Know4Know: Water Life (720p HD)

If you've seen "The Blue Planet," you've got a rough idea of what "Water Life" is like. This 26-chapter documentary of some 13 hours was produced by the Spanish company CinTV in collaboration with the FundaciÃ³n Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y LeÃ³n," and has aired over international television--including Discovery HD in the United States. The series plays a like a less austere version of the BBC nature documentaries with a more committed environmentalist stance, one which, somehow, avoids the preaching of more (over)zealous shows. To my way of thinking, that's the series' strength, along with a number of original underwater shots and photography showing wildlife and humans in close proximity. In fact, if you look closely, in some of the up-angle shots of sea creatures you can see the shadow of the dive boat. Some of the species and shots are familiar, like the sardine "bait ball," or schooling mackerel. Others, like the baby cuttlefish and algae coral polyps, are shots I don't recall seeing before. And like the BBC documentaries, many of the sequences employ time-lapse photography to show animals where movement takes place slowly, over time.
"Water Life" received an "Honorific Mention" in the Series Category at the Blue Oceans Film Festival, at which other blockbuster nature-show producers like BBC, Animal Planet, and National Geographic also competed, and in truth it's a pretty fluid (no pun intended) series with strong photography and an okay narrative. The series received honorable mentions at the International Wildlife Film Festival for macro-cinematography and human-wildlife interaction, and it's shots of this nature that make the series worthwhile. However, if you've seen "The Blue Planet" (2001), the sweep of the series and the underwater photography of "Water Life" has a feeling of familiarity. It may be well done, but "groundbreaking," as the box notes proclaim? I don't think so.

Filmed around the world over the course of three years using four types of Canon HD cameras, the series was produced in Spain. Each chapter spotlights a different ecosystem, with the emphasis on the cycle of water and the effects of pollution and climate change on those ecosystems. The whole water cycle is documented, including evaporation, rainfall, dew, and underground aquifers. But the hear of the series, which was mounted in collaboration with the United Nations and World Wildlife Federation, are the shots of wildlife and aquatic creatures. Even the shows dealing largely with the water cycle have wildlife in them, and so the context of water's importance is never lost in a scientific fog.
Spanning five continents and running 26 episodes in length, "Water Life" is the latest nature series to bring viewers a first hand look at the beauty that's evident in the world around us. The footage on display throughout the series was captured over a 16-month period by three separate teams consisting of the world's top nature cinematographers, naturalists, and divers, who's goal was to capture various aquatic ecosystems using innovative camera techniques to create a fascinating perspective. After filming ended, the 100+ hours of footage was edited into a thirteen hour runtime and divided up to meet the individual theme of each episode. Broadcast internationally on Discovery HD, "Water Life" was originally produced by Spain's CIN. TV in conjunction with the World Wildlife Federation and the United Nations Water for Life Decade of Action Committee, which explains the conservationist theme that underlies part of the production. If you're expecting a nature documentary with an uplifting message, this initial disc won't fit the bill, but if you 're hoping for environmental eye-candy and can move past the occasional preachy narration, "Water Life" deserves a fitting spot alongside "Planet Earth" (which still remains the superior production between the two).

720p version
Water.Life.2008.720.Bluray.x264-HDxT
RELEASE DATE..: 03.10.2010
DURATiON......: 375 Min(~25 Min.per Episode: Episodes:15
SiZE..........: 21.75 Gb (1.45 Gb per Episode: Episodes:15
ViDEO CODEC...: x264,@L4.1 (2 passes)
FRAMERATE.....: 24.980 fps
BiTRATE.......: 7.500-8.300 Kbps
RESOLUTiON....: 1280x720 (1.78:1)
SUBTITLES.....: N/A (No subtitles available on the source)
AUDiO1........: AC3 192 Kbps 2 channels (no HD audio available on the source)
AUDIO2........: N/A
SOURCE........: Water Life 2008 1080i Blu-ray DD2.0 AVC-SSG
ENCODER.......: ioakou

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Water Life (720p HD)

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