Researching Documentaries - Nature Documentaries

Nature Documentaries are very popular amongst many people all accross the world. The genre covers animals and wildlife as well as different climates and areas, all over the world. Some can be very old talking about how the earth has formed over time and others talk about more recent topics, such as pollution and global warming. Most of the time the subject is filmed in its natural habitat. Usually these types of documentay tend to be broadcasted on terrestrial television as well as on digital tv, there are some channels dedicated to nature documentaries, such as, Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel. Although most of these nature documentaries are broadcasted on television, some are also made for the cinema.

One of the most recogninsable figures, with regards to nature, nature conservation and documentaries, has to be, Sir David Attenborough. He has done many documentaries regarding nature and wildlife and is highly recognised by millions of people all over the world. One of the most famous series' that Attenborough has done is the BBC's "Life" series which covered...

• Life on Earth (1979), 13 episodes
• The Living Planet (1984), 12 episodes
• The Trials of Life (1990), 12 episodes
• Life in the Freezer (1993), 6 episodes
• The Private Life of Plants (1995), 6 episodes
• The Life of Birds (1998), 10 episodes
• The Life of Mammals (2002), 10 episodes
• Life in the Undergrowth (2005), 5 episodes
• Life in Cold Blood (2008), 5 episodes

The list, above was taken from the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_documentary

An exctract of one of Attenborough's documentaries is shown below:

Another example of a nature documentary would be the work of Steve Irwin, (1962-2006). He had a number of documentaries that were and sre stil featured on "The Discovery Channel" and "Animal Planet", including:

• The Crocodile Hunter (1992–2004), 74 episodes
• The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002), Movie
• Crocodile Hunter's Croc Files (1999), 52 episodes
• Ten Deadliest Snakes In The World (2001)
• The Crocodile Hunter Diaries (2001–2003), 30 episodes
• New Breed Vets (2005), 6 episodes
• Ocean's Deadliest (2006)

The list, above was taken from the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_documentary

An extract of Irwin's documentaries is shown below:





What Techniques Have They Used In Nature Documentaries?

• Voiceovers
• No Music or hardly any
• Some very sturdy shots
• Some shots with hand held cameras to make the audience feel part of the action, e.g Steve Irwin with the snakes on the video above
• Voice of god
• Very "to the point" and factual