there was a report about the North West Passage being free of ice for, according to Sneerboy, “the first time ever” – which of course sounds a lot more dramatic than “the first time in recorded history”, though even that is debatable.
But the thing that really irked was this, in the Stupid BBC category, David Shukman (who of course just had to go to Resolute Bay in Canada to report on a view of the seashore) informed us that a ship travelling from the UK to Japan via the Panama Canal “travels 14,000 miles”, whereas, via the North West Passage “it could save a fortnight”.
How the hell are we supposed to compare 14,000 miles on the one hand with two weeks on the other? It’s apples and pears – it’s meaningless without knowing the mileage or duration of both routes! Clowns!
P.S. David, how many thousand miles was your trip, and how many BBC working hours did it count as? A bit more than a report from White City with some locally supplied footage would have been I expect, and no more informative for all that.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been grumphing about wildlife documentaries and their dubbed sound effects.
First: how often do we see slow-motion action with real-time sound effects dubbed on?
Second: When we see the lesser-spotted widget beetle tucking into its prey, we hear a crudely added ‘munch munch’.
Does this (and I’m sure I once saw a programme about the ladies who are in charge of making and recording ‘suitable’ noises in a studio in, I think, Bristol) qualify as faked footage?
I’m still in shock at the fact that the Blue Planet never had the sounds of whale farts…..
Chuffer: Actually you make a very interesting point. While cameras and lenses have improved in technological leaps and bounds there is still no equivalent of a “zoom microphone” for want of a better thing. So you’re left with trying to recreate the appropriate noise or run things silent.
There was a very interesting documentary on Radio 4 about it all a few years ago.