Making Video: So Easy A Chimp Could Do It

For the first time in history a documentary was filmed entirely by chimpanzees. It aired last night on the British Broadcasting Channel (BBC). Though this was a great idea for a nature documentary (and an even better idea in regards to budget since the crew worked for free), it kind of made me sad for the following reasons:

1. According to chimpcam.com, the idea came to producer John Capener as he was watching a documentary. The documentary was filmed so poorly that he thought, “a chimp could have shot this!” It was at this point he began to research how to go about using chimpanzees for the crew of his next documentary.

2. If you’ve seen the teaser for Natural World: The Chimpcam Project, you may agree: humans have shot footage more poorly composed and less compelling than the footage the chimps managed to capture.

3. We’re one step closer to realizing that the movie Planet of the Apes is actually not that far-fetched.

All kidding aside, it is a creative approach to the typical nature documentary. And, in all fairness, the chimps did get some instruction prior to their attempt at being videographers. It’s a nice reminder, however, that if we don’t continue to learn and perfect our craft, someone, someday may replace us with our budget-friendly, water-fearing friend, the chimp.

Check out our tips on basic video production and how to make a video better than a chimp.