This all seems related to the question of whether drawings or photographs are best in field guides. Many (not all) modern guides use photos, but I find drawings more useful, as these are usually composites that capture the important characteristics of the species. The individual details in a photograph can be distracting.
My two cents, Jane On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 6:17 AM, Cara Lin Bridgman <[email protected]> wrote: > The most exciting thing Nick Upton, his photographer, and my husband saw > when in the field was a muntjac deer running in terror from two > yellow-throated martens. The deer was in such a panic that it ran within 2 > meters of the film team. Did they catch any of this on film? No. Cameras > have to be set up and in place and waiting. Scenes like martens hunting > deer are once in a life-time. The cameras and the film crew were not ready > for it. > > One reason for the scores of man vs nature type films is because the > producing companies and the television channels are looking for things > that will sell. Abn unfortunate thing about Typhoon Island (preview here: > <http://www.sciencevision.at/en.php/movie_taiwan>) is that US distributors > and TV channels were not interested in the film. As far as I know, it has > never been shown in the USA. It has been shown throughout Europe and > Taiwan. BBC only became interested in supporting the film after an Austrian > company, Science Vision, put most of the funds. > > Film producers like Nick Upton work hard to accurately capture animal > behaviors and habitats. This involves filming in the wild, filming on sets, > some 'faking' with zoo animals, and very careful editing. After filming, > however, the producer often must get into a huge fight with the funding > companies to maintain details of behavior in the face of demands for more > violence and disasters. In the case of Typhoon Island, these were typhoons > and earthquakes. One of Nick's fights with Science Vision, however, boiled > own to film quality vs story completeness. Nick had to insist on inclusion > of biologically accurate sequences filmed using infra-red cameras, which > produce grainy pictures. Science Vision wanted to replace these grainy > scenes with aesthetically pleasing time-lapses of Taiwan's scenery filmed > during the day at better resolution. > > Having training in science is important for helping a producer make a > film scientifically accurate. Nick got his Ph.D. in Zoology at > Cambridge. He asked Taiwan's scientists to review the script to ensure > accuracy. It was this sort of attention for detail and cooperation with > scientists that really impressed me. > > CL > -- ------------- Jane Shevtsov Ecology Ph.D. candidate, University of Georgia co-founder, <www.worldbeyondborders.org> Check out my blog, <http://perceivingwholes.blogspot.com>Perceiving Wholes "The whole person must have both the humility to nurture the Earth and the pride to go to Mars." --Wyn Wachhorst, The Dream of Spaceflight
