involved communication between locations. Not only did crews spanning up to numerous time zones have to be in voice contact, it was also essential that everyone had access to other services, such as
email — a facility not easily available in the Kalahari desert or in the middle of the Maasai Mara in Kenya. “The solution was to install
VSat connections to allow us to use satellite broadband to
communicate by email and VoIP,” reveals Jackson. This satellite broadband facility was also important for the filing of broadcast material. “To make best use of our budget, it was not cost effective
to have a full traditional OB uplink truck in South Africa and Sri Lanka. So, we designed an editing and production workflow that allowed us to edit on location, get feedback from the Executive Producer in the
UK and then send final, full- resolution material back to the UK base where final mix and dub could take place. The same equipment would also allow the teams on location to have live 2-way conversations with the presenters in the US or Kenya.”
Specialist units To complement the ‘live’ elements of the programmes, the BBC used a number of recording techniques to capture specific animal behaviour. For example, a thermal imaging camera developed by Ammonite (an independent Bristol-based wildlife production company) was used to show nighttime activity.
This is a modified industrial
camera that records its best image quality to a PC as an .avi
Tim Scoones: “We chose May because this is a critical month for the young animals’ struggle for survival”
file. One drawback, however, is that when deployed for ‘live’ shots it has to use a composite output converted to SDI. And because it is a 4:3 format camera, the output needs to be ARC’d for transmission. Although some quality is lost, it still enables images to be shown that would otherwise prove impossible. However, when used in PSC mode, the image is a significant improvement on older style cameras and the range of lenses that can be used is also increased. “To secure pictures of the bears in Minnesota, a ‘den cam’ was installed by specialist wild life producers, wildearth.tv,” explains Jackson. “The camera is a small Sony unit with a 4:3 aspect ratio that provides a composite output. Again, quality is sacrificed for access on this occasion.” Jackson continues, “We have
to strike a balance between ease of use and image quality for certain situations. Using camera traps to confirm the presence of elusive animals is something we do a lot, and for these purposes we often use Bushnell Trophy cameras, which are easily deployed and work over long periods of time in remote