Bringing wildlife to the small screen

Press, 7 September 1984, Page 17

Bringing wildlife to the small screen

By

JOHN BARBER,

wildlife

correspondent, “Bristol Evening Post”

As far as the world’s top natural history film-makers are concerned, all roads this October will lead to Bristol, in south-west England. They will be on their way to take part in what has already become the most important international festival of wildlife films, a five-day event called Wildscreen.

It required only one such festival, in 1982, to establish the event in its pre-eminent position. Wildscreen ’B4 will simply confirm the title.

This year no fewer than 127 films from 21 countries were entered for competition. A special viewing panel has whittled this number down to 35, all of which will be seen by an international panel of jurists headed by Sir Peter Scott, chairman of the World Wildlife Fund and one of those responsible for the earliest television wildlife films in the 19505.

It is fitting that Bristol should be the venue. It was there that the formation of the 8.8.C.’s natural history unit provided the initial impetus for what has proved to be one of the most popular of all branches of television. There had been earlier natural history films, of course, but these were made for screening in the

cinema — most notably by the Disney studios. The arrival on the scene of the Bristol unit at a time when television was burgeoning across North America and Europe provided a tremendous stimulus for this type of film-making. Scott had been involved with wildlife television programmes even before the natural history unit came into being in 1957. Two years earlier he began presenting a series called “Look,” using his own home-made cine-camera films to illustrate various themes. Few wildlife cameramen were operating at the time, .but he discovered one of the most notable pioneers at an ornithological congress in Switzerland. He was Heinz Sielmann, and his film, “Woodpeckers,” electrified British audiences when it was shown on 8.8. C. Television.

As viewers increased, so did the prestige of the natural history unit. During the 1950 s and early 1960 s more personalities began to emerge and become household names not only in Britain but in many parts of the world. Armchair adventurers were able to join Belgium’s Armand and Michaela Dems “On Safari” amid the abundant;’ wildlife of East

Africa. Or they could go “Diving to Adventure” with another husband and wife team, Hans and Lotte Hass from Switzerland.

Later, Jacques Cousteau, the great French underwater explorer, was to reveal more of the marvels of life beneath the waves with a whole series of films as he probed the ocean depths. The 8.8. C. was in the forefront of Britain’s natural history television, but it was not alone. The introduction of a commercial channel quickly saw the arrival of another team on the wildlife scene — Survival Anglia, created by the independent Anglia Television. It might have led to a duplication of effort and, as the number of wildlife cameramen was limited, to a weakening of the over-all effect natural history films were beginning to have on the viewing public in Britain and an increasing number of other countries.

instead, the competition served only to widen thefcpverage and the

scope of such programmes. And, with a growing market, the number of cameramen and filmmakers began to expand to keep up with the demand. Some, like husband and wife team, Des and Jen Bartlett, Alan Root, and Dieter Plage, were discovered at work in various parts of the world. Others were found in Britain itself. -

The style of presentation was beginning to change, too. It was no longer enough simply to record pictures of .animals, birds, and insects that might or might not be unfamiliar to the viewer. While the need for armchair exploration still existed, there was an even greater desire on the part of the programme producers to acquaint viewers with the need to conserve the natural life of our planet Television was seen as a great educator, a means by which ordinary people could be made aware of the dangers threatening animals and plants in maAy parts

of the world. Dedicated men and women were fighting to protect species from an extinction caused by excessive hunting or fishing, destruction of habitats and pollution. It was only natural that the equally dedicated people who made natural history programmes should want to aid them in their struggle. The 8.8.C.’s natural history unit, Survival Anglia, and, more recently, another British company, Central, have done.much to warn television viewers in the many countries that now buy their programmes of the threat facing many thousands of species through man’s lack of care for the environment.

Meanwhile, in the early days of the unit at Bristol, a young man was making a name for himself in the natural history field as a 8.8. C. presenter and producer based in London. David Attenborough was a biologist who had a burning desire to share his enthusiasm with as many people as possible. Television proved the perfect medium. He was eventually to become head of 8.8. C. 2, the corporation’s second television channel. But the demands of a desk job proved top limiting, and within a couple

years he was back doing the thing he loved most, making natural history programmes. In 1976, he accepted what was to be the natural history unit’s biggest challenge to date — filming the mammoth series “Life on Earth.” Attenborough both wrote and presented it; The series took three years to make, involved filming in 40 different countries in every continent, and meant he had to travel a distance, equivalent to several journeys around the world. “Life on Earth” charted the progress of life from the smallest beginnings to man himself. Its success was undisputed in the many countries —; 35 at the last count — in which it has been shown.

Since then Attenborough and the unit have repeated the process with “The Living Planet,” which demanded just as!much expenditure of time and money and as much travelling for those involved. The new series, already sold to about 30 countries, demonstrated the link between living things and their environment,, underlining once more the need to protect the latter so that the former can continue to exist and flourish. Press Service.