots pasted together. They are trying to entertain and educate a wide audience. Just how many people would watch natural history programs that consisted of a long sequence of silent, disjointed clips?

As to the mistakes; thanks heavens we don't make any ourselves.

Serious point; I talked about birds to a Cub pack this week (8-10 years old). Their knowledge of birds and wildlife in general was incredible and much better than mine at that age. Where did they get that? From the BBC of course.

Andy
Have to say that i've been pretty impressed, overall its an excellent effort
 
Dipper said:
Looks fantastic but it really is all about the image. I actually noticed a factual mistake in last night's episode, something I've never done before with a BBC Natural History Unit production, well none I can remember. The producers seem to have had fun playing with their new toys. Even though I've enjoyed the sharp images the series is not captivating. I enjoyed Michael Portillo's programme about Spain much more, even though as a politician he should have been put up against a wall. But he came across as a guy that was really enjoying the trip and all the new wildlife he was being introduced to.

Adrian


I too enjoyed Michael Portillo's programme, to see him discover the thrill of wildlife (when he was getting distant views of Brown Bear) was great - you could hear the click in his brain as the light went on.

I have to disagree about Planet Earth, though, there's no need to nitpick that when there are programmes like Wifeswap and I'm a Celebrity on TV!
 
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