Re: What do you hate about dino-docs?

[David Krentz <ddkrentz@charter.net>]

Thinking about anthropamorphization...ow, that hurt to type...and also  
being in the business of storytelling, I think the central problem is  
that a good character must have two opposing desires.  That is, in a  
Syd Fields and Robert McCee sense, an unconscious desire and a  
conscious desire: A Want and a Need.  In "The Bear" it seemed he  
WANTED a family but NEEDED to rely on himself for survival.  A classic  
coming of age tale.  Often, when dino docs feel forced is when the  
dinosaur has a moment of decision and is torn between its instincts  
and its (well...our guilt ridden and fearful) reasonable thoughts.
Prehistoric Planet had some great story telling, but was also the most  
humanized doc of them all.

Once again, no real questions here, just observations.

David Krentz


On Nov 13, 2007, at 10:40 PM, Donna Braginetz wrote:

> David Krentz wrote:
>
> >   I'm curious about how many of you feel about the anthropamorphism
> > of dinosaurs.  That is, turning them into characters who are  
> > seemingly
> > involved in a three act story structure, often with human motives.
>
> I can see where an actual story line, as opposed to a recitation of  
> facts, is
> useful in a program, especially for a lay audience. I personally  
> find it a
> little too cutesy, but then I'm not exactly an average viewer. Perhaps
> anthropomorphized animals and a story line have become old hat.  
> Maybe it's
> time for something completely different. Listers, your ideas...?
>
> [Handing off to myself and running in the general direction of the  
> goal
> line...] Speaking of "something completely different," what if a  
> paleo program
> was a comedy?* Maybe sketch comedy? Maybe CGI itself has already  
> become old
> hat -- so perhaps other types of animation could be thrown in for  
> "visual
> texture." If the goal is to teach a concept or even a factoid, even  
> a couple
> sock puppets could do the job, providing the script was well  
> written. Maybe a
> Geico caveman could host. (Okay, scratch that last idea.)
>
> -- Donna Braginetz
>
> * BUT, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, NOT THAT LAME, WASTE-OF-TIME SHTICK  
> THAT MO ROCCA
> DOES BETWEEN SEGMENTS OF REPACKAGED CRITTER SHOWS. (My apologies to  
> Mo Rocca
> -- but that was just not his best work.)