The Kombai, World’ Lost Tribes- DISCOVERY CHANNEL

World’ Lost Tribes

As a comparision to tribe i will watch a program on the Kombai, with whom two British Men Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds live for a few months as compared to Bruce Parry’s 1 month stay with the Kombai. The program though with British presenters is an American production.

Example Episode 2, Sustaining the people.

·         Like Tribe we have incredibly similar shots of the surroundings

·         Like Tribe there are many uses of low angles shots

·         We see extensive use of depth of field, which Tribe doesn’t so much

·         Different Music, Harmonicas uses as well as ethnic African Music, Slide Guitars as well as Djembes and Kalimbas.

·         Subtitles done differently to the side of the member speaking.

·         The narrative changes from an American narrator to one of the presenters

·         Much more dramatised, in both programs the presenters work cutting a tree and break an axe. The American version makes a lot of drama out of it whereas Bruce Parry’s counterpart if not even fazed

·         Also the lack of food seen as a far greater problem then ever made out in Tribe.

·         Switches in Depth of field

·         More interference in way of life of the Kombai where the tribe has more of a laissez faire attitude. The two compared programs show sustainability but with different methods of fishing and hunting

The two programs i have compared have remarkable similarities in many ways and i am quite surprised that a program was commissioned so soon after Tribes venture to the Kombai, maybe they thought they could capitalise on this.

However the two programs, though sharing ethnographical conventions are originally intended for U.S and U.K audiences.

A point of interest is the category the translations caused; the producers were accused of fabricating the interviews to portray the tribe as sex obsessed savages which has been cited by Anthropologist Glenn Sheppard as “Staged false and misrepresentative”

www.ethnogroundblogspot.com/2011/05/mark-and-olly-follies.hmtl

I found the show enjoyable enough but too over dramatised in parts with a very American style to representation. I enjoyed seeing other parts of life that tribe could not touch upon in its hour long show.