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The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 struck early on the morning of April 18. As the ground shook, buildings sunk into the ground, and men, women and children were swallowed into the earth. But the earthquake was only the beginning. The quake sparked a terrifying wall of fire that consumed much of the city, triggering astonishing acts of incompetence, mercy and valor.
This is a tale of greed and corruption, ignored warnings, and heroism – all told through first-hand accounts and photographs of survivors. At the time, 487 deaths were recorded. Only now, as we approach the centenary of the disaster, is the true scale of the catastrophe becoming apparent. Painstaking detective work has revealed the true scale of the disaster – over six thousand deaths – making it the greatest natural disaster in American history.
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1906 San Francisco Eathquake
Was it just me but was the programme virtually unwatchable because of the insistent background music? Just about throughout the programme there was this droning music even behind the experts when they spoke. I have noticed this to be a common practice on the imported programmes, particularly from America on the History Channel but the BBC seemed previously to have avoided this. I noticed that this was a co-production with a variety of overseas broadcasters which may explain why it occurred but, for its credibility, perhaps the "Timewatch" strand should not have shown this programme and either left it to other broadcasters or, better still, developed their own programme.
Re: 1906 San Francisco Eathquake
Although the mood music did not get to me in this programme it is symptomatic of the dumbing down of factual programmes on the BBC. The absolutely "baddest of the bad" in this respect is the six o'clock news, where mood music is being added to supposed news items, which are often no more than trailers for other programmes.
Re: 1906 San Francisco Eathquake
I'm with you David. The new trend of playing a continuous drone as background music, sometime totally drowning out the text, is making watching unbearable. If you turn the sound down you miss the dialogue. As for the movie, it was heavy on drama but light on facts and useful information.
Re: 1906 San Francisco Eathquake
I was beginning to think that it was just me that felt this way with regard to "background" music. I would be interested to hear who made the decision to employ this music. Was it a historian? I think not. Was it a "media" graduate trying to appeal to the 20 something audience. I wonder... Actually,going on and possibly heading towards a rant I just don't understand why this music is considered necessary. Large fire plus images of effect of fire may not be considered enough to make us feel "sad" so let's add some some sad music in case we miss the point. Perhaps we should add on some images of people crying in case we still don't get it. Or perhaps maybe an advert for Kleenex so we are absolutely sure. I thought it might head towards a rant but perhaps best to leave it with the view that the audience don't need to be treated like children and if the BBC serves any purpose it is to inform,educate and entertain in an adult manner at 9pm on a Friday night.
Re: 1906 San Francisco Eathquake
I can't say that the background music spoiled the programme for me, although I did notice it!
The producers have to tread a fine line between an informative, educational narrative and entertainment for the masses. This debate raises its head quite often on the various TimeTeam fora I subscribe to.
The argument tends to be that a well written, well presented documentary doesn't need special effects or overblown background music. But the other side of the argument says that the stripped down programme won't attract the viewer with a passing interest, only the 'hardcore' viewer.
I have a passing interest in history and archaeology. It's not my profession, just a hobby. The programmes have to grab the attention of people like myself and others who see them in the TV rags and think, "Oh, that looks interesting, I'll watch it." If they then watch the programme and it's a clinical, cold, stats. filled hour, they'll not bother to watch again. But if it's an hour of big budget film style footage, filled with facts and figures presented in an easy to understand way, then they'll look out for and watch these programmes again.
I prefer programmes that are a mix of the above, that's why I enjoy Timewatch!!
Re: 1906 San Francisco Eathquake
I posted a reply to this earlier but it does not seem to have made it to the screen! I must admit that I did not find the music distracting and found it the best of all the programmes, mixing historical description and current experts, such as Simon Winchester. What did other people think? Best wishes, John