BBC Hidden Kingdoms - 16th of Jan 8pm BBC1

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So I just got around to watching the first episode and I have to say (as a small mammal ecologist no less!) that I thought it was hilarious (in a good way), very entertaining and actually more interesting than a lot of the lower budget 'by numbers' nature filmmaking that you sometimes see (less so with the flagship stuff like Africa and Planet Earth, etc).

Sure some of the composites jarred a little, some of the post processing felt a touch heavy at times and there was the odd obvious discontinuity between the individual animals being filmed, but overall I'd say at first look it did a good job of creating a space for nature films of this style alongside the traditional DA style and newer Planet Earth style formats. Have to admit to skipping the making of section, I quite enjoyed them when the beeb started doing it but they've got a bit old now.

Also thought Stephen Fry did a great job, slightly hammy in places but good flow and bombast and much better than the pseudo-DA impressions that so many others seem to end up doing.

Also enjoyed Wild Brazil this week greatly (barring the script, which I could have written in my sleep), much more than the recent Wild Burma - that format started really well but seems to have run out of steam far too quickly due to developing too strong a focus on the presenters and 'top of the food chain' species, which really misses the point of a programme that's based around biodiversity surveys.

I wouldn't worry too much about robgmun, he just likes to have an opinion.


Thanks! I felt the same about wild brazil, Looked fantastic but the script was a bit over done. Stop telling me whats going to happen before it does damnit!

I didnt notice that about robgmun ;)
 
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PICK OF THE DAY IT SEEMS!

Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...dio/2014/jan/23/tv-highlights-hidden-kingdoms
Hidden Kingdoms
8pm, BBC1
This week's hidden kingdoms are found in the planet's ancient forests. In North America, chipmunks, impossibly cute with their cheeks bulging with acorns, have to compete with other, seedless chipmunks in order to maintain a sufficient larder to last the winter. Action then moves to a wildly different animal populace, that of the jungles of Borneo. With such intense competition for survival – and with even plants having the ability to snuff out life – survival for tree shrews can be a perilous business. Ben Arnold

Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5602956/Tonights-TV-highlights.html
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Hidden Kingdoms
BBC One, 8.00pm
The forests of Borneo and woods of Quebec form the dramatic backdrops to tonight’s stories of lives lived at ground level, as Stephen Fry talks us through the experiences of a tree shrew, tearing around trying to fuel a rapid metabolism, and a chipmunk, gathering acorns as winter draws near. Given the determined targeting of a family audience it’s probably inevitable that the latter is called Simon after the cartoon character (fellow chipmunks Alvin and Theodore were presumably on holiday). Predators abound but genuine peril is at a premium in narratives, which – as the pre-transmission publicity has been at pains to underline – have been largely manufactured. There are, of course, many moments of startling beauty: bright red fungi breaking through autumn leaves; a python stalking the tree shrew in super slo-mo. But the tone is one of knockabout fun, with sound effects straight out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon bolstering the soundtrack and narration. Still, Fry does drop in the occasional snippet of wildlife trivia, just about allaying any urge to turn the sound off and bask in the astounding visuals.
The concluding segment reveals how it was all done. While admirably honest, this undermines rather than enhances the sense of wonder in what we’ve just witnessed. Ultimately, Hidden Kingdoms comes to resemble a showcase for the technical capabilities of the BBC’s Natural History Unit; an institution worth celebrating, to be sure, but it probably shouldn’t eclipse the remarkable lives of its subjects. GT


Radio Times
http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/crv4bf/hidden-kingdoms--series-1---2-secret-forests
In this episode, giant acorns fall with a whistling noise like Second World War bombs. When chipmunks tuck the nuts in their cheeks, we hear a stretching, squeaking noise, as if they’re about to burst. Oddly, the “how we made it” segment at the end never shows the producers deciding which cartoon sound effect to layer over the action, but that’s the nature of the show: it’s a creative concoction, full of Disneyish mini-dramas about the trials of life for small creatures – this time, chipmunks in Canada and tree shrews in Borneo.

There are excellent slo-mo sequences of chipmunk fights and lovely incidental shots along the way: look out for the frost on a dragonfly’s wings and fabulous fluorescent fungi.

ABOUT THIS PROGRAMME
2/3. Stephen Fry narrates another documentary revealing the survival techniques of the animal kingdom's smallest creatures. This film follows a young tree shrew as it darts through the rainforest of Borneo on the lookout for food. The creature's super-fast metabolism means it is always hungry, but as it searches for fruit, it must avoid fire ants, giant snakes and even a carnivorous plant. Cameras also follow a male chipmunk collecting acorns in preparation for winter - but while he's out, a bigger, more aggressive neighbour ransacks his store. Can he get the nuts back? Including Hidden Kingdoms Revealed, a behind-the-scenes report on how the programme was made.

Daily Express
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/455480/Pick-of-the-day-Hidden-Kingdoms
Pick of the Day
This is the story of two tiny animals coming of age.
In the wild woods of North America, a young chipmunk is gathering a vital store of nuts before his first winter.
In his way are ruthless rivals and giant predators.
In Borneo, a tree-shrew forced deep into the rainforests to find food must draw on all her intelligence and agility if she is to escape the jaws of a hungry reticulated python. Stephen Fry narrates.

The Times
Pick of the Day
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/tv-radio/reviews/article3977255.ece
Hidden Kingdoms
BBC One, 8pm
The second part of this mini-series looks at the world through the eyes of chipmunk in the ancient woodlands of North America and a young tree shrew in the tropical forest of Borneo as they go about their business gathering food and trying to avoid being eaten by snakes and owls. The photography, as you would expect, is stunning — there are close-up shots of orangutans and bearded pigs that have to be seen to be believed. Much less impressive are the facile banalities intoned by the voice of Stephen Fry and the horribly intrusive music. My wife reckoned it was fine, but — if you’re as grumpy as I am — the trick is just to switch off the sound.
 
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More than 15% of the program diary filler again.

It's been the same since planet earth.. They are extremely popular. I love the making of bits personally, Shows how hard it was to actually film some of the show. Be thankful they don't do one on editing 'here we have the editor, in his natural habitat of a dark room. In this environment we see him watch 120 hours of animals doing, **** all' :D
 
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I don't know about others but when I watch hidden kingdoms it feels like LOTR, those special effect animal sounds could have come from some bloke taking a poo....

Perhaps they were trying to make the animals cute and give them vocal cords according to what humans expect them to sound like ?

LOL

For a laugh I did put a pitched up version of Arnie screaming from Predator over the howling mouse... it was very funny in viewings as the pitch effect would randomly become un-rendered sometimes and Arnie would scream instead.

The sound in the final film is of course more representative of what a mouse would hear than Arnie. As small animals inner ear 'parts' are smaller not only can they can hear frequencies we cant, but they also hear pitches that are high for us lower.
 
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Does anyone else think this is a massive cheat??

not at all... everything that happens in HK can and does in real life... All we have done is film it in a way that is more akin to movies. You just cant get the angles and the detail if you don't do it this way. But by doing it we can show what its like to be small animal in a big world.
 
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