Caving tv reality show

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Caving tv reality show

Postby evanrobinson1985 » Nov 29, 2012 8:35 pm

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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby batrotter » Nov 30, 2012 6:34 am

There is an earlier thread on here some where with that same discussion. You might do a seacrh and find it.
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby submassabielle » Nov 30, 2012 9:14 am

Try searching "ATTENTION Cavern Spelunkers."
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby KWW » Nov 30, 2012 10:10 am

Funny a friend and myself were talking about this last weekend. There is a number of issues with this idea. Two of the most important ones that I can think of real quickly off the top of my head is (1) It would be difficult to televise this program without disclosing locations of caves. (2) How much drama do they need to make it interesting. I think they would feel the need to throw people in the mix that would cause drama which could potentially cause damage to caves because maybe these people are not true cavers. Remember, reality TV is not about education, it's entertainment. Do we as cavers want to subject the environments we work so hard to conserve to these people that really could care less about what caving is truly about?
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby BrianFrank » Nov 30, 2012 10:39 am

chynabear wrote:Funny a friend and myself were talking about this last weekend. There is a number of issues with this idea. Two of the most important ones that I can think of real quickly off the top of my head is (1) It would be difficult to televise this program without disclosing locations of caves. (2) How much drama do they need to make it interesting. I think they would feel the need to throw people in the mix that would cause drama which could potentially cause damage to caves because maybe these people are not true cavers. Remember, reality TV is not about education, it's entertainment. Do we as cavers want to subject the environments we work so hard to conserve to these people that really could care less about what caving is truly about?

Exact locations would not have to be made public. I disagree on the drama part, everytime I go caving there is a lot of drama in our groups....good and bad.

The biggest issue I see is the tremendous cost of filming in tight areas with no light. I can't imagine the extra cost to setup those shots.
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby NZcaver » Nov 30, 2012 12:02 pm

BrianFrank wrote:Exact locations would not have to be made public. I disagree on the drama part, everytime I go caving there is a lot of drama in our groups....good and bad.

The biggest issue I see is the tremendous cost of filming in tight areas with no light. I can't imagine the extra cost to setup those shots.

The drama experienced on caving trips may not be the kind of excitement that makes good (or bad) reality TV.

I can't imagine there would be a tremendous cost in filming in tight areas with no light. This is reality TV, not a National Geographic documentary. Have you seen the quality of the nighttime handheld footage on some of these shows?
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby gindling » Nov 30, 2012 12:24 pm

FLIP handheld video cameras were used for most of the footage seen in the Deadly Descent. They mounted two blue tinged LED lights on each cavers helmet pointed downward, I guess for post color editing and so the faces weren't washed out? Remember, the producers and camera men aren't the ones going in those crawl and down pits.
NZ got it right, this ain't no Nat Geo.
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby KWW » Nov 30, 2012 8:29 pm

[/quote]The drama experienced on caving trips may not be the kind of excitement that makes good (or bad) reality TV.[/quote]

Exactly! Think about the kind of drama that makes for a successful reality show. People that are loose cannons, and want to cause damage to everyone and everything around them are the types that interest the public. Who really cares about just watching some folks crawl through mud and do some repelling and climbing. Why do you think there's not more movies about cavers and caving? It's not a spectator sport! To truly enjoy the sport you have to be a special breed that thrives on the challenge of crawling through mud and moving over massive piles of breakdown. The reward? Just to see a few really cool looking things that not just anybody can walk up and look at. People often ask me why I love the sport so much, and I really don't have a convincing reason to give them. I really just love the challenge. But I'm a person that has made a point to NOT do what everyone else does my entire life. That's another draw for me. Before I was introduced to caving I backpacked every chance I could, for the simple reason of being alone in the woods seeing things in their natural state, without all the weekend warriors vandalizing and tracking everything up. Albeit, there is quite a bit of traffic on the Appalachian Trail, but not so much that I can't avoid folks for the most part. Then came caving! You can not pass anyone for as long as you choose to in most caves. We did the 8 hour trip to the back and out in Tumbling Rock and didn't see a soul. But we have been in Howards Waterfall and actually ran down the passage and dove in a hole to escape the Girl Scout troop. Now, with that being said, do we even really want to get hundreds of thousands more interested in our unique sport? Of course it would mean more money for our organizations, but it would also mean more traffic and damage in the environments we struggle to protect. And just to add, I really do not think the reality television crowd is even the people we would want to target if we were trying to interest more folks in this sport!
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby Chads93GT » Dec 1, 2012 8:30 am

Worst idea ever. This is why I don't even watch tv. It rots your brain and the one day you wake up with an idea of your own on how you can get on tv And make an ass out of yourself.
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby KWW » Dec 1, 2012 8:53 am

Chads93GT wrote:Worst idea ever. This is why I don't even watch tv. It rots your brain and the one day you wake up with an idea of your own on how you can get on tv And make an ass out of yourself.



Absolutely! I was actually just standing in the living room and looked down at the TV on the stand in there and it's not even plugged in. We have lived here for 8 or 10 months now. Our television is right outside our back door!
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby evanrobinson1985 » Dec 1, 2012 7:13 pm

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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby boreholio » Dec 2, 2012 2:15 am

Evan, it seems somewhat ironic to use the "cave softly" emoticon when promoting a caving "reality" show.

IMO, the actual reality is more likely to be bad publicity (e.g. the typical obnoxious, pseudo-drama behavior most of these shows seem to thrive on) and attraction of some people to caving that might not respect caves the way we do or cause incidents, rescues, damage land owner relations, etc. Granted, some good cavers could result as well but I suspect many, if not most, cavers had an innate fascination and sought it out or were introduced by someone who had. For something that is not usually a spectator or competitive sport or that is conducive to large amounts of people ( excluding conventions, etc.) and that is also in an often sensitive and fragile environment, I think perhaps that is a better way.

So what is the purpose of a caving reality show? Fame, entertainment, publicity, money? Nothing necessarily wrong with those but in this case consider the possible detrimental effects upon caves and caving.

If a show is done, I hope it is something in the style of Les Stroud on Survivorman (not Bear Gryllis as someone thought I was referring to in the Attention Cavern Spelunkers thread mentioned above). Please read the comments there also if you haven't already.

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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby ian1210 » Dec 2, 2012 8:50 pm

Evan,

If they go for this, please do the caving community a favor and show up with helmets for everyone and don't try and navigate through the cave by using a string.
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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby evanrobinson1985 » Dec 2, 2012 9:20 pm

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Re: Caving tv reality show

Postby Mudduck » Dec 2, 2012 9:26 pm

good grief
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