Web Of Life - The Living Savannah

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  • Release Date: 1st January 1972
  • Asset ID: 802364
  • Synopsis: In the game parks of East Africa, with their enormous savannah grasslands, live large numbers of a wide variety of wildlife - antelopes, lions, rhinos, hippos, elephants and many species of birds. But what is the pattern of their existence, how are the strands of this 'web of life' woven together? What is the role of the big cats? What is the effect of the rainy season? And how important are the vast fires that sweep across the savannah every year? The programme includes many beautiful and exciting scenes of wildlife, but with an added dimension which shows how the whole savannah ecology works - and what happens when it goes wrong.
  • Shotlist: 00:02:30 MLS Busy street, commuters going somewhere, 80s apparel. VO 'God said, be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth…This man did.' Same shot focus on white English, middle class business man early 40s. 00:02:48 2S mid 20s couple, hippies. LS-MLS walk down street. 00:02:56 sun and earth images cross dissolve. VO 'Energy from sun enough to warm…The web of life' Cross dissolve Aerial shots of East Africa, bush ending to make way for desert. Fast aerial shot African open plane. Animals (could be Tigers, Wildebeests, Wildebeests, Zebras, Giraffes) moving around quickly. 00:03:48 Caption 'WEB OF LIFE THE LIVING SAVANNA' superimposed over image of African plane. 00:03:53 XLS aerial track of plane, dissolve into CU blades off grass track. 00:04:12 MLS and CUs off animals eating grass, Wildebeests, Rhinos, Elephants, deer, 00:04:47 MCU Pan L to R Fire over grass. Cut to LS and XLS, XLS fire and smoke with tree in FG. GVs fire burning. Smoke and blue sky. XLS Burning residue, black ashed surface. Track XLS Bird flying. 00:05:30 MCU Pan L to R, Tilt up and zoom to LS to flames going or traveling up grassy bank. Cross dissolve to XLS cows (or bulls or wildebeests, dissolve to XLS Aerial animals returning to burnt black ground. Slow dissolve and zoom out of Entire Savanna plane VO 'The grass grew again'. Dissolve XLS hundreds off wildebeests at water edge drinking, dissolve to LS Wildebeests. Tilt up CU drinking, head up looking. 00:06:22 LS Pan L to R Zebra water edge dipping head to drink (could be) Wood peckers in BG. 00:06:28 LS Wildebeest resting on river (chewing and sleepy). 00:06:32 MCU Sun, clouds in FG. 00:06:35 LS Elephant stationary, CUT CU ear flapping. CUT Sun shot again. 00:06:47 XLS Tiger (or Lion, Panther, not black panther). CUT to MCU collapsing down to rest, licks paws. 00:06:59 LS Cat in tree half asleep and lazy. 00:07:03 MCU Lion eating a (could be) Ostrich, Vulture or wood pecker. CUT BCU Lion eating Ostrich bird, MCU Sun again. MS Track off vultures in sky. Several interweaving, some with Tree in FG and landing in tree. 00:07:43 Sun shot, cloud covers sun. VO 'Sky grows dark'. 00:07:44 Slight pan L to R tall grass blades blowing in wind. CUT BCU Blades in FG green hill behind. 00:07:54 CU Dry soil with cracks, droplets off water commence, music dinks in time. BCU Tilt down R to L blades off grass receiving drops of water. XCU Spider on blade of grass and web, few drops of water. 00:08:08 Slight tilt down off MLS blades of grass to soil. 00:08:14 XCU Frog in rain climbing down big blade of grass or bush. GVs BCUs water hitting blades off grass, soil and small insects follows. 00:08:34 Dissolve into MLS vultures on tree or bush tops. CUT XCU flooded soil, destroyed by the heavy rain. 00:09:00 HH BCU to LS mixture of green grass and black burnt soil. 00:09:13 Slow tilt up tall, fresh bright green grass dissolving smoothly to grass with white tips (could be flowers) then this passes and LS of deer dipping their heads to eat grass. GVs follow of Deer, Elephants, Zebras, warthogs, in open plane Savanna eating grass. 00:10:23 XLS Savanna now fresh from recent rainfall with all animals. 00:10:34 GVS animals continue. 00:10:52 Stags Fighting LS and MCU. VO details breeding between these animals. 00:11:30 Two stags 'do it'. CUT several stags and Warthogs looking at camera. 00:11:49 MCU Elephant head in bush eating grass. BCU trunk in bush and truck to mouth follow. LS Trunk raised above elephants' head. 00:12:26 LS side on off Giraffe eating branches off tree. CU follows. 00:12:46 GVs LS Savanna, trees and trees with bird nests hanging down. 00:12:50 CU (could be) Red Bishop in grass. CA LS Bird nests in tree. Other GVs off birds follows walking in grass, dipping head to eat grass. Egyptian Geese, African Crowned Crane, (could be) Guinea Fowl, 00:13:49 LS Track off The Weaver birds mid flight CUT XCU on tree branch eating. XCU Making nests, carrying twigs in flight. 00:15:00 Pan L to R Weaver Bird nest to Eagle Owl lying in tree. 00:15:20 Creep zoom XLS to LS Marshall Eagle solitary on branch off tree. BCU and LS Track of it Flying and hovering with sunlight underneath. 00:16:15 GVs Birds (Hunters) flying with VO summing up. Horn Bill and Secretary Birds in flight. 00:17:00 Pan R to L Seagulls (or Secretary or Eaglets sp?) birds flying and landing on Warthogs (or wildebeests). Hippo XCU with bird on back. 00:17:37 MLS Elephant leg and white bird (looks like seagull could be swallows) together. 00:17:40 CU White birds on buffalo back. GVs continue CUs Buffalos with birds pecking and flying on them. (Ox pecker birds on Buffalo) Swallows. 00:18:38 BCU black small Bird on elephant. BCU Pan and tilt off elephant... 00:18:53 GVs continue off animals on Savanna. (Bee eater bird included). 00:19:06 BCU (could be) Red Bishop eating (could be) Dragon Fly, XCU Grasshopper, BCU Ostrich, lizard, Rabbit, Meer Kat, Cob and Topees (sp?) 00:20:08 Pan L to R Open plane filled with Cobs (similar to Buffalos). GVs running animals (Cobs and topees). 00:21:28 LS Young Wildebeest with mother or father. 00:21:37 Track shot wildebeests running and hunting other animals. 00:21:51 MLS Track of hyenas (sp). Hunting. 00:22:10 Pan L to R cheetah with animal in its jaw. 00:22:51 GV Cheetah looking for prey and tracking off rapidly running towards it. BCU Eating prey. 00:23:35 LS tilt down to Group LS and BCUs off White Back Vultures eating dead zebra on ground, beaks fully inside. LS Pan Hyena loitering around White Back Vultures. 00:24:44 BCU Zebra pecked to death bones on grass. 00:24:50 LS and CU Lamaguy (sp?) Bearded Vulture eating zebra meat. 00:25:19 GVs calcium rotting followed by BCU Dung Beetles pushing balls of faeces around. Zoom out and pan L to R off ground. 00:26:15 CU Bone filled with moth eggs. BCU to CU Zebra bone mouth with beetles rummaging around with. 00:26:48 BCU Elephant feet, LS and CU Hippo GVs continue off animals, Zoom out MLS to LS. Hippos submerged in water yawning and then grazing on land. 00:28:52 Could be swallow birds (white look like seagulls) on top of hippos that are submerged in water with a film of green gunky stuff on top, like swamp. This dissolves into XXLS Aerial shot of the Savanna. 00:29:38 CU side on slight track hippos eating grass. 00:29:50 LS pan L to R Elephants by river edge. CUT to LS stationary elephants. GVs off Savanna continues. 00:31:01 XLS Elephants zoom out to sunset with lens flair. 00:31:28 End credits Devised and researched by Anna Kaliski, Written by John Lloyd, Film Editor John Merritt, Film Cameramen Jim Saunders and Ewart Needham, Produced by Richard Brock. BBC tv Bristol. A BBC / BP Film Unit Production
  • Production Company: A BBC / BP Film Unit Production
  • Licensing Restrictions: None
  • Viewing Restrictions: Public
  • Format: BetaSP_Small
  • Alternative Language Notes: None