At a time when screens are getting smaller, the BBC channel shows breathtaking pictures planet earth iii At the London premiere, the film was shown on huge screens around the room, creating a completely different experience. It felt like you were in the Namib Desert or swimming in the ocean with sharks smiling coolly.
Trunk Tales
Shailene Woodley, Star Big Little Lies And the divergent The official ambassador for the series is planet earth iiiThe 32-year-old actor accompanied the production team to Chad’s Zakouma National Park. Although she lost her luggage and was living in borrowed shorts and tops, her encounter with elephants, who were slowly learning to trust again after a hunting ban, proved, “If you provide space for healing, healing happens. We all have to be a little uncomfortable and sacrifice in a small way to make space for healing.” Mike was supposed to go to Chad on that trip. “At the last minute, some of our visas got cancelled and I couldn’t go. My understanding from people who went was that Shailene has a great sensitivity about the natural world and she was very moved by both our story and the filmmakers’ effort. She’s a wonderful ambassador. I had a chance to talk to her last night and she’s so sweet and humble.”
Executive Producer Mike Gunton | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
According to executive producer Mike Gunton, the wide-screen feel was inspired by the fact that people preferred watching the earlier seasons. planet Earth on as big a screen as possible. “People used to gather together planet Earth there was something like this at the party planet Earth that brought people together. Last night’s show was probably as big a screen as you can manage.” Mike says there’s not much television one is compelled to watch on a big screen. “If there’s a show, PE III That will happen.”
choose from many people
Choosing a Defining Image PE III Mike, senior executive of the BBC Natural History Unit, says it’s a great question. “David Attenborough walking exactly where Charles Darwin walked 200 years ago when Darwin was coming up with his theory of evolution is one of the defining moments of the show. David saying ‘We’re now going to be talking about what the planet will be like in 200 years’ puts it into perspective.”
In terms of animals, the moment when the male ostrich turns around when he hears the sound of his lost baby evokes an extraordinary emotion.” Mike picks out two other images. “One is the rhinoceros in Nepal. You realise that a wild rhino is walking down a city street, totally oblivious, going from where he used to graze to where he wants to graze and someone has put a city in his path. The other is at the end of the episode ‘Extremes’. A snow leopard and his family are on top of a peak in the Gobi Desert and David says, ‘This is planet Earth as you may never see it again’. The combination of those words and that image is very strong.”
opportunity to do more work
Mike says the third season of the nature documentary is both a cautionary tale and an expression of hope. “There has to be hope, because without hope nothing will happen. It’s not a story because we’re trying to tell the truth as much as possible. There was an opportunity to do more than just show the wonders of nature.”
Not wanting to compare and contrast (isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that terrifying?), Mike says he chose the relevant, subtle route.
“Humanity is a powerful force, and we have to look after our survival as well. We are not going back to the Stone Age. PE III is trying to show the natural world in a modern way. We show the wonders as well as the touch points where humanity and animals come in contact.”
Forty years later
talking about PE III As a cautionary tale, Mike says, “Forty years ago, David created a series called Living PlanetIn the last episode, ‘Modern Worlds,’ he said, ‘Humans are incredibly powerful. We’re going to get more powerful, how are we going to use that power? What effect will it have on the natural world? If we don’t use it correctly, things won’t be good for the natural world.’ And that’s what happened.”
There are some notable exceptions. “You feel the tide is turning a little bit. Public opinion is more concerned about nature. If we want to change this situation we need to pull the big levers of power. It’s not just because it’s nice to see wild animals but also because we depend on them. Connectedness is a theme of this subject PE III.Action A has consequences for animals B, C, D, E, F and G. By not understanding this, we are playing with fire.”
a little bit of both
The first season of planet EarthMike said it was a revelatory view of our planet. “It was the first time we were able to stand back and look at it almost from God’s perspective. PE II We took the cameras very close to the animals to see what it was like to live in their world. If the first season was about species, the second was about individuals.”
Mike says Season 3 is both. “Prism is visual and technical as well as conceptual. We’re looking at humanity’s impact on our planet and the natural world. While there’s no camera lens to do that, there’s a storytelling approach and editorial approach that does that.”
Climate change has caused an explosion in the desert locust population due to abnormally high rainfall in arid parts of Africa. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
There’s also this added subtext when you look at the wonders and amazement of the planet,” Mike says. “One of the things I’m most pleased with is that we’ve got the balance right.”
Different perspectives
The show, which has eight episodes and was filmed in 43 countries and six continents over five years, had its challenges. “It was tough to maintain that balance. Covid-19 led to a new approach. We used a lot more crew in the country. We directed remotely for a year. That helped the local communities who had their own networks and we were exposed to this whole ecosystem and talent base around the world.”
Mike says this has been beneficial for all sorts of reasons, and not just because of reducing the carbon footprint. “These super talented people brought their perspectives, which brought diversity and breadth of viewpoints. You could argue who are we Westerners from the U.K. to talk about what’s happening in India or Pakistan, whereas when the photographers are from there as storytellers, it gives their perspective more legitimacy.”
apex predator
Then there were the classic challenges like killing the sharks. “It’s an incredibly logistical task because you’re working in a difficult environment with dynamic animals, one of which is one of the deadliest predators on the planet. Interestingly, the crew never felt they were in danger. They understand the sharks’ behaviour is sophisticated and signals their intentions quite clearly. If you speak shark, you can read their language.”
Speaking of predators, in the scene of the crocodile attacking the deer, which Mike describes as a Hitchcockian drama, the audience’s sympathies are always with the prey. “The deer is the crocodile’s food. I once got a letter that said, ‘I watched your programmes but I find it very, very difficult. I don’t understand why you can’t teach the lions to eat grass!’ Four billion years ago, one animal decided to eat another animal and since then it has become the nature of much of life. There are eaters and those who are eaten.”
In the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America, sealions compete for anchovies in one of the world’s largest fisheries. | Photo credit: Special Arrangement
Ensuring “planet Earth tingles” is a high priority for Mike. “Speaking on behalf of our whole team, when you watch the show, you feel you are in the safe hands of skilled storytellers. You know the story is going to be surprising, but also satisfying. Whether it’s ‘I wanted it to survive’, or ‘it survived’, the scale and significance and the way they are told make you feel you have had a privileged experience.”
The planet is amazing and precious, but also fragile, Mike says. “It’s all three of those things, and that’s what we need.” planet Earth reflects.”
Planet Earth III will air from July 29 at 9 pm on Sony BBC Earth and will also be streamed on Sony Liv.
The writer was in London at the invitation of Sony BBC Earth
