Frozen Planet

[Mr Pee]

The images are so jaw-dropping that I think the music is a minor distraction, if that. Having watched the most recent episode, with that remarkable footage of a wolf taking on a bison and the male and female Emperor penguins bring reunited at the end of the Antartctic Winter- just as moving as any Hollywood weepy!!- I think the BBC could even play Berlioz at full pelt and it wouldn't bother me. And that's saying something......

[BBMmk2]

Like the one with the wolves and the Bison, for example?

[Mr Pee]

Like the one with the wolves and the Bison, for example?

You probably mean the part of episode 1 where a herd of Bison were tracked by a wolf pack. In last Wednesday's episode there was a fight to the death between a lone wolf and a single bison. We saw a few minutes of it but it went on for hours. Absolutely incredible.

[Serial_Apologist]

You probably mean the part of episode 1 where a herd of Bison were tracked by a wolf pack. In last Wednesday's episode there was a fight to the death between a lone wolf and a single bison. We saw a few minutes of it but it went on for hours. Absolutely incredible.

Was the accompanying music "Bison Street Blues"?

Sorry - keep forgetting not all of you come from London...

[mangerton]

Was the accompanying music "Bison Street Blues"?

No...... it was a piece by Wolf.

[BBMmk2]

You probably mean the part of episode 1 where a herd of Bison were tracked by a wolf pack. In last Wednesday's episode there was a fight to the death between a lone wolf and a single bison. We saw a few minutes of it but it went on for hours. Absolutely incredible.

Yes Mr Pee, I meant last Wednesday's episode

[Ferretfancy]

I'm furious ! I was unable to programme last Wednesday's episode due to a clash of interests, but was banking on recording today's repeat, only to find it replaced by bloody motor racing !
A little trade secret. If you ever see footage of fighting reindeer, bear in mind that it isn't usually possible to get close enough to record sound. The trick we used was to go into the studio with a couple of wooden coat hangers - just the job, and fun to fence with !

[mercia]

bear in mind that it isn't usually possible to get close enough to record sound. The trick we used was to go into the studio with a couple of wooden coat hangers

interesting - I didn't realise there was someone here with insider knowledge. I remember Sir D saying that one couldn't possibly hear the crunch-crunch of polar bear footsteps, filmed from half-a-mile away, but I forget how he said they were produced. I have to keep reminding myself that for every 30 seconds of film that I am watching there have been days if not weeks of sitting around waiting for the perfect moment.

Did I hear Sir D say on last night's programme that the ice at the poles is 4000 metres thick? perhaps I needn't worry about global warming after all.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm furious ! I was unable to programme last Wednesday's episode due to a clash of interests, but was banking on recording today's repeat, only to find it replaced by bloody motor racing !
A little trade secret. If you ever see footage of fighting reindeer, bear in mind that it isn't usually possible to get close enough to record sound. The trick we used was to go into the studio with a couple of wooden coat hangers - just the job, and fun to fence with !

Great little insight!!

All the episodes of FP are on the 'series catch-up' facility on iPlayer: here's the one you missed (this is the HD version) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...Planet_Winter/

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Flosshilde]

I've only seen one programme - stunning images, but as others have said, it's nature as soap opera. And the music, while not as intrusive as other DA programmes, is still inappropriate. And for people with hearing difficulties it can make hearing the spoken commentary difficult. This is an issue that comes up time & again in audience feedback to the BBC, but producers dismiss it (as they tend to do with any critiicism of their programmes - just listen to them on 'Feedback' on R4!) Surely with digital TV it would be possible for the music soundtrack to be broadcast seperately, so that it could be switched off?

[ahinton]

I've only seen one programme - stunning images, but as others have said, it's nature as soap opera.

In what sense?

[Flosshilde]

The mundane aspects of life are left out. (or do people in Manchester really live such dramatic lives? )

Or to put it another way, surely bison don't spend all their time being attacked by wolves - most of the time they must be grazing peacefully.

[ahinton]

The mundane aspects of life are left out. (or do people in Manchester really live such dramatic lives? )

Or to put it another way, surely bison don't spend all their time being attacked by wolves - most of the time they must be grazing peacefully.

OK, I understand your explanation, but does something similar not apply, of necessity - to any such documentary in the sense that none would expect to cover every second of every day's activity on the part of its subjects?

[Ferretfancy]

ahinton,

When people visit London Zoo or Whipsnade, they sometimes comment that nothing much seems to be happening. Watching a lion having a snooze while digesting its lunch is the norm, but rather lacking in drama, even if observed in the wild.We have become too accustomed to seeing several entire life cycles condensed into approximately 48 minutes and fifty seconds on TV. What bugs me more is the increasing tendency to invest the animals with a false sense of purpose -- " The mother bear knows that she must find more food , if she and her cubs are to survive " == No, she doesn't!

[Mr Pee]

The mundane aspects of life are left out. (or do people in Manchester really live such dramatic lives? )

Or to put it another way, surely bison don't spend all their time being attacked by wolves - most of the time they must be grazing peacefully.

What fascinating telly it would make, watching Bison grazing peacefully, Penguins standing around aimlessly, and seals lying about on the ice for hours on end. I think most viewers have the intelligence to understand that they are watching days of footage that has been edited down so that we see the interesting parts. That doesn't make it a soap opera- it's still real life. Nothing has been scripted. And if you watch the behind the scenes segments at the end of each episode it shows that quite clearly.

As for the music obscuring Sir David's narration, I think the levels are very well balanced and I'd be surprised if anybody had trouble making out the words being spoken. If they do, then subtitles have been available for all the episodes.

" The mother bear knows that she must find more food , if she and her cubs are to survive " == No, she doesn't!

Really? Surely on some instinctive level, if nothing more, she is aware that food= survival??