1 / 11

DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND NATURE

DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND NATURE. CCGL9012: Media, Politics and the Environment. A chronology…. Since early… documentaries occupy a fuzzy middle ground between entertainment, education, art and voyeurism. Early film depictions of nature. Eadweard Muybridge (9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904)

gary-dean
Download Presentation

DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND NATURE

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND NATURE CCGL9012: Media, Politics and the Environment

  2. A chronology…. • Since early… documentaries occupy a fuzzy middle ground between entertainment, education, art and voyeurism

  3. Early film depictions of nature • Eadweard Muybridge (9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904) • British photographer, spent much of career in U.S. •  invented “Zoopraxiscope” in late `70s Images from: http://vintageprintable.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/zoopraxiscope-horse-galloping.jpg and http://screenheritage.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/zoopraxiscope1.jpg

  4. Nickelodeons and new technology • American inventor (phonograph, light-bulb and motion picture camera) • Advent of Nickelodeons and small community theaters (precursors to modern cinemas) • Nickelodeons showed short comedies, melodramas, actualities, etc. • Edison’s famous, "Electrocuting the Elephant,” 1903 • Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931)

  5. “Actualities” • Not documentary films with a narrative story, but raw “actual” footage • New lenses and camera technology offer public opportunity to view familiar subjects/animals/landscapes in new ways • Popular videos include people feeding animals, animals fighting • Tech limitations led companies to film in studios – led to increased numbers of studio zoos • First half of 20th century also characterized by nationalistic themes in nature films, glorifying bees or ants obedience, willingness to sacrifice for their ordered insect society • Germany was a leader in early nature filming: • 1927 – a German company shot “Killing the Killer” or “MungoderSchlangentoter • The scene is still popular. Consider: “Cobra vs. Mongoose” by contemporary National Geographic

  6. Preserving a lost reality • Western explorer/adventurer • Edward S. Curtis • “Nanook of the North” - 1921 • Martin & Osa Johnson – 1920s

  7. Color and Sound! • Living Desert, 1953 (won the Academy Award) • Disney True Life Adventures (influential series) • Disney magic in the editing room

  8. Talking Animals? • Some serious filmmakers in the middle of the century made documentaries featuring animals that talked…. Sounds silly? • BBC One has (recently) taken the idea further in a comedy show.

  9. After the 1970s • Civil Rights movement… animal rights movement • Nature documentaries become more critical of mankind’s role in the environment • Sometimes, protagonists have an “agenda,” i.e. saving a species. • Saving that species often requires establishment of a park, which needs funding, or some other public support.

  10. Naturalist celebrities emerge… • Two examples: • Jacques Cousteau • 11 June 1910 – 25 June 1997 • pioneer in scuba diving • Filmed during`50s-`90s • Steve Irwin, “the crocodile hunter” • 22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006 • Died while filming with a sting ray

  11. What’s new (and old)? • Modern narrative techniques are applied… and technology keeps improving… the trend continues. • New example: REALITY TV! …what’s next?

More Related