As with all television programming genres, unscripted sometimes gets a bad rap for being derivative — witness the glut of pawn shop shows in the wake of Pawn Stars’ massive success, or any number of reality competitions placing a group of contestants in close living quarters, outfitted with strategically placed cameras.
But unscripted is also known for risk-taking and diving head-first into the development deep-end, in search of that loud, buzzy idea that breaks through the content clutter. And sometimes, those ideas come in the form of hybrids — taking two sub-genres and seeing if, in combining the two, there’s a sweet spot that will create the programming equivalent of chocolate and peanut butter.
With the recent Netflix series Nightmares of Nature (pictured top), which premiered its second “season” of three episodes on October 28, producers Plimsoll Productions and Blumhouse Television combined the storytelling approaches of natural history filmmaking and good ol’ hair-raising horror to illustrate the often scary experiences faced by creatures in the wild. And to hear their executives talk about it, it’s not as far-flung a concept as it seems on paper.
“We’re very much an entertainment-first production company, and we’d been thinking of cross-fertilizing the horror genre with natural history,” says Plimsoll’s head of natural history, Mark Brownlow (pictured left). “The thing about nature is that if you’re a little field mouse, your survival chances are quite slim. Nature is full of horrors.”
“We do feel like there’s a lot of unexpected places our genre can go,” offers Gretchen Palek, head of alternative television for horror specialists Blumhouse, the team behind the recent Black Phone 2 feature that is currently scaring the bejeezus out of audiences internationally. “When I first came on board, Jason [Blum, company CEO] asked me what type of categories I wanted to get into. And I immediately said natural history.”
Both prodcos have ties with ITV Studios — Plimsoll is part of the ITVS roster, while Blumhouse Television, which was under the umbrella until Blumhouse Productions bought back the 45% stake owned by ITVS, still has an overall deal with ITV America for unscripted programming. Both companies also have considerable track records with Netflix, so when the teams co-developed what became Nightmares of Nature, the streamer seemed like the perfect partner for the pitch.
In terms of division of labor, Brownlow says the Plimsoll team spent months researching and developing scenarios and storylines to determine “which animal stories would deliver the most gratifying narratives that would befit the horror genre.” In presenting those characters and storylines to Blumhouse, “they could then advise how to best execute the stories, build tension and construct drama such that you deliver maximum horror effect.”
While the bulk of the shooting was taken care of by Plimsoll, Blumhouse’s horror chops came into play not only in the edit suite and in post, but also in something of a classroom setting, with Blumhouse execs hosting Plimsoll producers in what they call “Scare School.”
According to Brownlow, “Scare School” is where Blumhouse shares with its production partners glimpses into “the dark arts and hidden secrets of how you make horror films.” As with any school worth its tuition, materials are provided — in this case, according to Palek, Plimsoll producers received a 60-page, carefully curated “scare bible.”
“When you deconstruct horror films, you begin to see patterns,” says Brownlow. “At its simplest, it’s things like ‘don’t reveal your monster until two-thirds of the way through the film.’ Think of Jaws. You never saw the whole shark until towards the end of the film. So you tease things out.
“There’s a fascinating grammar unique to horror films that we could then apply to us — things like holding shots way longer for tension,” he adds. “They told us to hold shots uncomfortably long so that you begin to question what’s on the other side of the frame.”
Palek offers one such example, via a scene in the series’ first episode involving an “adorable pregnant field mouse.” The mouse, after a long search for a place to rest, finally finds a resting place that she believes is a safe and secure spot for her and her babies.
“You listen to the music, and you’re thinking ‘My gosh, she found safety,’” Palek (pictured right) explains. “And then as the camera slowly backs away, you start to see what looks like bones. And as you continue to pull out, you realize these are carcasses of various prey, and she is in an owl’s nest.”
With both three-episode seasons currently streaming on Netflix, there is no word as of yet regarding more Nightmares of Nature. But both Brownlow and Palek are bullish about the need to reinvigorate unscripted genres with mash-ups and hybrids, however unlikely they may seem at first.
“We are exploring genres that may seem unexpected, but I think as they roll out, it’s not going to be surprising,” says Palek, citing history and science as areas that could be ripe for the “Blumhouse filter.”
For Brownlow the benefits are both creative and practical. Citing the need to appeal to younger audiences that are increasingly moving away from traditional television, he also frames collaboration as a way to broaden Plimsoll’s production palette.
“We have to realize what we’re good at and where we would benefit from expert advice,” he says. “Working with other expertise allows you to branch out and do something entirely original that no other wildlife filmmakers have attempted before.”