Another season of Man Vs. Wild has concluded. For the season finale itself, the show delivered another Behind The Scenes episodes. Behind The Scenes usually features the crew commenting on the various challenges and locales they've been to. This episode included footage and commentary for some of the newer episodes. The blueprint for shooting the show doesn't change. I didn't learn anything I didn't know already about the process of shooting the show but there were moments of great humor and insight into specific challenges in some of the shoots for this season. I'll just dive into the highlights:
-The best part of the Behind The Scenes episodes is whenever the crew has the same reaction that viewers did to Bear's antics. For example, four minutes or so were spent on the shark-infested waters in Northern Australia. I wrote about the episode a few weeks ago. Dan Etheridge, the second camera man for Man Vs. Wild, described the island as the scariest locale he's been to because sharks were everywhere--in the shallows, in the deep part of the ocean. Bear had to go from island-to-island through the shark-infested waters. The most memorable bit was when Bear felt a shark hit his leg as more sharks got closer. Bear and his cameramen eventually sprinted out of the waters. Additional shots of the waters were included for this episode. In the actual episode, only one shot of a shark in the shallows made the final cut. There were several shots of sharks hanging out in the shallows.
-Speaking of perilous situations, the crew commented on the alligator populated lands of the Northern Territory in Australia. This episode had the memorable moment when Bear fought an alligator, briefly, for food before conceding the fight to the alligator. The crew commented on the tough climb Bear had to get to the other side of the water. The tree he had to climb was rotted so Simon nor Dan could follow him. Bear nearly dropped but he didn't. Once again, additional shots were in this episode of alligators bubbling beneath the water. Australia's an insane country but I'd still visit there if I could.
-The funniest part of the Behind The Scenes episodes was the segment about what Bear eats in the wild. The series has done episodes about the food Bear eats so, again, this wasn't new ground nor was the information. In North Africa, Bear collected a bunch of bugs that crawled into his camp because of the fire for breakfast in the morning. Bear decided to make a bug patty. He squished every bug and combined it all into something that resembled a beef patty. Simon nor Dan ever turn the camera from Bear when he's eating something. They basically force Bear to swallow the entire thing. After Bear finished his bug patty, he said that it was a truly terribly way to begin the morning.
Overall, there isn't a whole lot to write about with an episode that comments on the series itself. As I mentioned at the top, I'm very familiar with the Behind The Scenes stuff because there's been a few of these kinds of episodes in the past. The crew deserves their time in the spotlight because they do everything Bear does (well only the camera men). The entire crew does a tremendous job on each and every episode.
I posted my Terriers review about an hour ago so check that out below. The Week 3 NFL picks won't be posted until late tonight.
SCREENPLAY OF THE DAY
Treme--"Pilot--Written By David Simon & Eric Overmyer
http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Treme_1x01_-_Pilot.pdf
For an 80 minute pilot, the screenplay is only 66 pages. Remember: Treme is a show that features a lot of music. If you're a David Simon fan and you don't have HBO, read the Treme pilot.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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