I love nature documentaries, and with the sheer advancement in cameras and lenses over the past few years, it has opened the door to how we can view the world around us, from the large to the incredibly small. I think we often forget that there is an entire world taking place beneath our very feet, and to finally have that ability to view it in such high detail is something I don't think we are really appreciating as much as we should. I myself haven't seen a nature documentary in quite some time. But I couldn't help myself yesterday, I felt that nature documentary itch appearing. I'm in Armenia where streaming services are limited, but Apple TV+ still works, and with a few weeks left of my free trial I went searching for documentaries. I stumbled across Tiny World pretty quickly. What was more of a surprise was it boasted narration from none other than Paul Rudd. My curiosity piqued. Wanting to see the horrors of the tiny world in its glory, the insects that are made of nightmares. But narration with one that would be considered Hollywood's sweetheart? Interesting. With this curiosity I went in sort of expecting the usual from an American documentary on nature: endless fast cuts, obnoxious narration that intensifies any action, and the usual guitar riff that accompanies it all. It's no stereotype, unfortunately.
Tiny World is much like many modern documentary series. It is one that is in constant motion to display the many forms of life that surround us on this planet, giving attention to the struggles and intelligence they hold in effort for survival in some of the harshest environments. A lot of nature documentaries often hold too many similarities, however. It's often difficult to find some that actually stick out and offer something new. I guess it is why nature documentaries are a bit more of a rarity, given the high cost of production, high time spent in production, compared to the payoff of only having a select number of viewers due to the niche audience. I remember that even Our Planet was something that struggled to begin with, but gained popularity not just in the UK but globally, but that was primarily a result of the narrator, the much-loved David Attenborough. This is why Tiny World has a narrator like Paul Rudd. Where the thing that really sells the documentary to numerous demographics is more the host, unfortunately rather than the content itself.
With a little bit of context on Tiny World and the complexities of nature documentaries, let's take a deeper look into how Tiny World presents itself!
Tiny World
As is the problem with many modern documentary series, they seem to span over numerous species a little too quickly, only providing little snippets into moments of their lives. It makes sense while it is a little disappointing, these animals have such complex lives with countless stories to be shared with the world, but it takes months if not years to capture just small moments, rare little events to be captured on video with months of preparation and following these animals around. I mentioned the cost of production a moment ago, and that's generally it. The gear in such harsh environments to capture them, the people that must be hired to keep things running and safe. The mere luck that is require to capture literally anything of value. Gear has improved dramatically to help with finding and filming these animals, but it doesn't rule out those difficulties at all. Tiny World somewhat suffers from this too, sharing small, quick moments that could be more in-depth, but the show quickly moves on to the next animal. It doesn't really give you time to take in information and appreciate it, more so running over these events like they aren't really that impressive.
And some of this feeling is a result of the more cinematic editing that is utilised to keep modern audiences entertained, flashy transitions and cuts plague the series in the most unfortunate manner. Taking attention away from the footage of the animals and instead making it all look like some grand action show. Editing that isn't just transitions, but also reaches into fakeness. The following of a raindrop falling from the sky to the ground, for example. Moments like these give some of the more impressive footage less authenticity. I even had the feeling that much of the show was fake because of how coincidental some of the editing was. The falling of a free that had a frog living in it, a camera inside the hole it keeps its young in. All of which are kept perfectly fine after the tree falls to the ground. In some aspects like these, it just felt too unrealistic. Made more unbelievable by its editing that you knew for a fact was a result of special effects. The transitions were made to be more impressive and give some depth into the worlds of these animals.
Another negative that contributes to this feeling is the way in which sound effects are used. A lot of modern documentaries began to do this in the pursuit of immersion and bringing more life to the footage they've captured, where on-location sound effects may not have been good enough. Foley is nothing new to the film industry, but it is more new to the world of nature documentaries, and I can't help but think it doesn't really work. The sounds of animals biting down on something almost has a cartoonish crunch to it, the water droplets or capturing of an insect that makes a slushing noise. You can tell that these are not the real sounds of these events taking place, nor would there necessarily always be sound in such moments anyway. But the filmmakers insist on giving everything sound. You can barely hear a beetle stepping on dry leaves, so why add such a loud tapping sound with every footstep for an ant? Tiny World is not the first to do this, as mentioned before. Even those loved documentaries featuring David Attenborough began to do it. For me, it's too much. I'd rather have atmosphere from orchestral music or ambience in moments of tension, or just silence instead of the use of foley.
Paul Rudd is a bit of an odd addition for a narrator, I'm not so sure he suits the world of documentary presenting. But perhaps some of this is a result of the writing, giving everything a more soft narration even when there is something more tense. It made things seem a bit too lighthearted and joyful, which took weight away from the visuals. Again, that idea of a tree collapsing that threatens the home of the animals. As well as their lives. That isn't to say that the narration should be dramatic and loud and give exaggeration to the events, making it all flashy. But that Paul Rudd's general narration felt flat across the board, mostly in its line delivery. I think this is what Apple wanted, however. Something the whole family was likely to watch, a bit more gentle and without harsh visuals on what nature really can be like, only really showing some of the darker sides in insects.
There is still a lot to enjoy about Tiny World. It's fascinating to see the lives of insects and small creatures both around us and distant. Camera gear truly has advanced to the point where we can really get up-close with these life forms and really see how they live, to follow them in great detail and learn more about how they act, and the reasons they do. Down to the complexities of plants that work alongside bees by trapping them, to encourage the bee to escape the plant in a very specific way so that it can obtain pollen and carry that pollen elsewhere. To have such high quality images of such tiny animals and really see their anatomy. The nightmarish creations that lurk within the holes of the ground. On plants all around us. To see them in such detail almost will make you feel uneasy, but isn't that cool? To see how the planet really is. The more alien aspects of life that we'd have otherwise not idea of if not for cameras to capture them and make their small worlds large. Even a caterpillar displayed on the big screen in such detail is something that'll make you feel discomfort. I can't imagine how much more detailed this will all become in the future, to get even more detailed perspectives of a world that is purely developed by instinct. The beauty in it all, as well as the science that makes it all look like it's straight out of Hell.
Having cameras go where we can't as cameras shrink in size, but increase in resolution. The macro world is something still barely explored. Tiny World is a documentary that has its flaws, but does something magnificent. And I can recommend and appreciate it for that. For the photography and filmmaking that allows us to see the world in ways we haven't before.
