NATURAL HISTORY
FACTUAL TV
discovery,” says Darke. “But it can be a very important ingredient.”
BREAKING NEW GROUND New dinosaurs and dinosaur behaviour is central to Apple’s recently launched title, Prehistoric Planet. The insight into behaviour and knowledge about dinosaurs underpins the representation of earth 66 million years ago, brought to life with CGI dinosaurs in real-life locations. Executive producer Mike Gunton, creative director of BBC Studios NHU, believes that it’s not only based on science, but builds on that science: “I think, and I hope that what we have done here is that we have created the 21st century marker, the representation of what we now know about the world of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous for the next decade or so. I hope and think this is more than just a great TV show, I think it is a piece of seminal science.” The development of CGI is the next turn in the
wheel for natural world filmmaking. “Technology has been transformative,” says Darke. “It can open our eyes to see new perspectives.” Just as the Cineflex Heligimbal gave a new look and pace when used for the first time on Planet Earth, CGI is getting closer to simulating animals. And the price of photorealistic CGI will go down. “It will get cheaper and cheaper,” says Keith Scholey, “until it’s as cheap as filming a sequence.” Drones have been another game-changer for
the genre and now feature everywhere, saving cost and environmental impact, as well as giving new points of view. “The drone revolutionised how we
THE STORYTELLERS: FROM BRISTOL AND BEYOND
Bristol has become legendary as the Green Hollywood for natural history programming, but it’s not the only place in the UK to find leading natural history producers. Bristol’s undoubted centre of excellence is home to All3 Media’s Silverback, Sky’s True To Nature, Offspring Films and Wildstar. It’s the location for BBC Studios NHU and October’s Wildscreen Festival as well as Humble Bee, Icon Films and Netflix-backed Freeborne Media. But in the city habitats of London, there are also ground-breaking natural world indies: ITV Studios-owned OSF, Passion Pictures under its Passion Planet banner, Talesmith and Nutopia, with
its slate of megadocs that cross into wildlife territory. There’s a natural history mini-hub in Glasgow – with the Highlands on its doorstep and home of renowned film maker Gordon Buchanan. Maramedia, Hello Halo and Oak Island Films are all Glasgow-based. While Big Wave flies the wildlife flag in Brighton and has recently launched an office in Cornwall. In Wales, there’s One Tribe on the border in Chepstow and Cardiff-based Folk Film specialises in environmental travelogues. While Plimsoll – newly acquired by ITV Studios – has an office in Cardiff, as well as a Bristol stronghold.
Summer 2022
televisual.com
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