Dancing With Cranes: On Location With A New Zealand Wildlife Film-Maker

by Alison Ballance

Wildlife film-maker Alison Ballance has driven across Mongolia in search of wild horses and dancing cranes. She's spent nearly nine months working on remote New Zealand islands to film the nocturnal, rare kakapo. She's travelled through steamy jungles in Thailand, and across the frozen forest of the Russian Far East in search of the Siberian tiger. Ballance's job as producer for tv company Natural History NZ has had her track rare and wild animals in some of the most remote places on earth.

The stories behind the films are extraordinary; being on location with Ballance is an adventure, frequently into the unknown. Her experiences range from the uncomfortable to the absurd. Though she's had more than her fair share of dust and frustration, this book also captures the joy and elation of discovery. Whether she's nose to beak with a kakapo, riding a Bactrian camel in the Gobi, or tracking tigers in Russia's winter snows, travels with this winsome wildlife film-maker are seldom glamorous but always captivating and exhilarating. 'So here we are, an all-women vegetarian film crew with a half a tonne of film equipment. Here to work in the land of boiled yak.'

262 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Often we do not think of the work that goes behind filming this nature films. The section on Mongolia Was especially interesting as I know very little about that area of the world.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Being a nature lover and often having thoughts of dabbling in nature photography, I found the film makers' pursuits of elusive and rare cranes, kakapos, wild horses and tigers very interesting. I doubt I would want to really put up with the hardships or have the tenacity that this crew had, but it was nice to follow their experiences via the pages of their story. As another reader mentioned, I would have really liked more photos. I would recommend this book to someone who likes to read about travel as well as nature and photography. I learned about places and creatures in the world that I really knew very little about.


Note: This was a book that I received as a bookray through
Bookcrossing.com

[Vanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a most enjoyable look into the challenges and rewards of being a wildlife film-maker. Alison is a lovely story teller and this glimpse into the realities of film-making, and what you don't see on your movie or TV screen is entertaining and an eye-opener.

[Rachel (Sfogs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyied it~!!!!
My copy of this book will be made a bookcrossing.com book
it will hopefully travel round the world collecting readers,
more than the '3' shown on this website, it deserves more~!