#1988 - James Reed cover

#1988 - James Reed

NaN minutesEpisode #1988

James Reed is a filmmaker whose works include "My Octopus Teacher," "Rise of the Warrior Apes," and "Jago: A Life Underwater." His new documentary series "Chimp Empire" is streaming on Netflix now.

www.underdog-films.com

Episode Timestamps

  • Starting time

    • A chimp empire is the subject of the documentary, chronicling their lives.
    • The documentary crew was able to spend 400 days with the chimps thanks to a previous scientific project.
    • The crew had to go through a process of habituation to be accepted into the chimp group.
  • Starting time

    • Chimps are known to hunt and eat monkeys, which can be disturbing to witness.
    • The hunting consists of cooperation and teamwork among the chimps, who are powerful and organized hunters.
    • The documentary crew witnessed the hunting of monkeys quite frequently.
  • The Hunt for Chimpanzees

    • Monkeys are valuable from a nutritional point of view
    • Hunting seems to provide some sort of cooperative function
    • Sharing meat after they've hunted a monkey is a political business
  • Competition Among Chimps

    • There's only so much meat, so it's a competition among chimps to get a share
    • The strongest alliances are being served in this situation
    • The tension between males becomes complicated when a female gets a share
  • Silent Coordination among Chimps

    • Chimps patrol their borders in silence
    • There's some level of communication going on without vocalization
    • Ellington and Rollins are examples of chimps who seem to attract this behavior
  • Communication and Understanding Among Chimpanzees :

    • Scientists are still unsure of how patrols among chimps are instigated and known among the chimps involved, with a communication gap from a scientific point of view
    • Speculation includes the possibility of pheromones or telepathy
    • There seems to be some sort of signaling through eye movement, although not supported by scientific data
  • Unusual Characteristics Among Chimpanzees :

    • The chimp Pinsir had completely white sclera, a very human-like characteristic
    • This characteristic is not officially found among chimpanzees, where it is supposed to have brown sclera
    • The difference in color between iris and sclera is an important part of human cooperation and communication
    • The impact of this characteristic among chimps, particularly with regards to their silent communication, is not fully understood by scientists
  • Connection between White Sclera and Cooperative Behaviors:

    • Pinsir appeared to be more involved in cooperative behaviors than other chimps without the white sclera characteristic
    • Pinsir also had a disproportionate number of offspring despite being a low-ranking male
    • Scientists have not yet conducted specific studies to fully understand any correlation between the presence of white sclera and specific roles or behaviors among chimps.
  • Alpha Male Strategies

    • The focus is on two chimps, one successful in reproduction and the other not, despite being a higher ranking male.
    • The successful male, Pinsir, spent a lot of time with females even when they were not in a reproductive state. His approach was different from the other males who concentrated on their male relationships and only pursued females when they were in estrous.
    • The fascination around Pinsir's behavior and characteristics is discussed.
  • Chimpanzee Similarities and Differences

    • The complexity and individual variation of chimps are discussed, making them an interesting subject to study.
    • Similarities and differences with humans are highlighted and make them a unique animal to observe.
    • Personal experiences with different chimp characters are discussed.
  • Filming and Editing Challenges

    • The challenges of filming and editing a complex project with 400 days of footage are discussed.
    • The success of the project in capturing an enormous amount of footage is acknowledged.
  • Challenges of Condensing 18 Months of Footage into a Four-Part Series.

    • Filming and telling the story of the 18-month expedition was a huge challenge.
    • The team had to be disciplined about what they filmed and what they didn't use.
    • They had to film a lot more than they needed to allow for range of characters and storylines.
    • The editing process was a sculpting process that involved gradually cutting down the footage to the most interesting and relevant moments.
    • The process required six shoots and a huge amount of footage to be carefully curated.
  • Enormous Task of Organizing and Logging 100 Hours of Footage.

    • The team had to do a huge amount of work before the expedition to plan and test equipment and cameras.
    • They had to log every single shot with information about which chimps were in the shot, what they were doing, and conditions at the time.
    • They built a library of footage using a special software that allowed them to search for footage based on specific criteria.
    • The pre-editing process was crucial in reducing 100 hours of footage to the most relevant and representative scenes, so the creative process of editing could begin.
    • The editing process took about 20 weeks per episode, with four different editors working on each episode.
  • Challenges of creating a successful documentary series for Netflix

    • Creating a show that truly captures the story in a dramatic way takes a lot of work
    • Editing process is the director's happy place and where the overall feel of the series comes to life
    • The team initially tried to make an episode without narration but realized it needed an extra layer of interpretation for a broader audience
    • Mahershala Ali's narration helped add a conceptual layer to the show
  • What makes Ngogo unique

    • Ngogo has a unique level of access and data due to long-term scientific projects
    • There are many chimpanzee study sites, but Ngogo has a ton of chimps and is surrounded by forest on all sides
    • The unique terrain impacts chimpanzee behavior and group dynamics
    • Different chimpanzee sites have associated unique behaviors or culture, such as the use of spears to hunt in Fongoli.
  • Starting time

    • Ngogo chimpanzees in Uganda use spears to hunt bush babies
    • Tool use is a common behavior for chimpanzees in Africa
    • Ngogo chimpanzees are not big tool users, possibly because of a rich environment with plenty of fruit
    • Population size and cooperative behavior are defining qualities of the Ngogo group
  • Starting time

    • Chimpanzees in the Ivory Coast, Gombe, and Fongoli use tools like sticks and rocks to hunt monkeys
    • Ngogo chimpanzees hunt monkeys for food and potentially to compete for fruit resources
    • The impact of chimpanzees on monkey populations is significant in their territory
  • Observing chimpanzees in their habitat

    • Chimpanzees in the forest world are very aware of their surroundings.
    • They're accepting of human presence but not interested in them.
    • There are strict rules at Ngogo on interacting with chimpanzees due to human infections.
    • Chimpanzees spend most of their day doing enjoyable activities like grooming each other.
  • Intense and aggressive moments during patrol

    • Chimpanzee patrol is a violent and aggressive moment.
    • It's wild to see their coordination and movement through the forest.
    • No concern of being attacked by the chimps during these moments.
  • Chimps in the Wild

    • Chimpanzees in the wild can quickly change positions due to their aggressive behavior towards each other.
    • Their behavior towards humans is different from those in captivity or kept as pets.
    • Witnessing chimpanzee violence can be difficult to watch, especially chimp on chimp violence.
  • Chimp Violence

    • Witnessing chimp violence is difficult for humans to watch.
    • It's hard to intervene when observing natural chimp behavior.
    • Film project committed to observing, but not interfering.
  • Ethical Dilemma

    • Ethically, it's not right to interfere with natural chimp behavior.
    • Observing the Ngogo chimps is a rare, unique opportunity for humans.
    • Filmmakers are committed to observing without interfering.
  • Potential for Season 2.

    • The commissioner, Sarah Edelson, has discussed the potential for a second season of the show.
    • Waiting to see the impact of the first season before making a decision.
    • The NgoGo story continues and there is potential for more interesting stories.
  • Alpha Reign.

    • Alphas generally have a six to seven year tenure at NgoGo.
    • Chimpanzees adopt different strategies to stay in power longer, such as political relationships and allies.
    • Leaders that manage their relationships better with their allies tend to have an easier time staying in power.
  • Overthrown Alphas.

    • Outgoing alphas at NgoGo usually gets beaten up badly in the overthrow, but never lethal.
    • When an alpha is overthrown, they assume a lesser position in the hierarchy.
    • Alphas tend to retire from competing in the higher levels of the dominance hierarchy.
  • Adolescent females leaving their social group

    • A female chimpanzee leaving their familiar group and traveling to a new one can be nerve-wracking and anxious.
    • When they transfer to a new group, they stay there and become part of a new "family." The split in the GoGo group may make transferring easier as some chimpanzees will transfer from Central Group to Western Group, where they already know some of them.
  • Cause of the split

    • The size of the group and whether it could maintain unity was questioned due to the sheer number of chimpanzees in the N'Gogo group.
    • Small subgroups that felt less association with each other eventually led to divisions.
    • Big fights contributed to the growing divide, and scientists declared them to be properly separate groups in 2018.
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