Giants Orbiting

Review: BBC Wildlife Magazine March 2009 Issue

2009-02-23T01:40:00.000-08:00

If you're a regular follower of GiantsOrbiting and its themes, I hope you are also aware of the spectacular periodical embracing all things relating to Natural History that is, BBC Wildlife Magazine.
BBC Wildlife Magazine has moved from strength to strength since it was founded in 1963 as Animals Magazine. Amongst its array of impressive advisors are included David Attenborough (Planet Earth, Nature’s Great Events), Jane Goodall (The Jane Goodall Institute), Simon King (Big Cat Live) and Stephen Moss (Springwatch and A Guide to Garden Birds).

The BBC Wildlife Magazine March 2009 issue is, true to form, another wonderful exploration into wildlife behaviour and imagery; from stunning freeze-frame photography to insightful ideas for your bookshelf and fascinating examination of behaviour. In this issue discover the dynamics of a great white shark attack (Image: Chris Fallows), learn how to distinguish between many different common caterpillars, ascertain how to trap slugs using beer and take note of the best wildlife television offerings in March.

When you have contained your excitement and settled down to read, turn to page 68 for a wonderful guide to attracting birds to your garden (Image: Chris O'Reilly). Written by Steve Harris of Bristol University this article is one of many found in this issue that gives you advice on how to engage with nature where you are!

This is, in my opinion a hot topic of the moment. The ever popular Springwatch and Autumnwatch series have been great catalysts for focussing the public eye back on our British Wildlife. The BBC (amongst other production groups) is now churning out fantastic programmes such as It’s not Easy Being Green and Wild About Your Garden; programmes designed to help you bring wildlife to your doorstep and create a symbiotic relationship with the environment. And you don’t need a huge garden to do it!

How to...Attract birds to your garden by Steve Harris describes how to source your seeds, make birds feel at home and monitor the changes you’ve instigated in your new bird haven. Birds, besides being beautiful to watch and pleasant to listen to, are also helpful pollinators and pest-deterrents (Image: David F) and you may find that their presence improves your garden flora.
It is important that your garden meets the needs of the birds throughout the year if you are to encourage them to be regular visitors, but this can be compensated for by putting fat blocks out during the winter, buying substandard cast-off apples for when your trees are out of fruit and planting a range of seasonal shrubs and trees.
And it’s not just food that birds require. We all know the excitement of seeing birds collect for their young in spring, so put out a nestbox now while the birds are seeking shelter and you may find yourself witnessing the young’s first flight in the summer.

Some birds prefer to forage on the ground and some at the birdfeeder but all are vulnerable to predators. Almost all animals must find a balance between feeding and being vigilant against attack whilst foraging: By keeping your feeders in a position where birds can see predators such as cats or sparrowhawks (Image: Duncan Carrier) coming, you will be ensuring that your garden provides a place where birds feel safe and are sure of a good meal.
They’ve thought of everything from deterring squirrels to avoiding the spread of disease by sterilising feeders regularly. This is a comprehensive and thorough guide to attracting birds to your garden and if you turn to page 82 you’ll discover more about the birds that may soon be reaching the British shores from across the world.

In next month’s issue the BBC Wildlife team review whether Grow-Your-Own Butterfly kits actually work, and teach us skills to help us sneak up on Wildlife for a better look!
If you want a copy of BBC Wildlife magazine it will cost you £3.45 per issue. Alternatively a year’s subscription is £31.20 saving you over a pound per issue and delivery is free to the UK.

If you want to learn more about how to create a place for wildlife in your garden or near you take a look at the Breathing Places website.

BBC News: Remarkable footage of the elusive Narwhal

2009-02-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

A BBC team used aerial cameras to film the creatures during their epic summer migration, as they navigated through cracks in the melting Arctic sea ice.

Narwhal are sometimes called "Arctic unicorns" because of the long, spiral tusk that protrudes from their jaws.
The appendages can reach more than 2m (7ft) in length; scientists believe males use them to attract potential mates.

'An amazing sight'
The BBC crew headed to the Arctic in June 2008, to film the tusked animals' summer migration.

At this time of year, temperatures begin to rise above freezing and the thick sea ice starts to melt, creating a complex network of cracks that cover the white expanse.

These animals are just so completely unreal - they are like something from mythology
Justin Anderson, BBC producer

Every year, thousands of narwhal use these narrow fissures to travel thousands of kilometres, from the south of Baffin Bay to the high Arctic fjords.

But tracking these animals down is not easy.

Justin Anderson, who produced the programme, said: Even though they are quite large animals, the area we had to cover was enormous - the size of Scotland.

It is like finding a needle in a haystack.

A "dive" crew, equipped with underwater cameras, spent four weeks on the ice trying to locate the mysterious whales. But just as they caught a glimpse of them, the sea ice had become so dangerously thin that filming was forced to halt.

However, an "aerial" team arrived by helicopter to take up the mantle.

Mr Anderson explained: It took us seven days to travel to the place where the whales had been spotted [Lancaster Sound] - we were stuck by possibly the worse thing you can encounter in a helicopter in the Arctic - fog.
But then we got there, we 'lucked out'; the skies cleared and we had eight days of 24-hour summer sunshine.

Using a special mount, cameraman Simon Werry filmed the creatures from the helicopter, as the narwhal swam through the melt-water leads.

Mr Anderson said: This is the first time the narwhal migration has been filmed this way. It has been filmed from the ice, but this is the first time it has been filmed from the air.

It was an amazing sight. These animals are just so completely unreal - they are like something from mythology - and we were all just completely gobsmacked when we saw them.

Thanks to their elusive nature, narwhal can prove difficult to study and there is still much to learn about these Arctic mammals.

With such a connection to the Arctic ice, researchers are trying to establish whether narwhal will be affected by changes in the Arctic ice cover.

Dr Heide-Jorgensen has been using satellite tags, which, as well as keeping track of the whereabouts of narwhal, are also able to monitor the temperature of the waters where the whales swim.

He said: They give us the temperature profiles in the wintering grounds and we can see the temperature of the deep areas has been increasing over the past 50 years.
However, we cannot yet see any direct effects of climate change on the narwhal.

From BBC News by science reporter Rebecca Morelle

Nature's Great Events: The Great Melt is on Wednesday 11 February on BBC One at 2100 GMT

Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species

2009-02-03T01:28:00.000-08:00

As many of you are aware the BBC is dedicating a series of television and radio programmes to the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Origin of Species', under the title
Doubtless many of you will have watched David Attenborough's Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life on BBC1 last Sunday night at 9pm, and if not you can still catch it on the BBC iPlayer. This programme gives us a brief overview of Darwin's life's work interspersed with much library footage showing the young David Attenborough's discoveries of the same patterns in nature. It covers arguments for and against theories of natural selection and evolution, and takes us on a journey through evolution from single-celled organisms up to the top shoots of the tree of life, and all with some very snazzy graphics!

However, more fascinating, I found was the rigorous exploration of Darwin's life leading up to his great works as is conveyed through Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species.

Jeremy Bristow's production gives us a brutally accurate description of the truly tragic life Charles Darwin lead: His family touched by the tragedies of the deaths of three of his children finally causing him to lose his faith and to damn religion... The influence of his daughter Anne's death on chapter 3 of On the origin of species as he sees the face of nature stricken as her face was with the struggle to survive...
His concern for his wife Emma's fear that he will be damned to hell.

It is easy to forget, amongst visions of his great works and great voyages that Charles Darwin was a man leading a man's life with all the pressures we experience today and more. His personal growth is almost as amazing as the theories it precedes.

Darwin's Struggle unravels myths surrounding the roots of his theories, noting, for example, the overstated significance of the Beagle voyage from which his natural history collections were in fact meagre and badly classified. His true epiphanies appear to take place not in some glamourous exotic country but in the chalk banks and unmown lawns of his Kentish home. Simple experiments he conducted recording survivors and losers in the struggle for existance in patches of grass gave the strongest base to his hypotheses. He even wondered at his own children whom he considered in relation to orangutans in the zoo. His exploration of artificial selection through pigeon breeding, laws defining hive structure from bee keeping, and complexities amongst barnacles all seem to have been overlooked by the media in the past.

Terrified of the reception of his book Darwin lived through years of torment and self doubt. Losing himself in research, desperate to shield his theory from anticipated criticisms Darwin endured years of secrecy only to become distraught at the possibility of his work being undercut by that of Alfred Wallace: All my originality smashed.

Eventually Darwin published his book only highlighting the effects of his theories on species and avoiding the implications of the origins of mankind; but these implications were not lost on his close teacher and mentor Adam Sedgewick who brutally denounced his work in a devastating letter to him.

He was open to vast ridicule from religious leaders as well as devout christian scientists of the time.

Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species is a fascinating exploration of the life-long torment which lead to one of the most important theories in science today. One of the most honest portrayals of Darwin to date, I'd recommend anyone interested in his great works to watch Darwin's Struggle and learn about the true evolution of the origin of species.

You can watch Darwin's Struggle on the iPlayer until Monday the 9th February and it will also air again tonight (Tuesday 3rd) at 7.30pm on BBC4.

Darwin's Struggle was produced by Jeremy Bristow of the BBC's Natural History Unit.

David Attenborough on Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life

2009-02-02T02:44:00.000-08:00

You can watch Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life on the BBC iPlayer until 10pm on Sunday the 18th February.

BBC NHU position available...! (from Wildlife Film News)

2009-02-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

After six years as Head of the BBC's Natural History Unit, Neil Nightingale is to stand down and return to programme making. Neil's first project will be a six part BBC One landmark series, Africa – a definitive television series on the greatest wildlife continent on earth.

During his time as Head of the NHU its output has gone from strength to strength, including a diverse range of natural history programmes on television, radio, online and for the cinema. The unit has constantly excelled and created a world-class reputation for ambitious and groundbreaking factual programmes that inform and entertain audiences.

Recent output from the Natural History Unit on television includes Life In Cold Blood, Planet Earth, the Saving Planet Earth season, Wild China, Big Cat Live, The Secret Life Of Elephants, Lost Land Of The Jaguar, Expedition Borneo, Springwatch, Autumnwatch, Galapagos and Natural World.

On radio, recent series include Nature, Living World, Soundscapes and a major live event, World On The Move.

Peter Salmon, Chief Creative Officer, BBC Vision, says: "Neil has made a huge contribution to the BBC’s Natural History Unit. His in-depth knowledge, passion and skill for programme making meant that he was a first-class head of the BBC's Natural History Unit. I wish him every success with his next move, to return to programme making. Thanks to Neil and his teams the NHU is at the top of its game and in great shape for the challenges that the future will bring."

Tom Archer, Controller, BBC Factual Production, BBC Vision, says: "I am thrilled that Neil will be staying within the BBC to resume his brilliant programme making career. He's been a superb head of the NHU and I am sure he will now make some world-class programmes across the BBC."

Neil Nightingale says: "I have enjoyed my time as Head of the NHU immensely. It has been a great privilege to lead the world's most innovative group of wildlife producers but now I feel is the right time to return to my first love, programme making. Africa is an ambitious project and I can't wait to get started on it."

An announcement about the new Head of the NHU will follow in due in course.

Wildlife Film News

There's many a great producer around the NHU suitable for the job... Brian Leith, Tim Martin. Any guesses?

Planet before Profit - Climate change films

2009-01-28T01:21:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember a discussion surrounding locked up rights to filming output that took place here last year.

Nalaka Gunawardene writes again about the importance of filmmakers putting planet before profit at SciDevNet:

Films and television programmes about climate change should be made freely available beyond their initial broadcast.
Films and television programmes about climate change should be designated a 'copyright free zone'.

This was the call made by broadcasters and independent film-makers at an Asian media workshop held in Tokyo last month (October).

For years, broadcasters have dutifully reported on evolving scientific and political aspects of climate change. They have also made or carried excellent documentaries analysing causes of, and solutions to, the problem. But these are often not widely available, because of tight copyright restrictions.

Limited distribution
Most media companies hang on to their products for years, sometimes long after they have recovered their full investment.

Even when film-makers or producers themselves want their creations to circulate beyond broadcasts, company policies get in the way. In large broadcast or film production companies, lawyers and accountants — not journalists or producers — decide how and where content is distributed.

It isn't just climate-related films that are locked up with copyright restrictions. Every year, hundreds of television programmes or video films — many supported by public, corporate or philanthropic funds — are made on a variety of development and conservation topics.

These are typically aired once, twice or at best a few times and then relegated to a shelf somewhere. A few may be released on DVD or adapted for online use. But the majority goes into archival 'black holes', from where they might never emerge again.

Yet most of these films have a long shelf life and could serve multiple secondary uses outside the broadcast industry.

Beyond broadcast
Communicating the need for social change is a slow, incremental process. Broadcasts can flag important issues, but real engagement happens in classrooms, training centres and other small groups where screenings stir up deeper discussions. Combining broadcast and 'narrowcast' outreach vastly increases the chances of changing people's attitudes and, ultimately, their behaviour.

But if moving images are to play a decisive role in the climate debate, television programmes and video films on the subject need to be more freely available, accessible and useable, as argued at the Tokyo workshop.

Read the entire article at SciDevNet here. Many thanks to Nalaka Gunawardene for bringing this issue to the public eye.

The Secret Life of Elephants

2009-01-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

Starting tonight at 9pm on BBC1, The Secret Life of Elephants follows the ins and outs of life and indeed death in the Kenyan Samburu reserve. Followed closely by four kenyans including Iain and Saba Dougla-Hamilton, newborn Breeze will face the most vulnerable time of her life whilst three tonne Anastasia will try her hardest to avoid acquiring a new piece of jewellery.

This three part series promises to be fascinating, emotional and dramatic, not least if Saba Douglas-Hamilton's blog is anything to go by! Elephants are thought to hold many emotions to which we can relate, including love, lust, jealousy, fear and anger, all of which will play a part in tonight's programme.

The Secret Life of Elephants hopes to open the world's eyes to the amazing work of the Save The Elephants research team.

The Secret Life of Elephants will be broadcast on BBC1 at 9pm on the 14th, 21st and 28th of January, and was produced by Holly Spearing (series producer: Nigel Pope). Episodes will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer for one week following broadcast.
You can also pre-order your DVD of The Secret Life of Elephants at the BBCShop online.

Radio 4's Darwin: In our Time

2009-01-05T04:27:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Origin of Species', the BBC is airing a season of landmark TV and radio programmes under the title Darwin: The genius of evolution.

This week Radio 4 presents the series Darwin: In our Time which began today with the first programme On the Origin of Charles Darwin. Melvyn Bragg talks to Darwin biographer Jim Moore, UCL geneticist Steve Jones and Christ's College fellow David Norman, as well as college librarian Colin Higgins; to uncover Darwin's personal evolution from childhood through to Cambridge graduate.

The first in this series leads us through Darwin's troubled upbringing as the fifth child of a large and well-off family, to his escape from Edinburgh University after failing a medical degree, and on to his life at Cambridge training to be a clergyman, where he would be seemingly unimpressive at his studies.

Darwin entered Cambridge with every intention of becoming a clergyman of the Church of England, which would necessitate his signing of the 39 articles of the Church in order to graduate. Biology at this time was not much more than stamp collecting, and Darwin's beetle collection was one he took great pride in.
We learn of Darwin's development from mere beetle-watcher to entemologist to theoreticist; all while he takes on University life: tapping into his father's wallet, running up bills and skipping lectures to pursue vices such as drinking and shooting.

The Christ's College library gives us insight into his personal growth through a vast collection of correspondances between Darwin and his close friend and cousin William Darwin Fox. We hear too of Darwin's university role-model, Professor Henslow, who introduced Darwin to plants and “Ecology” and opened his eyes to the presence of patterns in nature.

The programme also takes a geographical perspective leading the presenters and listener around the common haunts of Darwin's student life.

The Darwin: In our Time series promises to be a fascinating journey through what was a very difficult time for such revolutionary ideas.

The next in this series will see Darwin journey to South America on the Beagle voyage and will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 9am on Tuesday 6th January.

You can listen to Darwin: In Our Time: On the Origin of Charles Darwin online with the BBC iPlayer until next Monday, and further programmes in the series will also be available on the iPlayer over the next few weeks.

One to watch: Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species will be showing on BBC4 at 9pm on 2nd February. Produced by Jeremy Bristow of the BBC Natural History Unit.

Breathing Places Christmas message

2008-12-16T03:39:00.000-08:00

Ok so this is a bit silly but the Breathing Places message is a genuine one.
Do One Thing for your local wildlife this Christmas!

Natural World: Cheeky Monkeys

2008-11-29T02:52:00.000-08:00

You simply have to get onto the iPlayer and watch Natural World's Cheeky Monkey episode Clever Monkeys!

Narrated by David Attenborough, this Natural World gem intends to explore how monkeys throughout the world should challenge our perceptions of what it is to be human.
From our ability to hold images in our minds to our capacity for language, it seems that somewhere in the world one of our cousins will have mastered the same!

Some astonishing stories have been dug up here from the Marmosets farming sap from trees to the White-faced capuchins cracking clams open and using their tails as sponges to soak up rainwater from inside tree trunks.

There is also some world class footage from close-up facial expressions to stunning wide angle views, and the first few minutes' editing and music build a wonderful cheeky start to the programme.

I do have to note that there are occasional over-anthropomorphic assumptions made. I did find myself grinding my teeth as some very selective editing suggested that a group of macaques were feeling sad at the loss of their leader, and I found myself very grumpy with Mr. Attenborough when he suggested that a "clever" monkey had mastered the lie when in fact he was most likely merely mastering a situation of cause and effect.

No great conclusions should be made about monkey "intelligence" from the programme but it is fantastically researched and really delightful to watch. A valuable addition to the NHU archives, so long as the BBC sell it for what it is: a lovely collection of interesting behaviours and a glimpse of how some of our great accomplishments as humans might have began.

Natural World's Clever Monkeys, first broadcast on BBC2, is available to view online until Tues December 16th and was co-produced by the BBC and Thirteen/WNET New York.

Related posts: Oceans Outrage, Killer Whales in the UK?, Wildscreen

Wildscreen Campaign Award Winner: Rethink the Shark

2008-11-24T01:06:00.000-08:00

Another fantastic clip brought to my attention by The Nature Watch.

Oceans Outrage: viewers are "patronised" and "pissed off" by the new mega series!

2008-11-22T02:14:00.000-08:00

A recent glance at one of my favourite blogs The Nature Watch showed that some bloggers are overwhelmingly unhappy with the BBC's latest mega-series Oceans.

Described as "a classy documentary" by the Sunday Telegraph, "a shimmering series" by The Sun and "top aqua totty!" by Radio 4, Oceans promised to take us on an exploration of "some of the planet's most challenging environments" following "intrepid adventurers", but after reading the comments on the Nature Watch's spiel you might not be so sure!

Former newspaper journalist blogger Lunartalks gives a wholeheartedly different view of the series. Lunartalks reviews the series with a refreshingly colloquial yet intelligent and rigidly honest tone and I'd thoroughly recommend giving it a read! From the viewpoint of one with a "passionate" love of the Yorkshire coastline it would appear that the BBC has seriously wronged locals by hollywoodising their home environments with patronising and irrelevant stories. Lunartalks notes that his home-stretch of coast is malresearched; its gripping heritage of "James Cook, villages sliding into the sea on storm blasted nights, smuggling, ...the first German plane shot down over Britain... sunken u-boats,... Jurassic fossils, Jack Lammiman,...Dracula, ... Viking invasion, ... tales that old fisherman can tell of rowing off a lee shore for hours until their bones showed through their palms" and many many more, all neglected in the series.

And it isn't just a single blogger insulted by the "self loving" presenters: Karen James (beagle blogger), is furious at the hypocrisy of "presenters trying to pose adventurously on the bow of a big fat diesel spewing thing cruising at top speed across the waves" whilst preaching about climate change; Kevin Z (marine researcher) labels it an indicator of the BBC's "decline in quality"; and nature forums aren't much better. Birdforum reader ghostrider objects to the "dumbed-down" information, the use of the phrase "ground-breaking photography" to describe "fishing for squid and then diving with a camera" and the progression towards "I'm a Celebrity diver, get me on camera"! Adey Baker notes that "this type of programme (does) try to make heroes out of people doing their job rather than the results of that job" and deals too much with "all the problems of the members of the group" rather than "creatures of the deep".We all know reality TV is a hit but should we have to expect it from the blue-chip-famous BBC natural history unit?
When Lunartalks describes "the gender-balanced, UK ethnically selected team of presenters", I can't help but sense a line-up for Big Brother, and even internet writers who enjoyed the series have noted that having "super good looking people in it..helped".

On the other side of the coin Peewit (forum writer) found the presentation "heart-felt" and "insightful" and commends the 'adventurers' for "risking their lives...for filming purposes"; and as with almost any BBC NHU output there are tv reviewers suggesting that "if your sea legs are steady and strong, (Oceans) is your idea of viewing bliss".

All-in-all opinions are obviously personal and you should foster some of your own by watching Oceans online. From my viewpoint the reality-tv style of programming which we are seeing more and more is not attractive when thrust into the natural history world. For example Pacific Abyss is a disgustingly over-sensational programme described rightly by The Mirror as "abyssmal"(!)
Anna Lowman (TV scoop writer) notes that this style of programming has become "a trend ever since Planet Earth started having those ten "making of" minutes at the end of the programme" and believes it "takes the magic away".
I must finish with her eloquent statement that these programmes risk "trying to be too many things to too many people - extreme sports junkies, environmentalists, history lovers, wildlife enthusiasts - and in doing so, don't really satisfy any of their intended audiences."

Related posts: Wild:Killer Whales in the UK?, Pushing it too far..., Life in Cold Blood faking it

Will Work for Nuts from the Wildscreen Film Festival

2008-11-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

Wildscreen Film Festival nominee "Will Work for Nuts" was high on my list of must-sees since I found out the reason for the presence of a two foot peanut at the Panda awards!

Will Work for Nuts was a collaborative effort from Tigress Productions based in Bristol, Five UK and BDH. From programme to programme we see animals' natural abilities put to the test in creative, fun and exciting ways.

The first episode documented the first bee race ever followed shortly by goldfish football (You may need to install the latest version of Flash to view this clip).

Presenters Lloyd Buck, Matt Thompson and James Cooper are querky michievous animal-lovers out to show what their favourite furry, feathery and otherwise fabulous friends can do.

Lloyd, the cheeky Essex lad, is a bird trainer who considers himself the equivalent of a mate to his pet golden eagle and enjoys putting his phenomenally fast falcons to the test.

Joker Matt has a background in wildlife tv production and seems to prefer the hard way when it comes to up-close encounters with bird-feeders disguising himself as a bin to get a camera-phone shot of a bluetit.

James is a mischievous Techy who finds ingenious ways to tackle the wild including inventing a self-taking bird feeder cam and creating digitally altered human bird song.

Episodes tested the reaction times of the fastest bird on the planet, the peregrine falcon, the possibility of birdwatching using your mobile phone and the bizarre concept of an eagle lie detector. However, my favourite and one of the most ingenious ideas was that of human birdsong. The boys slowed down a recording of wren song by 1000 times to approximately human voice frequency. They then sang along to this recording their efforts, and sped it back up to bird frequency...result? Human birdsong! No experiment is complete without a realistic test: they crept up on a hide full of seasoned birdwatchers and played their effort. Amazingly the birdwatchers identified the song as that of a wren - Brilliant!

You can find out more about Will Work for Nuts on the BDH website and Five's blog. There are currently no plans to schedule repeats but some Will Work for Nuts clips are available on youtube if you missed it.

You can also buy the show's book at Amazon.com for just a fiver!
And watch Matt's hilarious response to being a runner-up at the Pandas on youtube.

Related posts: Wildscreen 2008 Panda Awards

Wildlife Presenter Wanted for New Series

2008-11-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

Craterlion Productions are looking for a passionate, camera-friendly individual who has dedicated their lives to preserving, learning and educating, for wildlife and habitat. They are looking to attach the right host to this concept; you will be the face of the series so we need someone who has the charm, personality, and confidence to carry a series.

Requirements:

-age between the range of 23-45
-male or female, any race
-background in wildlife/biology, etc.
-send us a VIDEO (link or uploaded) reel of who you are and why you would be the perfect host for this series
-without any video footage you WILL be ignored
-ability to travel/current passport

Please mail links to wildlife@craterlionproductions.com

Autumnwatch 2008

2008-10-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

It's started! Love-him-or-hate-him Bill Oddie and glowing BBC icon Kate Humble returned to our screens last night for the opening of Autumnwatch 2008.

Having just had one of the coldest Summers in years, some of us may feel cheated at how soon Autumn seems to have arrived, but the Autumnwatch team have already been hard at work for weeks preparing our new Autumn adventures for the screen!

Based at Brownsea Island, home to one of the last groups of red squirrels in the British Isles, Autumnwatch 2008 is promising to take us on a journey through the season's true wild mysteries unravelling stories on land and beneath the surface fo the oceans around Britain. For a start we'll be following the Autumnwatch squirrel challenge as the crew attempts to find out if the Red Squirrel can compete with the grey's famous agility and cunning.

Simon King has returned to us from the Masai Mara to take on the much less dangerous challenge of examining the rutting and lekking behaviours of the beautiful fallow deer population at Petworth. Last night we learned that a single male may mate with up to 15% of the females in the population. Using the Big Cat Live technology we saw images of the deer at night from the infra-red cams and followed them into the dawn to examine how and why a single male can be so successful! Simon tells us it all comes down to stamina(!) and we should stay tuned for more from Britains beautiful deer populations.

The lovely Gordon Buchanan has been struggling his way out to the Farne Islands to check up on the grey seals out there whose freshly born pups are learning to suckle and of course to cope with the elements. These pups will have to become completely independent in just three weeks in order to cope with the loss of thir parents to the annual migrations. Autumnwatch are promising us serious drama from the grey seal populations where the pups are at the most vulnerable time of their lives.

Another exciting first, we'll be seeing reptilian behaviours this Autumnwatch as Dorset is home to all six of the UKs native reptiles...and some invaders!

TUNE IN TONIGHT for a look at the famous Hannibal the cannibal barn owl as well as some amazing slow motion footage from the bird feeder cameras.

If you want to get involved in Autumnwatch check out the Autumnwatch website, at which you can upload your own footage of Autumnal behaviours, chat on the messageboards about your sightings and even contribute your photos to their Flickr group.
Missed an episode?! You can catch last night's Autumnwatch now on the BBC iPlayer.

Not for the faint-hearted: China's Killer Zoos news report

2008-10-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

This report won the Wildscreen 2008 News award.
The judges stated that this was a report everyone should see.

Wildscreen Volunteering Uncut: Day 5

2008-10-24T04:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday
The final day of Wildscreen

Speedpitching
A new format for Wildscreen, Speedpitching gives filmmakers the opportunity to attempt to get their ideas commissioned by some of the best in the industry.
Understandably this can be a difficult and intimidating process for pitchers when they have only three minutes to present their ideas to commissioners such as Tim Martin the series editor of Natural World, Shannon Malone from National Geographic, David Glover from C4 and Animal Planet International's director of programming Mark Wild. However, the opportunity to pitch to commissioners that would usually be difficult to get hold of, and in an environment where critiques and advice are freely given, is one not to be taken lightly.
A pitch must always be commissioner specific - a hurdle at which many pitches can fall by the wayside - but with such a valuable resource available, many Wildscreen delegates found themselves adapting their pitches on the spot to have the chance to push their ideas at other exciting commissioners.

Videotheque
Throughout the week delegates have access to all the Wildscreen Film Festival entrants at the videotheque. This is open every day allowing delegates to drop in at any time, with the biggest rush hours between workshops and talks. In previous years DVD players have been used but this year Wildscreen has upgraded its Videotheque to use an online library for much easier viewing: a major benefit being that more than one delegate can view a single programme at once!
The final day of Wildscreen sees the videotheque packed with delegates hoping to see the winning programmes which were announced at the Pandas the night before.

Wildscreen's final day is busy everywhere with queues throughout the Watershed for the closing talks, debates and screenings.

The Watershed on Bristol's waterfront has yet again been the perfect host and is well worth a visit on Friday for the screenings of the Panda Award winners...
Alastair Fothergill at Wildscreen
...and it's always nice to see a few familiar famous faces in your favourite cafe!

Wildscreen 2008 Panda Awards

2008-10-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

And the winners are...

BBC NEWCOMER AWARD: The White Wood
Filmmaker: Lou Astbury (UK)

CAMPAIGN AWARD: Rethink the Shark
Save Our Seas Foundation (Switzerland) Co-produced with Saatchi & Saatchi

UWE CHILDREN’S CHOICE AWARD: Bama’s Journey
Commissioned by Al Jazeera International

PRESENTER-LED AWARD: Adventure Yukon: The Long Journey
Studio Hamburg Produktion GmbH/NDR Naturfilm (Germany) Co-produced with Parthenon Entertainment and ORF
Presenter: Andreas Kieling

FIVE AWARD FOR POPULAR BROADCAST PROGRAMME: Meerkat Manor: Journey’s End
Southern Star International (Australia) An Oxford Scientific Films production for Animal Planet International

EARTH SCIENCE AWARD: Earth: The Power of the Planet – Atmosphere
BBC (UK) Co-produced with National Geographic US, ZDF & BBC Worldwide

NEWS AWARD: China’s Killer Zoos
Sky News (UK)

ARKIVE NEW MEDIA AWARD: Earth-Touch weekly podcast
Earth-Touch (South Africa)

PARTHENON ENTERTAINMENT AWARD FOR INNOVATION: Smalltalk Diaries: Predators
Ammonite Ltd (UK) Co-produced with the BBC in association with Off the Fence and Big Squid New Media

WILDSCREEN’S AWARD TO PROMOTE FILMMAKERS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Irani Wildlife
Seyed Mani Mirsadeghi (Iran)

GRANADA AWARD FOR ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR: Eye of the Leopard
Wildlife Films (Botswana)

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM ENVIRONMENT AWARD: Battle to Save the Tiger
Mike Birkhead Associates (UK) Commissioned by BBC Natural History Unit

THEATRICAL AWARD: The Theatrical Award was not presented this year. After much deliberation the judges did not feel that this year’s finalists met the criteria of the award, and so have not put forward a winner.

ANIMAL PLANET INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE AND ANIMALS AWARD: Saving Luna
Mountainside Films Ltd (Canada) Commissioned by CBC

CHRISTOPHER PARSON’S AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Masaru Ikeo – Executive Officer, Business Development, Media International Corporation
(Formerly of NHK, Japan)

BEST EDITING AWARD: Expedition Guyana (Programme 1)
BBC Natural History Unit (UK) Co-produced with BBC Worldwide & Discovery
Editor: Peter Brownlee

FILMS AT 59 AWARD FOR BEST SOUND: Galapagos: Born of Fire
BBC Natural History Unit (UK) Co-produced with BBC Worldwide & National Geographic US

BEST SCRIPT AWARD: Saving Luna
Mountainside Films Ltd (Canada) Commissioned by CBC
Scriptwriter: Michael Parfit

BEST MUSIC AWARD: Christmas in Yellowstone
Thirteen/WNET New York (USA)
Music: Lenny Williams

Disappointment for the crew of Life in Cold Blood as Smalltalk Diaries takes their only nomination...
BEST SERIES AWARD: Smalltalk Diaries
Ammonite Ltd (UK) Co-produced with the BBC in association with Off the Fence and Big Squid New Media

PANASONIC AWARD FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY: Earth Pilgrim
AGB Films Ltd (UK) Co-produced with BBC Natural History Unit & BBC Worldwide
Camera: Warwick Sloss

JURY’S SPECIAL PRIZE: Lobo – The Wolf that Changed America
Brian Leith Productions (UK)
A BBC and Thirteen/WNET New York co-production in association with PBS
Scriptwriters: Steve Gooder & Brian Leith

GOLDEN PANDA: Life in Cold Blood - Armoured Giants
BBC Natural History Unit (UK) Co-produced with BBC Worldwide, Animal Planet & the Open University.

Wildscreen Volunteering Uncut: Day 4

2008-10-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Wednesday

Watershed Cinema 2 runs screenings of nominated films daily during the Wildscreen Film Festival.

"Can We Save Planet Earth?", nominee for the Earth Science Award, is a fantastic film about the future of our planet. It includes an amazing guide to a possible solution to climate change. "Can We Save Planet Earth?" just missed the deadline for entries to the 2006 Panda awards; lets hope their message is still in the front of our minds enough for them to take a Panda home. It should be noted that "Can We Save Planet Earth?" might be better suited to the Natural History Museum Environment Award, but with so many great entries competition is fierce!

"The Wolfman"
was nominated for the Five Award For Popular Broadcast. This features Sean, a British wolf enthusiast who has gone so far in his attempts to understand wolf behaviour that he has brought up and lived with three wolves, learnt their language and become integrated into their pack. This astounding story follows their way of life, and how the pack dynamics change when Sean must go away for a while. A definite must see!

The afternoon's debate "Too Little, Too Late?" saw Sir David Attenborough and the legendary Gaia theorist James Lovelock on panel with John Hanke (Director of Google Earth and Google maps) and HRH Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme. Queues for this event spread the length of the watershed but fortunately all were able to find a seat.

James Lovelock debates whether our impact on climate change has gone too far...

The debate? Whether our impact on the planet is irreparable. David Attenborough made the point that this question is dependent upon how we define "far" in that we may be able to change our ways in time to save 25% of the species on the road to extinction but greater percentages are out of reach. James Lovelock, whom many might expect to predict serious doom stated that he does have hope for the next few decades but they won't be easy.
All agree that the nature of our planet's future is dependent wholly upon our actions from now and that immediate action is the key. No one has all the answers but so long as wildlife imagery and tools like Google Earth can make the issues known to the public, the politicians can not escape their responsibilities.
John Hanke demonstrates the astounding uses of Google Earth in conservation
John Hanke emphasized that with ever-improving technology and exponential increases in access to information, the public are able to do what NGOs have been doing for years, and are able to discover environmental truths for themselves in order to make politicians accountable.

A fantastic debate and a brilliant day!

Wildscreen Volunteering Uncut: Day 3

2008-10-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday

Research Workshop
Tigress APs and researching gurus Laura Harvey and Natalie Dunmore led this workshop on production research.
With information on the role of a researcher, where to find ideas, fact cross-checking, phone call checklists, handling cold contacts and logistics, this is by far the most thorough workshop I've attended this year.
Laura and Natalie, a highly approachable pair, have over 10 years in the industry between them and were absolute fountains of knowledge when discussing production research.
Outsiders approaching the industry may find it difficult to fathom the actual day-to-day duties and pressures of specific roles in film-making: I left this workshop excited, with a clear concept of what is required of me if I am to push myself into the researcher role.

Masterclass: Sound - The Cinderella Craft
This afternoon masterclass session featured advice from experts Martyn Harries (BBC Dubbing Mixer), Kate Hopkins (Freelance Dubbing Editor), Joe Stevens (BBC Sound Recordist) and Patrick Morris (BBC Producer).
Now I don't know much about sound but after just an hour of intense listening, I was intrigued. I had no idea how a soundtrack was put together, who would be involved in the process and where soundbites might come from, never mind which microphones are used for what and that sounds obtained can influence the footage used as well as vice versa.
Patrick Morris described a fantastic example of where a recording of locals singing about a bird's behaviour was built upon to produce a soundtrack which changed the entire format of a visual sequence - and with a beautifully moving result.

This evening's debate upon whether "People must be kept away from endangered animals" saw intriguing arguments from both sides. The conclusive vote turned in favour of the motion with 205 votes for verus 132 against.

Wildscreen Volunteering Uncut: Day 2

2008-10-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

Monday

Today I was scheduled in to be on the front desk for Workshops. Whilst some of these are based off-site around Bristol, most take place in the Marriot Royal Hotel conference rooms.

The first was "Breaking out of the box: A guide to multi-platforming" run by Paul Williams (BBC NHU researcher and founder of TheNatureWatch.com) with guest speakers Paul Deane (Senior Content Producer: Big Cat Live) and Jody Bourton (Radio AP: World on the move, BBC Wales).

This was a fantastic hands-on workshop directed at those new to the world of blogging, RSS feeds, youtube, flickr, twitter and all manner of online content outlets! This was perfect for many of the delegates attending this workshop but a bit basic for me so, as with many aspects of a volunteer's duties, I ended up assisting with the activities being run.
It was easy to be reassuring and helpful as, having only started blogging a few months ago myself, I know how daunting HTML and other gadget codes can be, and how easy it is to find online advice. There are even blogs about blogging!

Importantly it was noted at the beginning of the session that the BBC's use of the phrase "Multiplatforming" tends to apply to all web-related content. Paul Deane, Senior Content Producer for Big Cat Live took us through the BBC's use of online feeds, blogs and video uploads for the Big Cat Live event, focussing on the importance of a community feel for the success of such programmes. With Twitter technology the Big Cat Live team could text in their latest news as it happened...

Wow - we've just had the most amazing lion kill live on webcam1. Sorry we pulled away - it was getting quite gory. Anything could happen!

Big Cat Live Twitter feed

Jody Bourton, Assistant producer for Radio 4's World on the Move discussed the benefits of small camcorder video feeds from the field and gave us tips on directing our videos to be suitable for the web. We were given a chance to try our hand at this and told to concentrate on framing and lighting, being careful to keep shots simple for faster uploads. The results can be found at the Wild Wildscreen Website.

Monday's evening event was the Parthenon Party, with a Russian theme: Pictures coming soon!

Wildscreen Volunteering Uncut: Day 1!

2008-10-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday

Wildscreen is upon us!

A volunteer's day starts early. You will never see the Clifton Triangle or Park street looking this quiet at any other time of week but Sunday morning!

My first duty of the week? Registration desk! This is where it all begins for delegates attending Wildscreen and it's really important that they get given all the right information and literature, and there's a lot!

From 9am every morning a delegate's first view of Wildscreen will always be a smiling volunteer and the following thrust into their arms...

1. Delegate badge: VITAL! Without this the delegates can't get into the Watershed to enjoy all the festival events and activities. There's usually a dashing photo or two with the occasional celebrity who needn't be pictured because everyone will know them. This year's white space faces include Sir David Attenborough, Bill Bailey and Joanna Lumley!!

2. Invites envelope: This has all their evening event tickets including those to the prestigious Panda awards, that is, providing they've bought one. All the other evening events are free to delegates but for the Pandas there are limitted spaces, invites only!

3. Wildscreen bag: This is a classic eco-friendly shoulder-bag containing their Wildscreen goodies; including pens made from recycled car parts, USB sticks, notepads, sweeties, sponsor literature, maps, the festival diary, and the much sought delegate directory. The delegate directory lists all the films submitted to Wildscreen with those nominated for awards highlighted and gives every delegate's contact details, so when you bump into that life-changing career-making producer, you know you'll be able to get hold of him or her, with just a flick of the fingertips!

4. Directions: This is an obvious one! Wildscreen film festival is spread across various areas of Bristol with many workshops being off-site. Delegates will need to know either where they can meet their guide to a workshop or how to get there themselves. And of course volunteers are always giving directions to the nearest toilets!

5. A Buddy!: Wildscreen has had the great idea of helping newcomers to find their way around and kickstart their networking by introducing them to a buddy. Buddies have to be pre-booked in order to match up pairs but there can be the occasional delegate loitering at the registration desk hoping to just sign up!

Being on the registration desk is great fun! You get to meet loads of people on whom you will automatically make a good impression, and there's usually a few who like to know your name or are keen to take a business card!

"Oo she sounds useful - are we short a runner? We should get her in for some work experience!"

Tomorrow I'm on workshops: Multi-Platforming and Managing Production...stay tuned!

Wildscreen Volunteering Uncut: Day -2!

2008-10-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday

A visit to the Wildscreen office this afternoon found me in the company of the Wildscreen Festival Heroes all working hard and late into the evening!

Volunteering at Wildscreen is an amazing opportunity to hobnob with the best in the wildlife filmmaking business and to learn about working in the industry. It's an opportunity not to be taken lightly and one for which I am truly grateful!
For this reason you frequently find volunteers spending the days prior to the festival in one of the Wildscreen meeting rooms getting repetitive strain injuries as they do the fill-in jobs that the festival managers simply do not have the time for.

My festival diary starts in this meeting room where I spent but a few hours putting delegate invitations into their welcome packs, ordering these packs for registration and stapling together volunteer guides.
There's so much happening at the festival: the coordinators need to be sure that the volunteers will represent their presence throughout; checking that delegate-only rules are applied, health and safety issues are sustained, and talks and workshops are run smoothly.

It's a large amount of paperwork that the festival coordinators get through but I am reassured that numerous recycling bins are placed around the festival to make sure we don't waste this paper - they've thought of everything!

I stay until just before 8pm (having only arrived around 5) but the office is still busy and bustling when I leave.

I can't wait for the festival to commence!!!

' Twas the week before Wildscreen...

2008-10-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

Wildscreen Film Festival is fast descending on Bristol and we mustn't forget its focus. The Panda awards are known as the Green Oscars and represent the cream of the crop from the natural history filmmaking industry.

New to the awards this year we have the Natural History Museum Environment Award, the Animal Planet International People & Animals Award and the Presenter-led Award.
If it wasn't for this event we couldn't have imagined the leaps and bounds this industry has taken to be possible.

Time and time again we see the BBC Natural History Unit raise the bar for wildlife filmmaking with pioneer blue-chip programmes and unique multi-media ventures, but without this review of their competition would they push so hard and so far? Would their competitors have been left straggling behind?

Here's a quick look at the BBC NHU entries to the Panda Awards this year.

Extreme Animals: Sports Stars has been nominated for the UWE Children's Choice Award. Extreme Animals: Sports Stars examined who would win the race to be the tip top fastest fittest animal from ten contenders. Although the fastest animal is the Peregrine Falcon, reaching speeds up to 200km/h, the Cheetah took the top position!

Galapagos: Born of Fire is up for the Panasonic Award for Cinematography for its spectacular images of outstanding natural beauty and the camerawork that brought them to the public eye. This Award actually marks the competition between three nominees all produced or co-produced by the BBC NHU: one of which involves co-production with previous Panda Award stars Halcyon media. Wye: Voices from the Valley has similar undercurrents and tone to the award-winning My Halcyon River which wowed the judges at Wildscreen 2004, and, like Galapagos: Born of Fire, was nominated for both best cinematography and the Films @59 Award for Best Sound.

Expedition Guyana (Programme 1) is a hopeful nominee for the Best Editing Award. Expedition Guyana followed a group of adventurers and scientists into the unexplored depths of the jungle to seek out new species and behaviours. The team made exciting discoveries and conquered dangerous landscapes to make this fantastic programme but the editors had to wade through hundreds of hours of footage and reduce them to a few succinct episodes!

Buddha, Bees and the Giant Hornet Queen, one episode of an outstanding Natural World series by the BBC, is up for the Parthenon Entertainment Award for Innovation. This programme shows the unique and mysterious connection between a monk, his bee colony and the hungry killer hornet army that amasses on his doorstep. Definitely a strong contender for this award and definitely worth finding on DVD or borrowing from your local video library.

Elephant Diaries (programme 4) has been nominated for the Five Award for Popular Broadcast Programme. The diary format is one with which we are all familiar and the recent successes of the BBC NHU with Big Cat Diary demonstrates how popular their work in this genre will continue to be. Competitors in this category are up against the best in the business!

Life in Cold Blood: The Cold-Blooded Truth is a strong nominee for Best Series Award. What would a Panda Award ceremony be without David Attenborough? And yet they may find themselves pipped to the post by Ammonite Ltd's fantastic series Smalltalk Diaries which makes up for in character, what it lacks in cinematography.

All in all this year's nominees represent the consistently improving quality of Wildlife film being churned out around the world. Without Wildscreen we couldn't qualitatively scrutinise such programmes to push them forward in their own creativity; and without the BBC's NHU who would set the bar to get the rest of the industry to keep their socks pulled up?!

Wildscreen Volunteer Diary

2008-10-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

With the Wildscreen Film Festival fast approaching GiantsOrbiting is bringing you an insight into what goes on behind the scenes where the real heroes of Wildscreen work.

As a volunteer you have access to almost every area of Wildscreen from cinema screenings to the celebrity green room, from workshops to the watershed cafe, from the registration desk to the prestigious Panda Awards!

Sir David Attenborough with volunteers Jonas Stenstrom and Samantha Dixon at the Panda Awards 2006.

Nikki Waldron (volunteer coordinator) is responsible for making sure the 30 strong volunteer team maintain order at the festival to keep it running smoothly. The volunteers must man events, screenings, talks and workshops and check that only those who've paid (dearly!) for the Festival's activities are permitted. Nikki is there to ensure that the excited volunteers keep to their schedules and ensure an enjoyable event for all.

Wildscreen Film Festival is a whirlwind adventure for everyone especially the volunteers! Keep an eye on GiantsOrbiting to find out all about the goings on behind the scenes for the Wildscreen 2008 volunteers.

'Glowing' jellyfish grabs Nobel prize

2008-10-08T04:58:00.001-07:00

Brainbow: A fantastic array of colours is now possible

A clever trick borrowed from jellyfish has earned two Americans and one Japanese scientist a share of the chemistry Nobel Prize.

Martin Chalfie, Roger Tsien and Osamu Shimomura made it possible to exploit the genetic mechanism responsible for luminosity in the marine creatures.

Today, countless scientists use this knowledge to tag biological systems.

These glowing markers will show how brain cells develop or cancer cells spread through tissue.

Jellyfish will glow under blue and ultraviolet light because of a protein in their tissues. Scientists refer to it as green fluorescent protein, or GFP.

From the BBC News

Neil Nightingale: a follow up to Life in Cold Blood responses

2008-10-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to the earlier discussion, I found this interesting comment by the Head of the BBC's NHU in response to a damning article on in vitro Wildlife filming:

Neil Nightingale writes

Steve Hewlett's piece Is It OK For Natural History Programmes to Use Fake Footage? gives a false impression of both the motivation for and our openness about filming animals in controlled conditions. He also suggests this is done for "entertainment". While the great majority of our footage is filmed entirely in the wild there are some animals and natural behaviours that are virtually impossible to obtain in the wild. If we did not sometimes film in controlled conditions we would be unable to bring these fascinating stories to audiences. It is for reasons of enlightenment and education that these techniques are necessary.

See Neil's letter in full here

You also might be interested in how open some productions really are about their studio filming. We can find out al about Wild China's filming techniques online where they give clear reasons for the use of non-wild clips.

Thank you for your comments.

Big Cat Live: On your screens now!

2008-10-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

Big Cat Live leapt onto our screens last night with an introduction to the presenters, the cats and the local wildlife we'll be following over the next few weeks.

I hope I speak for many when I say that after seeing her out of her usual habitat I'm reassured that Kate Silverton will do Saba proud as the new presenter on the savannah!

You can watch last night's show online here and stay tuned for episode 2 tonight at 7.30 on BBC1.

Pushing it too far...

2008-10-05T05:02:00.000-07:00

I know the title of this post may be ironic given that I have almost over-discussed the use of studio footage in wildlife filmmaking now, but I couldn't resist bringing you this. It seems that wildlife filmmaking has far to go before becoming true masters of faking it!

The world saw Lin Miaoke, right, sing at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony - but actually heard the voice of Yang Peiyi, left.

The real singer was deemed too "flawed" to be seen in the ceremony! I know this was in the news ages ago, but I feel it illustrates my point.

Sorry for the digression...back to natural history!

Wildlife Film News: Gorillas!!

2008-10-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

The BBC Natural History Unit has been granted unprecedented access to the world of the critically endangered mountain gorilla for a landmark documentary series for BBC Two.

Set to be the most intimate and revealing portrait of gorilla life to date, the series will chart the plight of a species in "intensive care".Just a handful of families cling to existence on the forested peaks of three isolated volcanoes in a small corner of Africa, surrounded on all sides by a growing human population.

Over three 60-minute programmes, cameras will enter this fragile world and follow the life of one gorilla family as they go about their day-to-day existence. From the joy and happiness of a new birth and worry for a sick infant, to the tenderness of relationships built over decades and the horror of a violent death, the films will explore the real emotion entwined in the various aspects of life for one of the most charismatic species on the planet.

The series will meet the team of experts dedicated to caring for them – "the gorilla doctors" – a group of vets, conservationists and local rangers who work tirelessly to care for the species. It will also explore the fascinating history of the mountain gorilla, from their discovery only a century ago, through their ongoing struggle to survive to the bleak future they face today.

Executive Producer, Sara Ford, says: "We will have privileged access to one of the planet's most emotionally engaging animal characters. This will be the definitive series on the endangered mountain gorilla as well as an intimate family portrait set against a backdrop of human conflict and passionate endeavour."

Neil Nightingale, Head of BBC NHU, adds: "Mountain gorillas are some of our closest relatives and yet, as a species, they have been reduced to no more than a few hundred individuals in a small corner of Africa. The fascination of their current lives, their turbulent past and the uncertainty of their future, makes for one of the most dramatic and emotional wildlife stories of all."

Gorillas is being made by BBC Vision Productions and was commissioned by Emma Swain, Head of In-house Commissioning, Knowledge. Executive Producer is Sara Ford. The three-part series will go out in 2010 on BBC Two.

From the BBC Press Office.

A Guide to Garden Birds : Brett Westwood, Radio 4

2008-09-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Having just moved house and not yet installed my TV, I have been getting my wildlife fix from the BBC iPlayer and my usual radio programmes.

Fortunately (unlike for TV) much radio content is available to us online indefinitely, so long as you have the right software to download and play it.

I am a particular fan of Radio 4's content: Radio 4 replaced the BBC Home Service in the 60s and today broadcasts a very wide variety of programmes from various genres including science and nature. It can be found around 92-95 FM and is the BBC's most expensive network. It's also one of its most successful, winning the Sony Radio Academy Award's "UK Station of the year" this year.

For wildlife programmes Radio 4 is your one-stop shop! Amongst my favourites are Scars of Evolution presented by David Attenborough, World on The Move following worldwide animal migrations, and A Year in the Life of Ants which was partly presented by my current postgrad tutor, the brilliant Nigel Franks. All of these are available to listen to by download and take barely any time to obtain.

"A Guide to Garden Birds" aired in conjunction with Springwatch 2008 and was, in my opinion, one of the most complete and well-presented programmes I have ever heard. Now this may have been achieved through its simplicity as a programme: Brett Westwood and his sound recordist Chris Watson enter Stephen Moss' garden where they sit and chat with him and listen to the birds.
Episodes alternate between bird groups, covering the Titmice, Thrushes, Finches and many more; and Brett and Stephen (pictured) lead the listener through each song and bird including clever anecdotes to help you learn to identify the species. As if this wasn't enough, they also throw in some handy hints on how to identify the birds by sight in your garden, and indicate how each species behaves and how this will affect your birdwatching.

I will attempt to describe some of the best (and my favourite) anecdotes that this lovely programme uses, but to truly appreciate it, I would urge you to get online and download a few for yourself. They're all of 20 minutes long and make very easy listening.

Episode one sees Brett and Stephen discussing the Song Thrush (picture by Bob Glover) and Stephen recalls how his grandfather Snowy, used to be followed home by the call of a bird that nagged him singing "Snowy, Snowy, Snowy. Pay the rent, pay the rent, pay the rent!" Ever since hearing this I have yet to fail to recognise the Song Thrush by ear.

In episode two we hear how the Blue Tit is a bold little bird that literally puts "all his eggs in one nest". The Blue Tit, it appears, lays up to 12 eggs only once in the nesting season whereas most other birds will lay 3 or 4 a few times. The Blue Tits have to work hard to keep 12 hatchlings fed and a breeding pair will bring around ten thousand caterpillars to the nest per day!

Did you know?: The Long-tailed Tit has the shortest body of any British bird (that is of course once we've excluded the tail)!

The blackbird, we are told, has a "fruity" song which we may hear at the first signs of spring. As a woodland bird, it has a particularly loud call which would have been necessary to attract a mate through the dense forest; of course now we find their song carries so well through our streets and gardens that when we expect it to be very close we may find they are halfway down the end of the street.

For amateur twitchers A Guide to Garden Birds is a godsend. Discover more anecdotes for yourself at A Guide to Garden Birds' website.

As mentionned above, A Guide to Garden Birds is just one of the many fantastic radio outputs of the BBC's Natural History Unit. At the moment you can follow worldwide animal migrations with Radio 4's "World on the Move" on Tuesday mornings.

For the truly keen you can revise what you have discovered at Brett's birdsong library, also a useful tool for identifying songs you've heard recently without having to go through the programme.

(N.B. You may need the RealPlayer to play your downloaded radio programmes. You can download RealAlternative for free here).

Big Cat Live update

2008-09-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

As the BBC gears up to Big Cat Live the crew out in the Masaii Mara are working hard to set up camp and find their screen stars.

Chris Howard tell us how things are going in the second camp report.

See my previous post to find out all about this upcoming project.

Why so few posts?

2008-09-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say that my Masters dissertation is due in this Friday which is why I am otherwise engaged!

I caught most of "Amazon with Bruce Parry" last night though. He is an interesting fellah!

It's on the iPlayer and well worth a look if you have the time!! =)

AMAZON: The Adventures of Bruce Parry

2008-09-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

My favourite Pub Quiz is run every Monday at 9pm at the Jersey Lily pub here in Bristol but last night I was just too ill to go, so I turned to my television.

I watched the very posh Valentine Warner emphasize that he's never been more at home than with the most Welsh sheep farmer I've ever seen, before demonstrating how best to shoot a rabbit for the pot and how to cook the perfect pork chop. What to Eat Now kept me very entertained and left me wondering where the divide is drawn between cookery documentary and natural history programme.

I pondered away through the BBC2 ads and then was awoken from my trance by the opening scenes from "AMAZON with Bruce Parry". I remembered vaguely hearing of such a programme being on the cards and settled further into the settee...

AMAZON is to be a 6 part series following explorer Bruce Parry (best known for hosting Tribe) from the official source of the Amazon at Nevado Mismi in the Andes of Peru to its end at the Atlantic coast of Brazil.

Episode 1 was simply fantastic!
Bruce started out at the source and then trekked the 6hours to the nearest settlement of Quechua llama herders. We then follow him as he learns their way of life from llama shearing to their deep connection to Pacha Mama the "mother earth". His hosts, the family headed by Rodolfo are a generous and selfless people who despite their harsh way of life seem so content. My favourite scene shows their youngest, the boy Icka (above) spontaneously hugging Bruce before performing a little dance around the workers.
So overwhelmingly caring are these people that after only a few days they are visibly shaken to see him go and send him off with tears and prayers for him on his journey.

Bruce then takes on the treacherous upper waters of the Amazon with a group of daredevil white water rafters before heading downstream for a more relaxing break with the Coca farmers who can't afford not to sell their produce to the cocaine refiners. He sees the conflict between those who must make cocaine to survive and those who enforce the law from both sides, and actually takes part in the refining process before jumping in the back of a machine-gun-bearing truck to try to track down others doing the same. He meets villages that fight the cocaine makers and some who embrace them as desperate survivors. Some portray teenagers wondering around with guns protecting their land with their families.

During this episode the director Matt Brandon falls ill demonstrating how isolated the filmmakers actually are as they desperately attempt to get him to hospital. Fortunately he later made a full recovery but I found myself interested to see exactly how alone and in danger the crew are. It’s clear that many a big series such as Life in Cold Blood has filmmakers working in harsh and desolate conditions but more committed are those who must leave a village for fear of bringing war on their hosts.

It’s not often that I find myself completely engaged by a programme and interested enough to stay focussed through story after story. Frequently with programmes such as Pacific Abyss, in-filler shots and scenes seem to be used to make up the episode’s running time, causing the eye to wander or the viewer to amble off to put a brew on; AMAZON is no such programme. Get onto the iPlayer and watch the the first episode because it’ll be gone by next Monday’s pub quiz!

(AMAZON is co-produced by BBC Wales and Discovery Channel, and first aired on BBC2 on the 15th Sept '08; Producers: Steve Robinson and Matt Brandon.)

In the News This Week

2008-09-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

Ancient forest fossils found down coal mines in Illinois. At the British association science festival Dr. Howard Lang described their magnitude:

It is quite extraordinary to find a fossil landscape preserved over such a vast area; and we are talking about an area the size of Bristol.

The reintroduction of the Red Kite to Ireland hits a setback as one of the 27 endangered birds that was released was found dead with a bullet wound this week. The wildlife police are investigating but fear it is a senseless killing as these birds represent no threat to humans or lifestock.

The search for the Golden Toad is underway in Costa Rica, where concerned scientists are looking to find this rare toad to aid in its conservation.

Inaction towards Climate Change is becoming a Human Rights issue according to Oxfam, who believe that people living in the poorest countries are suffering for the lack of environmental action by richer, more developed countries (who are also those contributing most to pollution). With floodings in the UK at an all-time high it's clear even without Oxfam's suggestion that it's long time we engaged in preventing climatic changes.

Britain's native seahorses are at risk and urgent action is needed according the The Seahorse Trust. It is believed that the site at risk is the only one in Britain where both indigenous seahorse species - the Spiny and the Short Snouted - are known to be breeding.

Climate change may be bringing even bigger waves to Australian shores. Although this is obviously of concern to coastal settlements and their environments, it is noted that this increasing surf may benefit schemes to harness the power of the ocean for greener electricity.
Climate change seems high priority in various news feed at the moment with increasingly extreme weather conditions and it's not just our native seahorses who are suffering: walruses, Beluga Whales, Polar Bears and the elusive Narwhal were all noted this week to be at risk.

Dire weather across Britain this Summer has had a drastic effect on the honey harvest according to beekeepers. Winter viruses nd rainy weather have kept the bees hive-bound resulting in greater colony death and honey harvest levels lower than beekeepers would ever have expected.

Do you have any news you'd like to share? Please leave a link in your comment.

Last night's The One Show: Wildlife Police!

2008-09-09T02:52:00.000-07:00

Last night The One Show took us to Stonehaven to visit the Grampian Police Wildlife Crime Officer.

David MacKinnon works full time to investigate possible crimes such as game poaching, "offenses against badgers and birds", hare coursing, poisoning, trapping, nest destruction, egg collecting...the list goes on and on. I think it's brilliant that every Scottish police force has a wildlife crime coordinater: Someone who keeps an eye on the human-wildlife interface to check that endangered species are protected.

The One Show had Miranda Krestovnikoff follow the story of a dead buzzard which had a cricular wound that might have been from a bullet (and was subsequently found to come under "natural causes"). Although The One Show had a giggle, the police are very serious and will actually send of samples to crime labs to check for poisoning.
Like in any crime investigation they look for motives amongst the human community: does the game breeder want rid of the Kite that hunts his pheasants? Is that local farmer having suspiciously fresh Salmon again?

It's quite clear how this benefits the wildlife but for those living in the community the Wildlife Police are also keeping their sites of outstanding natural beauty and special scientific interest safe and pristine. In my opinion it's highly valuable to have specific police to whom offenders are answerable. It represents a committment of the community to keep their environment healthy and should be commended.

I'm very glad The One Show found this worthy of the time. Good work chaps!

Locked up rights to filming output

2008-09-05T03:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most wonderful and successful films from Wildscreen 2006 was that made by Neil Curry entitled "The Elephant, the Emperor and the Butterfly Tree". This was a remarkable account of the amazing relationships between the elephant, the emperor moth and the mopane tree. This film won the Festival's most prestigious award, The Golden Panda.

You can see clips from The Elephant, the Emperor and the Butterfly Tree here where the copyrights are also clearly stated.

However, it appears that film producers wanting to share their content have limitted options due to these copyrights.
Firstly I'd say legally, this is fair. The copyright owners (in this case the BBC and Oxford Scientific Films) have funded their right to decide where and when the programme is shown. On the other hand though, perhaps we would have a different view if we learnt that they refuse to allow the locals from the developing country in which this programme is set to see the film.

I am not sure how much of this is accurate and if you know better please do contact me or comment, but it appears that they have been particularly stingy on this front. If you are interested, take the time to read this article by Nalaka Gunawardene which gives his standpoint. It appears that whereas some companies are happy to publicly promote the education of developing countries they won't do so if they fear being out of pocket.

All comments and any enlightenment are welcome!

Wildscreen Film Festival 2006

2008-09-05T01:45:00.000-07:00

Director: Bobby Proctor
VFX: Aardman

Coming soon: Wildscreen Film Festival

2008-09-05T01:08:00.000-07:00

The international wildlife filmmaking event of the year is about to descend on Bristol this coming October.

Wildscreen is a Bristol-based charity who work globally to

promote the public appreciation of biodiversity and the conservation of nature through the power of wildlife imagery.

The biannual festival that Wildscreen runs is a week-long event through which film makers from around the world get together, compare their work, learn about the making of some of the best programmes from the last two years and compete to win Wildscreen awards.

The Wildscreen Film Festival Panda awards are equivalent to the Oscars for wildlife filmmaking. I was lucky enough to be selected to volunteer at Wildscreen Film Festival 2006 and introduced myself to David Attenborough at the Panda Awards.

The "Green Oscar" or Panda award

The much sought volunteer positions for Wildscreen 2008 are already filled but I believe delegates can still register on the Wildscreen Film Festival Website.

Registration gives you access to all events, talks and screenings, as well as the opportunity to enter workshops to learn more about aspects of Wildlife Filmmaking such as researching and getting commissions. There is also a brilliant video library run throughout the week giving delegates access to every Panda award entry including Life in Cold Blood's "Armoured Giants" and "The Cold Blooded Truth", as well as Expedition Guyana, "Wye": Voices from the Valley, and Meerkat Manor.

See the Wildscreen Film Festival 2006 Showreel here.

COMING SOON: Behind the scenes at Wildscreen Film Festival - a volunteer's experience!
And
My Favourites from Wildscreen 2006, including the Bedi Brothers' "Cherub in the Mist".

A Few Fabulous Frogs!

2008-09-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

I just came across this great collection of short clips about frogs in Costa Rica and had to share it: Enjoy!

Big Cat Live

2008-09-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

With so much going on in the world of Natural History media at the moment I've been having difficulty deciding what to post on first!

If you're in any way interested in wildlife television you should be aware of the new live multimedia project the BBC is preparing to launch later this year: Big Cat Live.

Big Cat Live is going to be in a similar format to the groundbreaking project "Springwatch" which first aired in 2005. Springwatch involved (and involves) an overview of live camera feeds from nest boxes and animal burrows, allowing us to follow stories of British wildlife. Its huge success with viewers here in the UK has been partly due to the way in which they were able to follow wildlife in their own back gardens and feedback to the programme online.

Big Cat Diary (which preceded Springwatch) and Elephant Diary also highlight the way in which these programmes engage viewers by following individuals of a species.
I think it's something to do with human empathy. We are drawn into stories when we start to become familiar with and care for the individuals involved. Thus, viewers are encouraged to tune in to find out how that batch of coal tits or those young lion cubs are doing. It's similar to our affinity for sitcoms and series such as Neighbours - we want to know what's happening in their lives next!

Springwatch was highly ambitious in relying on participation from the public to look out for their local wildlife and aid in the wildlife surveys conducted; but most notably it was a pioneer in multimedia effort. Springwatch on television ran in conjunction with an online British wildlife survey and programmes on Radio 2 and Radio 4 as well as providing an online blog and online live feeds from selected cameras.

Big Cat Diary is possibly the BBC Natural History Unit's biggest venture yet. Live feeds from cameras strategically placed across Kenya's Masai Mara reserve will be brought to us here in the UK on our screens. Aside from the obvious difficulties with streaming live content reliably across the world on the presenters' cue, this project will also attempt to bring 24hour surveillance to its website for the superkeen to access!

Big Cat Live intends to give the public a lot more behind the scenes footage to envelope us into the project itself. There'll be an interactive website available two weeks before the launch, and the three week long event will run in conjunction with a programme on CBeebies (Little Big Cat) although unfortunately there does not appear to be any Radio production planned. Obviously most of us won't be able to follow the species in our own back yards, but the programme will bring us an overview of daily life on the reserve with information on the activities of a wide variety of species; and unlike Springwatch, Big Cat Live's feeds will continue streaming beyond daylight hours for more exciting behaviours!

To me the technology involved for the video streaming across the world is enough of an obstacle, but if you think about it the programme will face many other hurdles!
...

For one, lions and antelope and hyaenas don't breed as often and regularly as the birds we see on springwatch and have much wider territories: we can't simply slot a camera into a cheetah's den to see how the cubs are doing.

Two: A bird's daily life involves much flitting and feeding, whereas a lion spends about 20hours of the day resting!

Three: This is no sofa-in-Norfolk jobby (Springwatch reference!)! Kate Silverton, Simon King, Jonathon Scott and presumably a whole host of production team fellahs will be spending the duration of the programme in the heart of an African reserve! Just think of the health and safety issues!

It's going to be a huge challenge for all involved at the BBC and I can't imagine any other production company or channel being able to host something at this scale. The BBC say it's a test-run for future 360-degree productions to see if their technology is robust enough to move to the next level. I for one can't wait for Autumn!

(BBC Press Release. Big Cat Live is to be produced by Colin Jackson, series producer Nigel Pope.)

Wild: Killer Whales in the UK?

2008-09-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

The series Wild is an almost bizarre mish-mash of half an hour and hour long programmes about various locations and species with "access to never-before seen footage".

It includes episodes about the "mysterious batwomen of Panama" who are in fact rather unmysteriously studying the bats and just happen to all be women; next to some brilliant presenting by Saba Douglas-Hamilton despite ironically discussing the terrors of poaching weaponry whilst wearing a leopard-print top. There's absolutely no connection between the episodes in locality, species, behaviour or presenting manner, but they are still quite fascinating in a kind of brief encounter "The One Show" style. The episodes presented by Saba and Gordon Buchanan are quite personal presenter-story led and include a bit more action on Saba's part (including her swimming through bat guano), as well as quite a bit more comedy on Gordon's.

For this reason in fact, I found my favourite to be "Killer Whales in the UK?" presented by Gordon. Gordon Buchanan started his career as a camera assistant to Nick Gordon who helped bring us the Life of Birds and The Heart of the Amazon. Gordon went on to be a big part of Big Cat Diary, The Natural World and Springwatch, and has evidently only recently come around to the idea of presenting.

Gordon's style of presenting is brilliant! He's very colloquial and chatty as we follow him to the Shetland Isles where he is to set up his "Killer Whale HQ" in a lighthouse. He has a lovely Scottish accent which is relatively rare in Natural History presenting and is refreshingly comical, and even slightly satirical: At one point he delights in the presence of inquisitive seals coming to meet him, as while they're looking at him a killer whale might come up, throw one of them in the air, kill it and eat it so he can catch it all on camera!

This episode is in fact all about Gordon: Gordon gets fed up waiting for the whales so he goes to visit some Puffins and attempts to woo them by copying their moaning sounds; Gordon gets attacked by gulls; Gordon flirts with the locals; Gordon gets bored of looking for killer whales so starts to sing and make seal sounds to keep his spirits up... and all of this is actually really good to watch! He's personable and fun and still gets across some interesting bits and bobs about wildlife too! It feels like he really is fascinated by the animals and it's nice to see things from a cameraman's perspective. He has to grab the right lens to see if a wild otter has caught something, and has to be careful when rushing to film a porpoise, that he gets his tripod set up safely!

There's also some cheesy pop played over the top to match his jovial manner such as Lionel Richie's "Hello, is it me you're looking for?" and Van Halen's "Jump!" to get guillemot chicks in the mood to leap a few hundred feet down a cliff before their swim to Norway! It's all good fun, although the story ends slightly disappointingly (I don't want to spoil it) and we get to see Gordon's motivation repeatedly rediscovered to the serenade of Blondie's "One way or another, I'm gonna find ya".

If you're a fan of British wildlife, which I hope you are, and you're in the mood for something lighthearted one evening, try to get hold of this episode because it really is a simple pleasure to watch! The only negative thing I'd say is that in terms of footage that's never been seen before it's one of the only episodes that's particularly lacking!

(Wild was produced by Tom Hugh-Jones and Chris Cole, and episodes are available to view on the BBC iPlayer alternately over the next few weeks.)

Let me explain...

2008-09-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

I've had a few questions from friends and readers about the title of my blog.

I could't possibly decide on my favourite film but if you held a gun to my head and told me I couldn't include wildlife programmes I'd probably go with Neil Gaiman and David Mackean's Mirrormask. It was produced by the Jim Henson company, being the people who brought us Sesame Street, The Muppets and Labyrinth (with David Bowie) and it's the most fantastical film. And no, it isn't second to any production of Guillermo Del Torro's (e.g. Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy and Blade), it's better!!

It's full of fabulous mysterious creatures, riddles and magic with an absolutely awesome soundtrack, and my favourite concept of all (after the best knock knock joke in the world) is that of the Giants Orbitting. I simply can't explain the power of the Giants scene to you (you'd have to see it), but I love the idea of a substellar fountain of knowledge who's mind is so great that he can only speak veeeery sloooowly.

Again, you've got to see it. That's all I'm going to explain because much as I'm sure people would like me to I will not hand everything to them on a plate.

In the quest for knowledge we learn best when we go searching. Rent or buy Mirrormask and I promise you will not be disappointed.

N.B. My blog is in no way related or affiliated with the band gIANTS oRBITTING!!

Galapagos and other excitements

2008-09-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

I'm quite excited about the Galapagos series showing on National Geographic Channel on Sundays at the moment. I came across a ridiculous promo clip on youtube a while back that had me vowing never to touch the National Geographic channel again.
Cue an evening of random internet trawling and I came across the Galapagos page on the National Geographic channel website. Well who wouldn't in their boredom decide to have a laugh at some over-sensational narration?
Anyway a few minutes later and I found myself riveted. I'll admit much of it isn't new to me (I did do a zoology degree and it does repeat some of Life in Cold Blood's best moments - without the snazzy infra-red) but it's well presented and doesn't limit itself to the usual "sexy" wildlife behaviours. Despite this it does include some really interesting inter-species behaviours as well and must be commended for including many interesting facts that can be passed over in programmes such as Life in Cold Blood due to time limits. The narration is nothing like the promo and I find it a lot more likeable than that of for example Pacific Abyss (dire!). The music is also absolutely lovely.
Take a look!

(Galapagos was produced by Patrick Morris from the BBC and first aired on BBC2 in 2006. For those interested you can download the accompanying Radio 4 programme here - you will need a RealMedia player such as Real Alternative to play this file.)

Life In Cold Blood

2008-08-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have to say one of the most exciting things I've ever seen was the clip in a Life in Cold Blood episode which I had been a part of filming. You see last year (after much begging) the brilliant Paul Williams, researcher for the BBC's Life in Cold Blood, invited me along to Failand studios for a few days to assist with filming.

To be brutally honest probably the most aid I provided was holding the waterspray to ensure the frogs were kept moist! We were trying to get a shot of this beautiful green frog landing on a leaf for a clip which would be played in slow motion:

For those of you who might have an inkling toward feeling cheated when you discover that some shots aren't taken in the wild, firstly imagine yourself in a humid climate being supped upon by leaches and ticks holding a camcorder which must not get moist and pointing it at a leaf in the hope that a frog might just come along and pick your leaf to land on... and secondly let me tell you that we stood there for two hours trying to get the perfect shot! It's no easy feat even when it is staged! And of course lets remember that importantly we're not faking unnatural behaviour; we're pretty sure that scientists have established that frogs land on leaves!
**NB: The BBC also has a very open policy where such filming is necessary - just look at Planet Earth's extras and those at the end of episodes in the Galapagos series!

Now I'm no professional cameraman so I was very excited when they did consider my idea of panning out and cutting the shot around whichever leaf the frog chose to land on (because it never bloody seemed to be our leaf!), BUT these BBC cameramen are perfectionists! Firstly they emphasised that they were shooting in HD (High Definition) and with a cut shot the quality would be reduced, and secondly no, they had set up the lighting perfectly for that leaf, they had a highly professional assistant spraying it evenly to keep it moist (yours truly) and it simply would not do for our friend to land on a poorly lit leaf. This is what is known as audience loyalty. These guys spend hours perfecting things so that the 3second shot is absolutely spot on for you, the viewer!
If you do see Life in Cold Blood: Land Invaders, note that in the shot between 20.59 - 21.25 minutes the frog take off was beautiful: given how long we had to wait hoping the frog would get the urge to leap I'm glad it was well worth it!

I do think Life in Cold Blood is an amazing program but it isn't without its limits. I suppose it may be a personal preference of my own that I like programs where you are given a chance to follow a story through completely. The nature of such immensely factual programs as Life in Cold Blood means that there is an inevitable tradeoff between showing the complete story of each behaviour and showing as many different behaviours as possible.
I did feel that some stories in the series are cut off a tad short but (without sounding too BJohnson) I don't presume to have greater editting skills than those giants at the BBC and I can't imagine looking at twenty odd hours of film with the task of cutting it down to just one hour!

So I suggest you do get onto the BBC iPlayer and watch whichever episode they're currently showing, because at the very very least it's a fascinating example of brilliant filmmaking, and there's a handy exerpt at the end of each episode to tell you how some of it's done!

David Attenborough

2008-08-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Like anyone interested in Wildlife and the media I'm naturally a fan of David Attenborough's work.

I'm fortunate enough to have met him once or twice as well and can tell you he's a really friendly man and he loves a glass of red!

This clip on youtube I think is a good representation of his character. He's openly passionate about wildlife and not afraid of making fun of himself... if only the commissioners would let him show it, imagine the programs we could be watching!

Jonathon Ross meets David Attenborough

Why blog?

2008-08-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

So how did I get here?

I was getting my good friend Paul Williams to read over the hundredth edit of my application to the BBC and he said "Where's the stuff about multiplatforming?"... Well, I'm a big fan of giving my opinions and sharing my creativity, thus the new album on my facebook profile "A Touch of Creativity" but it's long been time that I "went pro".

So yes I'll admit I have started this blog almost directly as a result of applying for a job but it's clear at least to me that I should have done it ages ago (not least because facebook's terms and conditions prevent me from wanting to put my best photographs online!).

I won't assume to expect any readers but if someone should venture on here I hope they find themselves interested and enlightened.

Please bear with me while I learn how to make the page more navigatable and pretty!