Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

The "Trials of Life", was, to date, the most profitable, and successful, and most commercial, of all of the various natural history programs that David Attenborough has made for video. Some of the most fantastic and spectacular natural history cinematography is encapsulated in the 12-episode epic and landmark video series. This particular video, "The Making of The Trials of Life", is especially revealing of how the series was made. One wonders, when viewing "The Trials of Life", how they managed to get inside a termite mound, how they got such great footage of chimpanzees hunting, how they managed to identify one elephant out of a herd of over 500, and how in the world did they get that footage of the killer whales killing and eating sea lion pups. Also, one gets to see how David Attenborough, the world's premier natural historian, fits into the whole series, beyond hosting and narrating it. I shall now present a table of information about this, "The Making of The Trials of Life", followed by a synopsis and review.

Information About "The Making of the Trials of Life".

Release Date: 1991
Production Company: BBC/Time-Life Video/Turner Broadcast
Running Time: 70 minutes
Cost: $11.99-15.99
Format: VHS

Synopsis/Review.

"The Making of the Trials of Life" begins with the same formula beginning that the 12-part series starts with. That is, the "Trials of Life" animated logo, which includes a leopard gecko that transforms into four leopard geckos, simultaneously with a moth who starts from one flying animated moth, to a whole circle of moths, who fly around the four mitotic geckos, which is a cool logo by any standards! The animated beginning is also accompanied by some cool aboriginal music.

Then, we go right into the video. A termite mound, opened up by David Attenborough, with a pick axe. He then scrambles into the mound itself, and begins narration. Unlike in the series, this is an out-take. He is getting bitten by the soldier termites! Cut!

David then tells us that it is important to see the animals in a natural history video, more than the narrator. We then set forth into a tropical rain forest. He tells us how most cinemetographers only get a fleeting glimpse of their quarry. So, we now go to a tropical rain forest in west Africa, following Chimpanzees on a colobus monkey hunt.
David admits that he never would have been able to do such things, if it weren't for the experts in the field, who have habituated the animals to their prescence, over a period of five years, that has enabled David, his crew, and the experts, to get the footage they got for this film. David reveals further that he and his crew had to dress just like the German researcher, to be allowed to be accepted by the chimps, and further, to be allowed to photograph them, especially in such a sensitive issue as hunting. David reveals further information about chimp behavior, the relationship with our hominid ancestors, and other aspects of chimp behavior, and how it relates to humans, in this aspect of "The Making of...". Pretty fascinating stuff! This was a 10 minute sequence.

Next, we see how the army ants of Panama were filmed. David visits Nigel, the ant lover, in his laboratory in the new world. We find that the army ants are totally blind, and are nomadic hunters. He says that we can visit and view the ant column from a few feet away, and the ants are oblivious to the researcher's prescence. We find how the ants 'bivouac' at night, with the living bodies of the ants forming the nest. He uses a remote endoscope, used in the medical profession. We insert this into the nest of the living ants, and, of course, David gets bitten when they crawl up the endoscope! This was a 5 minute long sequence.

The next sequence is the elephant sequence. A herd of 500 elephants is examined, and how the elephants were recognized as individuals by the researchers, this time, an American woman in Kenya. It took 2-3 years to recognize each individual elephant was recognized, this time, by the size and shape of the ears. It must have been fascinating to be the researchers of the elephants. To be in the field in Africa is a dream come true for a researcher. The researcher had done a lot of research on the calves of the elephants. She admits that it never gets boring, that is, watching the interaction of the calf and the herd, over a period of 18 months for each calf. Pretty cool. This sequence was about 15 minutes long.

The next chapter in "The Making of the Trials of Life" is
a 5 minute sequence of water and wading birds. We focus on the researcher here, and his charges. He does a large amount of his research from a hut, which is actually a very nice "hide" or "blind". They show how David Attenborough could be shown with the birds flying, in a huge flock, just over his head. The researcher knew just where to put the camera crew, and where to put David. This is the Norfolk coast, in November, and it is very cold. Of course, the whole scene is a one-take shot, and it comes off without a hitch.

The next chapter tells us how they got the footage of the cool scrub jay of Florida. These are an endangered species, and because each one is known as an individual, and is totally habituated to the researcher, who has the birds totally and utterly used to him, and other humans. The birds can ignore the people, so that the researchers can observe the birds behaving in their natural habitat. These are truly endearing birds. I actually witnessed the grey jay, in Washington state(Mount Ranier National Park to be exact), where the birds were very tame, like the scrub jay, and would pirch on your hand, and eat peanuts, and were totally endearing and tame and cool. Once the tourists left, they went about their natural behavior in the forest, until the next pack of tourists came by with treats(kind of like the researchers). However, unlike the grey jay of the Pacific Northwest, the scrub jay is a species that, due to its marginal habitat, has developed a fascinating "helper" society, almost insect-like in nature, where the offspring of a pair will help raise the next generation. Cool!

The next chapter shows us about another bird, the honey guide, in northern Kenya. We follow David and his guide, the Kikuyu researcher, to the honey guide, who then guides us to a honey bees nest. The honey guide will guide both humans, and the rattel, or honey badger, to a nest. It is a symbiosis in the true sense of the word. The honey guide has a certain call when showing you the way to the honey, and a certain call as to when you find it. The honey guide gets out of this, bee grubs, honey, and wax, which it consumes with great gusto. Of course, David does the same. Remember, these are the legendary African "Killer Bees". So, this is a pretty cool evolutionary example of symbiosis.

We next go to see lions in Kenya. The idea is to find out what lions will do with a loudspeaker, broadcasting a call of a big male lion, new to the area, being played in the territory of an established pride of lions. It works, and immediately the lions come over to investigate to see who the heck is in their territory. A cool film footage sequence ensues. We then go on to see the same pride go on to take on some cape buffalo. David asks what, if anything, can the researcher read 'in the mind of a lion'. The researcher admits that one can fathom how a baboon, for instance, when looking in its eyes, can forsee its next move. He then says that when looking into the eyes of a lion, after 25 years of research, that it is like looking into the eyes of a fish. Cold fish....a total enigma.

We next go on to look at termites, in Africa. We return to see how David started this video, with a pick and a shovel.
We find that this particular approach isn't the best way in which to view termites, and to view them in their natural way. So, the researcher reveals to David and the viewer, that the way to view the termite mound in its natural way is to remove the heart of the termite mound, to a laboratory, in which to view their activities.

Now, David shows us the mis-haps of, and out-takes of, animal cinemetography. We get a few barnyards sequences where cows moo too soon, or chickens claw at his feet. Then, the killer whales are shown. How they did it will chill your soul. The researchers tried, all in vein, to remote control the cameras. No one wanted to get into the water with them. Of course, they got some great footage from the beach, but nothing from underwater. The most famous footage, however, that "Trials of Life" is known for, is the underwater footage of the orcas, or killer whales, attacking from underwater. Of course, the photographers and researchers actually put themselves into the "dead zone" or "danger zone", in the water, to get the footage. They did it, with spectacular results, and with not danger to the camera man, as the whales knew the difference between humans and seals, and sea lion pups. Pretty cool indeed!

All in all, "The Making of the Trials of Life" is a spectacular, and as spectacular as the Trials of Life itself, film documenting the footage of wildlife cinematography at its extreme best. If you like animals, nature, David Attenborough, The Trials of Life, and wildife cinematography, check out this video, by all means!










Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older
Special Effects: Well at least you can't see the strings