On Saturday 24th September Bristol Wildlife Filmmakers welcomed twenty-five guests to the Sawmill conference venue on the National Trust’s beautiful Tyntesfield estate for a day of personal, behind the scenes views of wildlife filmmaking from the presenters, producers and camerapeople who create the natural history films we watch on TV.
Learning to Climb Trees
Producer, Karen Partridge, began the day Walking with Lions … Using photographs and film clips she introduced the audience to some of the lions (and people) she met during her time working as the location producer on two series of Lion Country for ITV. From the cubs’ first tentative steps out into the bush, through learning to climb trees, becoming confident around water and ultimately to hunting for themselves, it was a journey full of big personalities and big adventures. Lion Country followed the work of David Youldon and his team at the African Lion and Environmental Research Trust based in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Stephen Moss, producer, naturalist, author and broadcaster, gave an insightful and often humorous account of working with some of our best known presenters. He revealed how stories are filmed and the planning that goes into ensuring they make it to screen. What emerged is that it’s certainly not all smooth going. So what does a producer do when his presenter is being dive-bombed by Great Skuas (known as Bonxies) on the Shetland Islands and seems none too happy about it?
The day continued warm and sunny and all the guests were happy to join wildlife cameraman, John Waters (better known as Mr Meerkat), and National Trust wildlife warden, Darren Mait, on a walk through the beautiful grounds of Tyntesfield. Earlier in the day John had set up a filming hide on the edge of woodland and as part of the walk revealed how he would use this essential piece of kit to get close to animals in the wild. Darren Mait probably knows the wildlife of Tyntesfield better than anyone else and shared his expert knowledge of and enthusiasm for the wide variety of species that call this place home.
Television presenter, Mike Dilger, is probably best known as one of the wildlife experts on The One Show, but he’s also an avid birder, an inveterate and curious traveller and the world record holder of the dubious Most Snails on the Face. He regaled his audience with stories of the trials and tribulations of working as a wildlife presenter. Never one to be daunted by a challenge, Mike revealed some of the mishaps and triumphs of his career from working with unpredictable animals (and people) to the perils of live broadcasts.
Bristol Wildlife Filmmakers were pleased to welcome two of our former filmmaking student to Wild! Behind the Scenes. We think they enjoyed themselves!
