![]() ![]() Also coming from Apple, there’s Big Beasts, a new look at the world’s largest animals narrated by Tom Hiddleston. If you’re looking for documentaries about Earth’s past, you really shouldn’t miss the two seasons of Apple’s Prehistoric Planet. This doesn’t mean the first batch of Our Planet episodes were strictly about climate change, as they still were presented in traditional fashion, giving viewers an up-close look at several species. That decision gave the documentary series a unique voice, as nature documentaries have traditionally centered around the natural state of the environment versus the humans’ impact on it. Our Planet season 1 chose to focus on the matter of climate change and how it’s been affecting many species for decades now. Ahead of season 2’s debut, here’s everything you need to know about the series and where you can watch it as soon as it hits. ![]() In other instances, crews might control a camera remotely, or simply leave it running and hope for the best.After making waves in 2019 with an eight-episode first season, Our Planet is back this month with a second batch of episodes that will take viewers all over the globe to meet and learn about a number of precious animal species and how they thrive and survive. The cameraman gets in, and then the other person walks away." The idea is for the animals to see people coming and going, but not keep track of everyone. "Every morning you both walk down to the hide. "It'll be two people on a shoot," Charles says. The BBC filmmakers spent a lot of time tucked away in makeshift blinds and hides. ![]() But others want nothing to do with Homo sapiens. Some animals simply don't fear humans, because they've never known they should. Generally speaking, once the animal decides the camera is neither predator nor prey, they leave it alone. Or they might turn on a drone, but not fly it, letting animals get used to the whirring of the propellors. The producer and crew dedicate a significant chunk of that time to letting animals grow accustomed to the presence of a camera: they might erect a camera in the animal's territory and leave it there for several days. High frame-rate cameras slow the action down enough to let you follow along.Īs a general rule, it takes about a week to film one minute of wildlife footage. The frog's fight to save its brood from a swarm of wasps occurred so quickly that Brown didn't know exactly what he'd filmed until he played it back later. The "Jungles" episode features John Brown's work using a high-speed camera to film the elusive glass frog, a Costa Rican animal the size of your fingernail. Ed Charles, who directed the episode "Deserts," relied heavily on time-lapse photography to reveal the power of desert storms and the explosion of life and color that accompanies the spring bloom. New filmmaking techniques also infuse Planet Earth II. The Sony A7S II was a favorite in low-light situations, and the crews also used Go Pro-style cameras, consumer drones, and more. They favored the Red Epic Dragon because it shoots 6K footage, works in even the worst conditions, and weighs just 5 pounds without a lens. The crew tended to use cameras available to anyone with the money. Instead, the documentary series reflects a decade of steady improvements that have led to smaller, lighter, better cameras, particularly those that excel in poor lighting. You see a lot of new filmmaking technology in Planet Earth II, but no single innovation made it possible. This kind of footage simply would not have been possible without cameras that did not exist a few years ago. Once, the big cat turned directly toward him, standing just feet away. On a good night, he might spot the leopard-or, rather, its heat signature-through the foliage once or twice. Once he had a sense of the animal's habits, Buchanan spent night after night hidden in a blind, panning the horizon with his camera, hoping to glimpse his quarry.īuchanan favored a thermal rig designed for shooting in darkness. Buchanan did just that, erecting infrared "camera traps" throughout the leopard's territory and checking them daily to discern its routine. You make your best guess about what might happen, set up your gear, and wait-sometimes for days. Filming wildlife isn't like shooting a movie the stars ignore your schedule and rarely appear when or where you want them to. The BBC sent Buchanan to Mumbai to film those cats for Planet Earth II, the epic nature documentary series that wraps up this weekend on BBC America. The elusive cats hunt at night, shrouded by darkness and the din of the city. ![]() Plenty of people know that leopards wander the streets of Mumbai, but few people ever see them. ![]()
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