Joe Rogan Experience #1988 — James Reed Transcript

Transcript

0:00 the Joe Rogan experience for almost 30 years now so scientists when they first arrived the the chimpanzees were not So they weren't even able to see them, let alone study them. to come in and kind of literally Wow. them and and also wouldn't be a good idea to try and creep around and and hide from them they they wouldn't like The scientists for years have sort of made sure that, you know, the strict rules that you can't take, you take food in, but it's in concealed containers.

5:04 and they could be fighting. Or they could be doing something quite aggressive and they could But I think she and maybe a Nat Geo team, I think they sort of documented it for the first time. And they have taken hunting monkeys yeah they they hunt them regularly yeah how many did you witness them kill it was it was quite a We saw it quite a lot. You know, there's a tension in the air when you know that they're going to hunt,

9:36 what have i got myself into but she was absolutely amazing because she sort of you know held the And those trees fruit at different times and at different cycles. definitely valuable from a nutritional point of view but and then who gets a share of that That's a kind of a classic example of it. In that particular instance, she made it away with quite a big share of the monkey.

14:17 it was so complex yes i mean i've worked with chimps before. to that intense of a period. But as far as we know there's there's not a that they're looking at each other and they appear to be reading each other's intentions direction of the border and and then the others will join and then as they start moving closer and he was the patrol leader when Ngogo was one big group.

18:38 Ellington was the one who was present for the most during our filming period is a chimpanzee called Rollins who similarly has never shown any real interest And they do it a lot. They're very different ages, actually. often asked about how how is this functioning you know you don't like say other parts of their lives But patrols are, yeah, we know a lot about them through the scientists at Ngogo and through observing them ourselves,

22:20 When we were there, so Burgle, this young chimp that you're sort of you're just you're mimicking the the chimpanzees that you want to you want to where it's pheromones or something? they would be saying the same thing, that we don't know exactly how those patrols are instigated But there was a chimp that featured in a film I made a few years ago at Ngogo, and his name was Pinsir.

26:19 they're they're they're they're supposed to all have like brown um where we have whites of the ice they have brown appear to be doing things without any vocalizations um i wondered like you know how come pincers got And actually, they did a proper study on it at Ngogo They hunt all the time. but he fathered a huge number of offspring and he was always there on these cooperative behaviors.

30:06 but there is still a lot they don't know so this whites of the eyes characteristic this is a very because the the scientists generously gave made me an author on the paper. occur on low levels so they still really don't understand the role of that but it was interesting And I just think, any minute he's going to just turn around He's... but even at a distance you see

34:06 Was there any correlation between chimps that have that characteristic and specific roles they play of offspring as the alpha male at the time so here's an alpha male you know were in a reproductive state in estrus then they'd go all right okay now it's He was just a fascinating chimp, There's no proof for that. pincer and was fascinated by him and knew there's something different well i appreciate the

38:15 They're so close to us. You know, there are lots of similarities. because we tried to pick a real range of perspectives. no i think you did a fantastic job of highlighting that and it's it's so it's so compelling and so And we sort of tag-teamed the camera crews. and that you know only after filming them in that sort of level of commitment are we going to really

43:01 And as a camera person, it's like, I'm filming the guy who doesn't do anything. on a day-to-day basis but then You literally live within the Ngogo chimpanzee territory because the scientific study has a camp. like nip in and out and stay in a hotel outside you know everybody wanted you know you you miss because you have 400 days of footage you know we wouldn't have the level of access that we actually had.

47:11 Like I said, from the beginning, we were totally disciplined about certain things. by what we don't have in. or reflect what really happened. So we had a few electrical needs that the scientists didn't have and weren't set up for. I would imagine that at the end of the day, there probably has to be a very go over that and try to piece together a storyline and to know on what cards and on what hard drives you have what data.

50:23 Please, please. technical stuff if you're interested in that yeah i can get it yeah yeah please please so yeah and Because, yeah, not to get distracted by that, was there but very early from when he first went to see the chimps in the early 90s he carried managed to capture small parts of their lives whereas david was filming these incredible things regularly it just felt like he had this this amazing access and i remember thinking like

53:11 But in a way, that's related to this huge volume of footage. we're trying to work out how are we going to organize this stuff, what are they doing what are the conditions and then there's all the data about that's built into it And so, you know, we had to, once we knew the characters that we wanted to be viewing this story through, They are, and they are really good.

56:41 talking about this one scientist that had this very tiny camera and all the incredible footage that he was able to get i would imagine that with cell phones today You know, it's bigger than these cameras, for instance. and the most relevant scenes that we'd filmed. Boil it right down. narrative that we that we recorded so there are quite a lot of creative choices there like say

1:00:00 and just go, well, you know, there's the rushes. series. I used to like it more when I was younger and fitter, actually. and he was, he did the first episode, and he did a really, really good job. ways i missed that first version I mean, in the end, because we've got Mahershala Ali, and I just loved that part of the process as well so i think in in the end you

1:04:29 It gave it an extra sort of conceptual layer that I think really, really helps. certain situations you know for instance gus going to groom abrams or whatever you need to know what's at stake there you need to know that same thing that we didn't, you know, less descriptive versions of, you know, all repeated But, I mean, you know, the story still continues in GoGo.

1:07:56 know we'd be interested in now has there been thought about doing another series Because people know you're in the chimps. I I mean, I personally and the whole team who were involved in it, undertaking but I think we learned so much on the first one that I mean you know a lot of the pain long-term scientific projects. Ngogo is as well as having that level of access and data and sort of so you just have so much

1:11:37 they have, it's wild in every direction outside of there. different chimpanzee site there's like a an associated unique behavior or or culture But do they sharpen these sticks? watch them tear the monkeys apart with their hands. So making, not just using tools, but making tools. And it's interesting. They've just hammered the monkeys there. is there speculation that there's two things going on,

1:16:48 is not just for food, but that cats are also predators. Is it a shame? And you, yeah, you don't. prevalence of monkeys outside of their territory and do they ever go outside of their territory Unfortunately, if you follow chimps, and a lot of chimp groups do that. so and you do i mean having said i was i'm a bit desensitized to it i think you know that what the

1:21:10 But then it's quite a precarious position because where do you go from there? No, not really. opportunity right okay there is there's a group of monkeys here and they're up in that tree and of this sort of behavior was that they will sort of ambush them they will set up traps But there are some activities that they do, like a hunt, It's hard to kind of know exactly how they do it.

1:25:59 And I've not really heard one that works for me that oddly oddly apart from sort of acknowledging you um they just don't But then again, you never see a chimpanzee run into a tree either. kind of part of it but they're not interested in you it's strange like and until you're there and you're in it it's it's it's sort of an and you follow them around all day,

1:28:56 So even things that don't really bother us, like a cough. you you have you know if you're not feeling well or or anything like that you mustn't go and see Yeah, it's not a lot. However, you know, like I said, the chimps don't know that rule. And because the go-go group's so big, kind of like it has quite a soporific effect on you like if you're in amongst

1:32:40 asleep or look very relaxed and it's a those moments are kind of amazing actually because you job to do at the border and and it's a completely different atmosphere and it's tense and same thing So there's like a – there is a real practical function. So, yeah, they are looking for specific things things but then if you watch what they're doing but there's so many other layers to that the relationship building and the

1:36:11 they are showing a level of interest And I think that's what makes them quite comfortable of that distance as well. very well habituated no fear of humans whatsoever um you know he's never made contact but i think I mean, let me rephrase that. Right. So they did. We were warned, you know, keep a respectful distance from that. they're in there sort of it's a bit like being a war reporter or something um but weirdly you know

1:41:49 And they are engaged in these sort of violent competitions And those are exactly the sort of things I wanted to know and they're fully committed and they're coordinated. Look at that. They're in this, like, tense situation. seeing chimp on chimp violence from several feet away, that has to be wild. violence is is a lot harder um to watch um than the chimp on monkey violence for me personally

1:45:53 level just no one likes seeing that sort of thing yeah you know there's there's just uh They're there to observe and try and understand. During the filming, or at least on the show, No, no, no, that's fine. I know it's you for me. No. I think, yeah. know you know what could you do shout and make a noise and try and disturb them all those natural sort of tendency, desires to intervene and stop something,

1:50:55 things because well you know there's absolutely nothing you can do about this right i mean of I do feel with the Ngogo chimps in particular, like you say, as a human being, from an existential sort of point of view, there's like, I'm so fortunate. You know, I mean, you are always trying to make something better than you did before They are the biggest

1:54:03 And that is certainly harder to do with who all kind of want quite different things. other stuff already um i can't i can't i understand that yeah i would imagine if i was netflix if i and was behind it from day one. it's a window of time into the Ngogo group, we can't stop now you know can we because it's still happening at ngogo that's okay this the

1:57:04 So everything that happened there won't happen again. and what happens to them when they get pushed out so that's interestingly that's different in different chimp groups across Yeah. age as well so it doesn't really feel like yeah there isn't there is like at gogo there's there's from the chimps that are successful Well, I don't know the answer to that actually.. I mean, there's certainly, there's leaders in, they adopt different strategies individually. And definitely the ones that are better at managing their political relationships and their allies, they stay in power longer and they have an

2:01:47 So he was the most successful leader there. And what happens to them when they get overthrown? as the outgoing alpha um is submitting to the incoming one and in the formal way the pant grunt the trajectory down the hierarchy and just retired he was that he was out of it it's like baboons that was eating food that was in garbage that was from, I believe it was a resort.

2:05:29 That, I didn't know. competition there's there's not as much play it's all quite quite harsh existence and then the western group who are much smaller group so they've got small number of males but huge number of females and females have left the central group and gone to the west and they play a lot now how did they and they do that you know 10 11 whatever maybe a few years later but at some point around that

2:08:46 to the group actually partly because the the males were all very interested and you know this is it's a purely positive thing for the for a new female to arrive at the group but the the females that And that might last a while as well As far as I know, yeah. where they know everybody actually because until a few years ago they were part of the same group

2:11:54 staying as one group bearing in mind there's still the same sort of social structure so you still easterners and the westerners and stuff they were part of the same group and they the males would um yeah big big big fights there that i think contributed to this sort of growing divide. But this period is fascinating because, you know, God, what this new thing has happened at Ngogo.

2:16:13 people ones you can't get close to them as a scientist or as a filmmaker you know they're It is fascinating what's happening there at the minute. it's it's uh it's really groundbreaking stuff and i i mean until i understood until i knew And it's so, you feel it with the Ngogo chimps. before we even went out we could study their backstories like for over 200 chimps detailed information about every

2:20:28 and so unique and i remember uh the first time uh seeing the the very first episode just blown away four parts they're all amazing you you guys nailed it it's incredible and i really really Don't do that. would be interested in. So we'll send it to there.