Big Timber – A Netflix Documentary Series

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For a few days I have been watching a few documentary series on Netflix. Big Timber is one of them. Usually I like nature that is untouched. I like to see trees that are standing tall and proud, not on their sides, ready to be chopped up into wood for housing.

It is because I like to see living trees that I started watching the series, and then gave up. As a person that likes trees it makes little sense to watch as “claims” of trees are cut down, and hauled up the slope, down the mountain and then turned into wood for various projects.

Eventually I did start to watch the documentaries and I enjoy them. Kevin, the owner of the company, has learned how to build roads, scavenge wood from the sea shore, and more. He likes to buy machines, second hand, and repair them, before using them. In so doing he is able to get machines that do what he needs, at a much lower price, than if he bought them new. It helps that he has access to mechanics and more.

The documentary is broader than “A and his team go to cut down trees, and bring them to the mill, to make things”. It’s A uses this machine for that, but because it’s slow he wants to use that machine, but that machine requires someone with other skills. It’s fun, and every episode is different. It’s the type of show where you think “oh, one more episode”. I burned through the first two seasons fast, because I enjoyed it.

A Lot of Drone Use

I noticed that both in Big Timber and an English documentary series about castles they used a lot of drone shots. The drones are used to show the forests, the landscapes, the castles, and a top down view of trees being cut down. It’s a great way to get a diversity of shot types and values that would not otherwise be possible.

It’s great for getting the camera into places that would otherwise be inaccessible or dangerous. I would be more specific but that might count as a spoiler.

With the documentary about castles I noticed that one type of shot was missing. The “detail” shots of castles. They would regularly have drones flying over the castles, flying from one end to the other, over the town and more. They did not often have drones flying to show details that we can’t see from the ground. They could have shown us specific parts of the architecture that we wouldn’t notice otherwise.

If they make a documentary about cathedrals then they must get close to the statues, gargoyles and more, to show the intricacies of those details. Now that we have flying cameras, we should take advantage.