Man v. Wild

Do you think he's really drinking his own pee? What would the show lose in just using some yellow water?

This was my point about the contract with the viewers... which does NOT exist... there's no contract to be 100% on the level... when the guy is talking about being isolated miles from anybody else... he's talking to a crew. Do you think the cameraman is also drinking pee?

I just watched an episode today... the parachute into the rainforest one... down the mountain... and as I'm watching him explain how treacherous everything is... slipping and falling down boulders and stuff... I'm totally amazed that the cameraman makes it through all that stuff while still sticking the shot.

What's more... he comes to a river that he must daringly cross... has to jump and grab a tree, etc. etc.

So what about the cameraman?

Bear: "Lemme' give you a hand mate"...

Cam OP: *BUUUURRRRP* "Nope... I'm good. I'm good... hey you wanna' beer? What? You ready to do this thing... wait a minute" *burp* "okay... lemme' get across here and get that from the other side... alright I'm set... go ahead."
 
him drinking his own pee is only a small jump from the other things he eats for sure on the show. Of course they need to stage things for the camera - but I think much of it is somewhat real.

if its not oh well - I like to live with the delusion :)
 
MattinSTL said:
Cam OP: *BUUUURRRRP* "Nope... I'm good. I'm good... hey you wanna' beer? What? You ready to do this thing... wait a minute" *burp* "okay... lemme' get across here and get that from the other side... alright I'm set... go ahead."
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When did I start working for Man vs. Wild?:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I think the bigger point is that if he had to do it, he could. And he shows you how and why he does what he does.

At the end of the day it is entertainment.
 
Survivorman. He doesn't have firestarting tools, etc, etc. Haul the gear. Walk the walk twice, so he can go back and get the camera equipment. He has only a couple of things that they give him. Sometimes it's a bic pen, sometimes a bicycle... and 50lbs of gear.

Survivorman. Man vs. Wild is more cinematic, but in terms of ture survival and living off of the land, it's Survivorman all the way.

Jason
 
MvW is still very entertaining. I too am constantly watching from the PoV of the camera crew, but it doesn't faze me. I just saw the rainforest episode and the scene where he slips down the little ravine, and the river scene both jumped out at me. But at the end of the day, it's still badass TV I can really enjoy. Another of my favs is the wild horse where he tries to get on it's back with some woven vines. My wife is a pro equestrian trainer and I my business revolves around horses. The horse had shoes on, lol. It couldn't have been all that wild. Also the horse just looked at the guy like he was a stupid human and trotted over 2 feet and started grazing again, barely annoyed. Again, still very watchable. Bear is a badass dude.

I also wonder about all the knowledge he drops on botany etc. You know damn well the crew has a satellite linkup to google going 24/7. :) Hey, find me some indiginous plants that are good for athelete's foot/ analgesic. Sure boss man, burp.
 
Thanks for the *burp*... from now on I'm going to use that in my posts as a sign of "pfff... not even trying" *burp* When you think about it burping is almost cool in a really obnoxious way... when have you ever heard somebody who CARES what you think... burp carelessly?

Anyway... yes... still a good show. For all of these shows there is something like "Zack and Cody" airing on another channel... so I'm glad that there are worthwhile shows like this on TV... my whole point in... er... pointing this stuff out... is that aren't WE supposed to grasp what it takes to make TV? Aren't we somewhat above the magic of it all? Maybe not... but it always surprises me to have a big group of video producers fooled by video production... we know how this stuff goes down man... WE'RE DOING IT... ultimately all these shows have to do is succeed in getting viewers... beyond that nothing else matters. Write, Shoot, and Edit... accordingly.
 
MattinSTL said:
Thanks for the *burp*... from now on I'm going to use that in my posts as a sign of "pfff... not even trying" *burp* When you think about it burping is almost cool in a really obnoxious way... when have you ever heard somebody who CARES what you think... burp carelessly?

Anyway... yes... still a good show. For all of these shows there is something like "Zack and Cody" airing on another channel... so I'm glad that there are worthwhile shows like this on TV... my whole point in... er... pointing this stuff out... is that aren't WE supposed to grasp what it takes to make TV? Aren't we somewhat above the magic of it all? Maybe not... but it always surprises me to have a big group of video producers fooled by video production... we know how this stuff goes down man... WE'RE DOING IT... ultimately all these shows have to do is succeed in getting viewers... beyond that nothing else matters. Write, Shoot, and Edit... accordingly.
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We do see it for what it is, the illusion of one man vs. the wild. We know he has a camera crew right there and since we are camera people we don't forget about it like the normal viewers. For that reason I think we are able to appreciate it from another dimension than the regular viewer. I am thinking how did the cameraman...(insert awesome feat while burping here). And we also want that job. I want to be that badass cameraman who can tell the stories of how they did mostly the same thing as Bear, but lugging around 35lbs of camera gear. Oh and I would definitely insert a *burp* here and there.
 
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Hey Matt! I just saw the BTS for Planet Earth. I didn't see all of it but I did see the one where they were shooting the bats in the bat cave and the cameramen were up to their knees in bat guano. I also saw the one where they were filming the sharks coming out of the water. Unbelievable.

Oh by the way, I read up on Survivorman's bio and he actually lived off the Canadian wild with his wife for a couple years. They just grabbed a couple of stuff and walked out into the wild and lived off the land. Kinda like the show without the filming.
 
Ok - just watched survivorman - I struggle to keep batteries charged for a day of production and this guy runs 3-4 cameras all day for 7 days - how many freaking batteries does he have.
 
2 DVXuser batteries will get a DVX through any day of shooting... even 12 hours with phantom power on and using the LCD. This guy isn't using DVX caliber cams for much of the action... I don't think it's a stretch to think he can pack 12+ batteries in that pack... even if he has nearly 20 batts... still reasonable, and possible. For the record... I wouldn't be knocked over to find out that some of that show is fudged also... all I need is the thinnest thread of logic to cling to and I'm good.
 
One thing I wonder, however, is this: If you're so quick to question the legitimacy of Man Vs. Wild, why not for Survivorman?

In my mind, it'd be just as easy to have a camera crew along with Survivorman to help carry the load/shoot, just like in Man Vs. Wild. Except in Survivorman, all the crew has to do is make sure the camera doesn't move!
 
I was watching Survivorman tonight (right now in fact) and it got me to thinking about this thread... I guess by now everybody heard the news right?* :violent5: Bwaahaha!

If you read my posts you'll see that I said that it's IN THE EXECUTION that I admire Survivorman... with a beautiful shot of a guy 5' in front of me, climbing a wall... it's impossible to forget there's a cameraman. Survivorman is all POV, handheld arm's length, or tripod... there's never a shot that couldn't be done all by yourself.



*Who would have thought that roughing it meant staying in a 3-star hotel?
 
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I just watched him in the Kalahari desert and in the swamps in Georgia. He didn't look like he was doing so good in the Kalahari.
 
I heard Man V. Wild is staged. My friend told me he saw somewhere (I think either an article or on TV) that after the cameras go off...Bear Grylls is like taken to a suitable place to sleep near the camera crews and stuff after he does his logs with the little camera he has.
 
From an entertainment point of view I'd much rather watch MvW, It's often funny while being much more educational than the Survivorman episodes I've seen. On MvW he explains everything and demonstrates techniques while Survivorman sometimes just starves for 4 days till a helo finds him.
 
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