How Has TV Technology Enhanced Wildlife Programmes?

Few TV figures have been as celebrated as David Attenborough. The veteran broadcaster has had several roles in TV, including as controller of BBC 2, but he is best known for presenting a wide range of wildlife shows, such as Life on Earth.

Not surprisingly, his 100^th birthday (May 8^th) is seen as a big cause for celebration, with a big concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Having first appeared on TV in the 1950s, Attenborough will have seen it all, with TV technology changing dramatically in that time:

• In the early days, TV was in black and white   

• Colour TV emerged in the 1960s

• HDTV has refined colour pictures in the 21^st century

• Advanced camera technology has created all kinds of new angles and footage

Overall, the development of technology has enabled all kinds of things to be done for the benefit of TV viewers today that could never have been possible decades ago.

What Role Does Post Production Play In Wildlife Programmes?

Post-production plays an important role by allowing footage filmed in different locations to be edited and combined into the final production.

This is especially useful for programmes involving animals, as it offers much more flexibility than live television, which was commonly used in the early years of broadcasting. 

That brought some memorable and sometimes humorous incidents, such as in the early years of the children’s TV show Blue Peter, when Lulu the baby elephant was brought to the studio and relieved herself on the floor before treading on presenter John Noakes’s foot.

Although live TV is still used for some nature programmes, such as Springwatch, programmes of the sort David Attenborough is associated with have spent large amounts of time recording footage to ensure the best shots.

Although some memorable footage, such as Attenborough’s close encounters with gorillas, was a matter of serendipity, the ability to edit means the final show can be expertly crafted to zero in on the best footage.

How Has Camera Technology Changed Wildlife Programmes?

Those iconic scenes with the apes were shot using normal-speed footage, but there are times when advanced technology can get shots that cannot normally be filmed.

An example is cameras with high shutter speeds that can take large numbers of pictures a second to produce super slow-motion images, which is great for capturing rapid movements such as the beating wings of an insect or a hummingbird.

This is the kind of footage that can be filmed at length and then distilled down to what is in reality just a few seconds, yet stretched out because of the slow-motion.

Although there are settings where slow-motion can be used in a live broadcast (such as sports), this provides an opportunity to refine the footage even more.

Another advance in the area of photography is the use of fibre optics and cameras on the end of long leads that can film in unusual places. This can include animal burrows, using infrared to capture footage of nocturnal creatures in a way that was once impossible.

Other developments have made use of submarine technology, with deep-sea subs able to film (and even discover new species) in the deep oceans. Even footage aimed at exploring other things (such as the wreck of the Titanic) can produce fascinating wildlife footage.  

With some cameras mounted on animals themselves and drone footage adding further angles, there are now more ways of viewing wildlife than ever.

This can produce some live pictures of interest, but, once again, it can offer a huge amount of footage that can then be edited and cleaned up in post-production to produce the final piece.

It is all a long way from a minute of black and white chaos in the Blue Peter studio with a baby elephant.

Are Artificial Effects In Wildlife Programmes A Good Thing?

Occasionally, some extra effects may be added in. Obviously, there is the commentary, such as the mellifluous tones of David Attenborough himself, or another presenter.

Some programmes use sound effects that are not real animal sounds, but are produced in the studio. This is a form of post-production work that can be controversial, although it is a judgment call whether this genuinely constitutes an enhancement of a production.

David Attenborough has acknowledged he won’t be with us for much longer, but wildlife programmes will. New presenters will only be part of the equation. As TV technology advances and fresh innovations arise, post production work will take on new tasks.

It may be that the nature programmes shown 50 years from now are as different from now as today’s productions are from the days when David Attenborough began broadcasting.