電視科學紀錄片中不可觀察事物之表現與敘事風格之轉移──以BBC《地平線》系列為例

Representation of the Unobservable and the Shift of Narrative Style in TV Science Documentaries: BBC’s Horizon

本研究以世界最長壽的電視科學節目――英國BBC電視台的《地平線》（Horizon）系列――為檢視對象，觀察其手法之歷時性演變。結果發現，儘管數位時代動畫製作的工具前所未有強大、易近，科學影片在千禧年之後並未提升對動畫的仰賴，這可能與科學影片建構、塑造科學意象的基本需求有關。同時，實拍仍為主要影像媒介，運用方式卻與古典科學影片不同，表現出強烈的風格化傾向。研究進一步利用集群分析（cluster analysis）作為探索工具，發現樣本影片（共60部）可以被很好地分為三群，分別代表了早期、古典形式，及後古典形式三個群型。此結果呼應了Cagle（2012）在社會議題紀錄片所觀察到的「後古典」（postclassical nonfiction）轉向。本文對電視科學紀錄片視覺手法的探討，顯示人們傳播、溝通知識方式的變化，也反映出我們對知識的看法的改變。

This study examines the BBC TV series‘Horizon’, one of the longest ever-running science programme stands in history, to see if recent episodes show this tendency of growing reliance on digital animation after the millennium. The results of this study don’t support such a tendency. On the contrary, there is a slight decline in the usage of animation. This can be explained in part by science film’s basic need to establish an image of science. The results also indicate that there are significant aesthetic changes in recent episodes: photographic images continue to be the primary medium, but they are handled in a different way than in traditional science documentaries, with a propensity toward formal excess. By means of cluster analysis, the sample films in this study (60 films in total) can be divided into three groups, representing early, classical and post-classical forms. This finding parallels Cagle’s (2012) observation of a“postclassical”change in the social documentary. The discussion in this article of the visual approaches used in TV science documentaries demonstrates the change of how we spread and communicate knowledge, as well as the change of our perspectives on knowledge.