nandywell

I don't normally feel the need to comment on the production values of BBC and ITV productions, but I couldn't let this one go without a mention. I caught the back end of the Land of the Northern Lights documentary this evening. It had some beautiful photography and Joanna Lumley added some lovely lines of monologue over such delightful images. It then came to the point when she finally got to realise her childhood dream of seeing the Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis) in the flesh.

This is going to be very interesting I thought, and for a second my heart began to race at the prospect of seeing something I'd only ever seen before in still photographs. It fell silent and Lumley was surrounded by a shroud of darkness. She gazed up into the abyss and proffered the odd coy remark like "oh please show yourself Aurora, I've waited all my life for you". Still nothing happened. The camera then cut away to a wide angle shot showing who we were lead to believe was Lumley with arms akimbo in the near distance. The faint sound of cello strings began to fade in and would you believe it brothers and sisters, there before both Lumley and I was Aurora in all her glory, dancing to the dulcet tones of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Trouble is, It never happened. It was a complete and utter lie! Lumley was instead being seduced by a rather lacklustre starry night in Norway, with more artificial colours than a tube of Smarties. Yes the boys in post production must have been working overtime on this one.

Having said all of that, Lumley is still one hell of a foxy lady.

Jackdaw

It's me, the malcontent muttering in the ranks again.
Foxy though she may be, may I suggest that should Ms Lumley wish to experience great natural phenomena in the future, she take herself off at her own expense to do so, without troubling my licence fee.
I'd also be grateful if the BBC would stop pandering to celebrities' personal "emotional journeys", and start making proper scientific documentaries again.

By the way, Steve C, I did once enjoy a TV programme.
In 1963 I think it was.
Although I did think it went on a bit too long.

By the way, if there are any Beeb execs reading this, I've had a long-standing dream of spending an intimate evening with Michelle Pfeiffer, and if any thrusting young producer would care to set it up, I'd be quite happy to allow the cameras to attend our moment of passion.
Should my lack of celebrity be of concern, I'm quite willing to commit an act of civil disobedience or random violence to acquire the requisite notoriety.
Even better, I could pass myself off as John Boorman's long-lost son, although in that event I would expect a complete series.

Steve Crook

And what do you base that on?

Very true

Steve

Steve Crook

I don't believe you. I don't think you enjoy anything, except moaning

Steve

nandywell

Land of the Northern Lights was tantamount to the BBC producing a documentary entitled Night of The Moonlit Pool Orgy with Michael Barrymore featuring blow up dolls instead of extras. That was the scale of how crass the decision to use CGI in this production was. Why couldn't Lumley just come clean and say "this was a fruitless journey but I've enjoyed my travels in Norway", or why didn't they just show actual footage of the Lights no matter how underwhelming it may have been? I'd have alot more respect for the docu that way round.

I've started to notice this with many other BBC productions, what the hell ever happened to plain, old, honest broadcasting?

Shame on you BBC, what a cop out!

nandywell

I base what I said on the evidence that the lights appeared to be choreographed, either that or they were just pleased to see Madam Lumley. Oh, and before the term 'time lapse' is thrown into the mix, I checked out Lumley's silhouette throughout the whole event and she wasn't moving a muscle, so we can discard of that theory.

Steve Crook

The soundtrack would have been choreographed to the lights, not the other way around. They did repeat some shots, but it was genuine.

However, they do have a very low light level and so they were difficult to film. It wasn't exactly time-lapse but they probably didn't run quite that fast. But how does her not moving guarantee that it wasn't time lapse? It certainly wasn't CGI or all done in post-production (check the credits)

The Unreality Primetime site said:
"It's not earthly light, these are solar atoms hurtling past and getting sucked in by the magnetic force of the world, you have to slow the camera apertures right down to get enough of this extraordinary light in. I had to stand as still as a rock, with the wind blowing and buffeting, so that they could film and then later show it in real time; it's a weird way of filming, but there's no other way of doing it. I think it may well be the best film the world has ever got of the Lights, they are phenomenally hard to capture."

The fulfilment of a lifetime's yearning; it was an emotional moment for Joanna. "It was beyond any dream you could have," she says. "This particular showing was so spectacular that it was reported on Danish television news. It has all come from the sun and our little tiny planet that we're trying to save… you see how majestic it is, and that it's part of the massive universe, you begin to feel very humble. To be soppy about it, we had stars in our eyes. I'd been waiting all my life to see the Northern Lights and then I saw them on a scale beyond description."

Steve

nandywell

If she had been stood in the wilderness for an hour or two, a timelapse would show her every move or at least reveal her different positions throughout the duration. The fact that she hardly moved a muscle suggests either the bottom half of the frame was infact static or that it was filmed in real time.

Also, the way the camera kept cutting back and forth to closeup shots of Lumley in complete darkness, hamming the whole event up, just didn't ring true. Christ all mighty, it reminded me of a Pink Floyd concert at one stage, spectacular but way over the top.

Steve Crook

Or, that she didn't move
She had told us how she was bundled up in about 20 different layers and then a survival suit on top of all that.

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? Or at least some film of them?
They are quite unbelievable, way over the top, but they really do happen

Steve

nandywell

Steve, are you honestly telling me you sat there and let Lumley hoodwink you into believing she was having a visual orgasm?

I've seen some very questionable footage of the lights on Youtube and they are amazing you're right. But what I saw on BBC One tonight at 9:45pm was Hollywood amazing.

Steve Crook

As I quoted above:
"This particular showing was so spectacular that it was reported on Danish television news"

I don't think she was hoodwinking anyone

Steve

nandywell

Meh, those Danes will publish/broadcast anything to get a reaction.

MB

Well, I would be surprised if that is the case - for many reasons. But, particularly - the BBC are hauled over the coals whenever there is a spotted inaccuracy or, percieved 'injustice'. I don't know if you remember 'Points of view' but it was incredibly popular - British people tend to be thrilled if they can put someone 'right' about something like this.

I am starting to think it might be quite popular in the US too..

However, it was a strikingly impressive display. I will look in to it when I get a chance.

Even so, I think it was a grand effort from Joanna Lumley, lots of intriguing, personalised asides (the genuinely interesting contents of her suitcase!) She is not a 'professional' presenter (does not talk in a strange upy downy voice and appear to have absolutely no interest in her subject - a generalisation, I know, but still..) and it had me captured throughout.

I particularly liked the bit where she met the 'Sami' people who taught her about the 'joik' - a song that 'embodies' it's subject rather than is 'about' it.

Steve Crook

There have been a few good documentaries about the Sami people recently. One very good one followed a family as their reindeer herd migrated to the summer pasture on the coastal islands and then back to their winter feeding grounds. They do seem to have it just about right in terms of balance between the old culture and making use of modern technology.

One part showed the children going to school where they learnt all about Sami history alongside all other subjects and they record all the reindeer ear marks on an internet database

The joik (or yoik) is a beautiful thing

Steve

PS68060

I gather that filming the aurora is very difficult and the credits mentioned the aurora photgrapher. At the worst we may have been shown separate footage of the aurora with Ms Lumley "edited" into it. There was enough moonlight that even this might not have been necessary.

If you are going to make a programme about the aurora it would seem odd to CGI it.

"Oh! Pete!"