Winged Migration offers viewers a look into the seemingly natural lifestyle of birds migrating. The cinematography utilizes both close-ups and long shots to capture the full experience of the migration. There is scarcely any speaking because the filmmakers want their audience to listen to the "music" that is nature. At first glance, this would make it seem as if humans did not interfere with the birds' lives during the making of this film. Unfortunately, this is completely untrue. Most of the aerial footage was taken of birds that the filmmakers raised from birth. These birds were trained to fly with the film crew, thus they were not bothered by having cameras pointed at them from every direction. Thus, instead of a peaceful and natural migration, viewers are actually watching migration interrupted by human hot air balloons, paragliders, trucks, and motorboats.
I feel as if this film is hypocritical. If we are supposed to appreciate the beauty of birds in their natural environment, why are we artificially recreating their migrations? Winged Migration is not truly a documentary if the situations are as staged as they are in fictional movies. This makes me question how often nature shows and documentaries actually show real wildlife. For example, there's an entire television channel devoted to nature, but are the manmade cameras used to record animal tendencies observing nature peacefully or denaturalizing it? I understand obtaining scenes from nature without interfering with animal habitats and lifestyles can be difficult and expensive, but I also believe the audience has a right to know what they are actually watching.
Toward the end of the film, the producers show their version of human interference. As the birds are flying together, individual shots are heard, and the birds plunge one by one into the water below. This suggests that the relationship between humans and birds is purely violent, which is actually not the whole truth. While people do shoot birds and geese for food and sport, there are countless parks and nature observatories across the United States where people can quietly watch birds without disturbing them. Though it is possible for us to coexist with other animals in nature, it is up to us, as humans, to choose this approach.
I feel as if this film is hypocritical. If we are supposed to appreciate the beauty of birds in their natural environment, why are we artificially recreating their migrations? Winged Migration is not truly a documentary if the situations are as staged as they are in fictional movies. This makes me question how often nature shows and documentaries actually show real wildlife. For example, there's an entire television channel devoted to nature, but are the manmade cameras used to record animal tendencies observing nature peacefully or denaturalizing it? I understand obtaining scenes from nature without interfering with animal habitats and lifestyles can be difficult and expensive, but I also believe the audience has a right to know what they are actually watching.
Toward the end of the film, the producers show their version of human interference. As the birds are flying together, individual shots are heard, and the birds plunge one by one into the water below. This suggests that the relationship between humans and birds is purely violent, which is actually not the whole truth. While people do shoot birds and geese for food and sport, there are countless parks and nature observatories across the United States where people can quietly watch birds without disturbing them. Though it is possible for us to coexist with other animals in nature, it is up to us, as humans, to choose this approach.