精读及翻译：为什么自然纪录片美好又虚假？（上）

“自然纪录片误导观众，让他们以为还有很多未被开发的风景。事实并非如此。”

这篇文章出自The Atlantic，作者Emma Marris是俄勒冈州的一名自由撰稿人，她的新书《狂野的灵魂:非人类世界的自由与繁荣》（Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Nonhuman World）将于今年7月出版。

在文中，作者在为《地球脉动》《完美星球》等自然纪录片深深着迷的同时，批评了这些纪录片对自然的呈现方式：堪称屏保般精美的、去除了人类痕迹的画面，以及无处不在的、有明显倾向性的配乐。作者幽默地将这种纪录片与色***情片进行类比，正如经常观看那些夸张而激烈的动作片的观众可能会丧失与不完美的人性****交的兴趣，看多了《地球脉动》 等自然纪录片的人也很可能会对尽是泥泞和蚊虫叮咬的真实自然感到失望。

众多自然纪录片将自然呈现为未经开发的荒野，创造了一个崇高而完美的荒野神话，但实际上，荒野并不真正存在。这一误解也促使人们围绕如何保护未被开发的地方建立环保理念，并接受反人类的环境问题“解决方案”，例如将土著居民赶出他们的家园。

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（我平时给一家新闻网站翻译外刊文化报道，大多是我很感兴趣的文章，发在这儿跟大家共享，翻译难免出错，译得不够准确也是常有的事，欢迎来挑错！）

It’s late afternoon, late pandemic, and I’m watching a new nature documentary in bed, after taking the daintiest of hits from a weed pen. The show is called A Perfect Planet, and it is narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

I am looking at the red eye of a flamingo, a molten lake surrounding a tiny black pupil. Now I am looking at drone footage of a massive colony of flamingos, the classic sweeping overhead shot, what my brother calls “POV God.” Behind the images, a string orchestra sets the mood,giving the coral-pink birds an otherworldly theme in E minor.

这会儿是傍晚，也是新冠疫情的末期，我刚刚呼了几口（marijuana)，现在躺床上看一部新出的自然纪录片。该节目名为《完美星球》，由大卫·爱登堡爵士担任旁白。

我看着一只火烈鸟的红色眼睛，仿佛一个熔化的湖围绕着一个小小的黑色瞳孔。现在，我看着无人机镜头下的一大群火烈鸟，那是经典的俯拍镜头，我哥哥称之为"上帝视角"。在这些画面背后，一支管弦乐队营造着氛围，赋予这些珊瑚粉色的鸟儿一段超凡脱俗的E小调主旋律。

1）overhead shot 是“大俯拍”。类似的词还有 low angle shot 仰拍，camera position 机位，wide-angle 广角镜头，rack focus 变焦，framing 构图，long shot 长镜头。

2）astring orchestra管弦乐队

3）set the mood即营造氛围、定下基调

4）一段音乐的theme是“主题，主旋律”的意思， theme inE minor 为E小调主旋律

Nature documentaries have never been more popular, in part because they offer easy escapism during a rough time, and in part because marijuana has been legalized in much of the United States. The combination is hard to resist, as my experience with A Perfect Planet proves. The stoned attention span perfectly　 matches the length of each vignette,in which Attenborough’s soothing, avuncular voice guides you through a simple story about animal life. In between, you are treated to epic, empty landscapes and intense close-ups of the rich colors and textures of the nonhumanworld, which pop off like fireworks in your wide-open mind. The effect is awe-inspiring but also surprisingly chill. And there are no troublesome humans on-screen tokill the vibe.

自然纪录片从未如此受欢迎过，一是因为在艰难时期它们可以帮助人们轻松地逃避现实，二是因为大*麻已经在美国大部分地区合法化。这种组合是难以抗拒的，我观看《完美星球》的经历证明了这一点。呼了后晕乎乎状态下的注意力持续时长与片中每个片段的长度都完美契合，在每一个片段中，爱登堡那舒缓而慈爱的声音引导你看完一个简单的动物生活故事。与此同时，你可以欣赏到壮丽而空旷的风景，以及大特写镜头下非人类世界的丰富色彩和纹理，它们就像烟花一样在你敞开的脑海中绽放。这种效果令人敬畏，但也出乎意料地让人放松。屏幕上也没有麻烦的人类来破坏氛围。

1）match 在这儿是“与....相一致”的意思

2）in which Attenborough’s soothing, avuncular voice guides you through a simple story about animal life这是一个补语从句，which是指前面的each vignette

3）pop off:to come suddenly or unexpectedly out of or away from something

Stoned or sober, we are streaming sharks and penguins and lions into our homes in record numbers. According to the BBC, “Over a billion people have watched Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II in the last 3 years.” Those series were produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, the undisputed leader in high-polish nature documentaries since at least 2006’s Planet Earth.

不管是嗑了药还是清醒状态，我们在以创纪录的数量将鲨鱼、企鹅和狮子引入家中。据BBC报道，“在过去的3年里，超过10亿人观看了《地球脉动》第二季和《蓝色星球》第二季。”这些系列是由BBC自然历史组（Natural History Unit，简称NHU）制作的，至少自2006年的《地球脉动》以来，该部门一直是高水准自然纪录片领域无可争议的领导者。

high-polish：高抛光

A viral sequence of a baby iguana running from menacing snakes, footage of manta rays soaring through the sea set to the strains of a Hans Zimmer score—no one does it quite like the NHU. Perhaps the greatest testament to its influence is the way it has been imitated. A Perfect Planet looks and sounds like an NHU series, but it was produced by Silverback Films, which is led by ex-NHU staffers.

在红遍网络的一组镜头中，一只小鬣蜥从威胁它的蛇身边跑开；另一组画面中，伴随着汉斯·季默的配乐，蝠鲼在大海中翱翔——NHU的制作无人能及。也许最能证明其影响力的是它被模仿的方式。《完美星球》看起来和听起来都像是NHU系列，但它是由Silverback Films制作的，该公司的领导为NHU前员工。

1）strains:乐曲，旋律

2）score:在这儿作为名词是“配乐”的意思。如，do a film score 写电影配乐

《我们的星球》剧照

Whether through the NHU’s own films or knockoffs, the company has come to define nature for millions of people on a fast-urbanizing planet. So the stories it tells, the techniques it uses, and the world it has created are all worth examining. It is, in many respects, an altogether new world. By selecting just the most stunning shots and editing people out of the picture, the NHU creates an untouched parallel universe that’s undeniably glamorous—both beautiful and inaccessible.

无论是通过NHU自己的纪录片还是仿制品，这家公司已经在为这个快速城市化的星球上的数亿人定义自然。因此，它所讲述的故事，它所使用的技术，以及它所创造的世界都值得我们审视。在许多方面，这是一个全新的世界。挑选最令人惊叹的镜头，并将人物从画面中删除，NHU由此创造了一个未受破坏的平行宇宙，它有着不可否认的魅力——既美丽又难以接近。

fast-urbanizing：快速城镇化

Back in my bedroom, I watch grizzlies swim in a transparent lake ringed by green-black conifers. If the flamingos and the bears have a thematic connection, I’ve already forgotten it, but I feel good. It’s heartening to know that these bears are out there somewhere, living their best life. And it feels deeply satisfying to see them presented so crisply, so closely, the drops of water they shake off their fur sparkling like diamonds in the far-northern sunlight.

回到我的卧室，我看着灰熊在一个清澈透明的湖里游泳，湖水被墨绿色的针叶树环绕着。也许火烈鸟和熊之间有某种主题上的联系，我已经忘了，但我感觉很好。知道这些熊在某个地方，过着最好的生活，这是令人振奋的。看到它们如此清晰、如此近距离地呈现在眼前，它们毛发上抖落的水滴在极北之地的阳光下像钻石一样闪闪发光，让人深感心满意足。

ring：这个单词词性多样（ 可为名词，也可为动词），意义繁多，在这儿为动词，意为“包围，环绕”

Something about these programs is hyper-real. Partly, this stems from the fact that the films are enhanced. It is an open secret that the long zoom lenses used to capture animals up close can make recording real-time sound nearly impossible. And so the wet crunch of lions opening up a gazelle’s rib cage, the hollow clack of birds’ bills closing, the groan and woosh of a calving glacier—these noises are often recorded separately or even created by sound-effect artists and added to the shots later.

这些节目里有些东西是过度真实的，部分是因为它们采用了一些特殊手段。一个公开的秘密是，用来近距离拍摄动物的长焦距镜头几乎不可能实时录下声音。因此，狮子打开瞪羚胸腔时的潮湿的嘎吱声，鸟儿的嘴合上时的中空咔哒声，冰川崩解时的呻吟和呜呜声——这些声音通常都是单独录制的，甚至是由音效艺术家制作的，然后添加到素材中。

1）hyper-real：过度真实的，超真实的

2）the long zoom lenses：长焦距镜头

These sound effects, along with the orchestral music added to nearlyall of the high-end wildlife documentaries, set the emotional tone for the vignettes on-screen. Are these seabirds supposed to be majestic or comical as they enact their mating dance? The music tells us. Whom are we to root for in this interaction of predator and prey? Listen for the menacing strings.

这些音效，加上几乎所有高端野生动物纪录片都会添加的管弦乐，为屏幕上的小片段定下了情感基调。海鸟在表演求偶舞蹈时，应该是庄严的还是滑稽的？音乐会告诉我们。在捕食者和猎物的交互关系中，我们应该支持谁呢？听一听那恐吓的弦乐。

root for：to express or show support for

Alenda Chang, a film and media-studies professor at UC Santa Barbara, finds the ubiquity of orchestral music in the genre “irritating.” Using ambient sound, even if it has to be recorded separately or manipulated to be audible, can give viewers a truer and more complete understanding of the nonhuman world. “Using ambient sound leaves space for, not boredom exactly, but quiet contemplation,” Chang says. It better replicates the experience of seeing wildlife outside, in person.

加州大学圣巴巴拉分校电影与媒体研究教授阿伦达·张认为，这些纪录片中无处不在的管弦乐“令人恼火”。使用环境声音，即使必须单独录制或操作才能听到，也可以让观众对非人类世界有更真实、更完整的理解。“使用环境声音给观众留下的，不是倍感无聊的空间，而是安静沉思的空间，”张教授表示，它更好地复制了亲眼看到野生动物的体验。

《地球脉动》剧照

It isn’t just the sounds that make these films feel more than real. They use the absolute highest-resolution cameras available, what Chang calls “military-grade lenses.” Special techniques such as slow motion, time lapse, and underwater filming capture details that you simply can’t see any other way. Most series include at least one long-exposure shot of the night sky, a technique that makes the stars and Milky Way pop in a way they never will to your naked eye, no matter how far away you get from artificial lights. I am particularly obsessed with the depth of focus in many of these films’ shots. It is literally inhuman. On-screen, I can see individual feathers on the birds in the foreground and the distant mountain peaks—both sharply in focus. The effect is impossible to achieve in person with our soft, imperfect, biological eyes. What I am watching from beneath my blankets is in some measurable way more beautiful than real life.

不仅仅是声音让这些纪录片显得更真实。他们使用了目前绝对最高分辨率的摄影机，阿伦达·张称之为“军用级镜头”。特殊的技术，如慢动作、延时和水下拍摄，捕捉到了你根本看不到的细节。大多数纪录片系列至少会有一个夜空的长曝光镜头，这种技术呈现的星星和银河系是你以肉眼永远不会看到的，无论你离人造光有多远。我特别着迷于这些纪录片的镜头景深，那确实是非人类的。在屏幕上，我可以看到前景中鸟儿身上的片片羽毛和远处的山峰——二者都很清晰。这种效果是不可能通过我们柔软、不完美的生物眼睛达到的，我躺在毯子下观看的影像在很大程度上比现实生活更美。

1） highest-resolution cameras：resolution是熟词僻义，在这儿是“清晰度，分辨率”的意思

3）slow motion：慢动作　time lapse：延时　long-exposure shot：长曝光镜头

3）a technique that makes the stars and Milky Way pop in a way they never will to your naked eye：a technique是指前面的long-exposure shot，will后省略了pop，pop跟前面的popoff是一致的，“to suddenly appear, especially when not expected”，“突然出现”的意思

Viewers reared on this high-gloss version of nature might struggle to connect to or appreciate the actual world: a place of wonder and beauty—but also mud, cold, heat, mosquito bites, and long intervals during which distant, hard-to-see animals don’t really do anything. Why would I go outside and deal with all of that when I can stay tucked in bed, sipping an apricot La Croix, and get close enough to African lions to see the taste buds on their tongue?

在这个高光泽版本的自然中成长起来的观众，可能会很难联结或欣赏真实的世界：一个充满奇迹和美的地方——但也有泥泞、寒冷、炎热、蚊子叮咬，以及在很长一段时间里，远处难以看见的动物实际上什么都不做。我为什么要跑到外面去应对这一切呢，如果我可以窝在床上，啜饮着杏味气泡水，近距离观察非洲狮舌头上的味蕾?

1）rear sb on sth：to give a person or an animal a particular type of food, entertainment, "用...喂养、培养”

2） taste bud：味蕾

There’s a tempting analogy to porn. Frequent consumption of video of conventionally attractive people engaging in exaggerated and intense sex can turn some people off the pleasures of a roll in the hay with an imperfect, flesh-and-blood human. In the case of natural-history films, we need to make more kinds of wildlife and more kinds of nature—including the nature in our cities and backyards—sexy. In the United Kingdom, the NHU’s landmark series share the airwaves with NHU productions about British wildlife and working ecologists, which expands the British public’s natural-history-video diet. But in the United States, we tend to stream just the landmarks. So there’s an argument to include more nearby nature in them as well.

自然纪录片和色****情片有一个很诱人的类比。经常观看那些很有魅力的人夸张而激烈的性***爱视频，可能会让一些人失去与一个不完美的、有血有肉的人性***交的乐趣。就自然历史纪录片而言，我们需要让更多种类的野生动物和更多种类的自然——包括我们城市和后院的自然——变得性感。在英国，NHU那些具有里程碑意义的系列纪录片与NHU制作的关于英国野生动物和职业生态学家的节目都放在电视上共享，这大大丰富了英国公众的自然历史视频食粮，但美国倾向于只播放前者。所以有一种观点认为，它们也应该包含更多附近的自然环境。

a roll in the hay：an act of having sex with sb

未完待续。。。