Lead image credit: Phil Streather NO TEA PARTY The traditional approach to filming chimpanzees and many other species in their natural habitat is to use a large camera and a very long lens necessitating a large and heavy tripod, but Oscar-winning director James Reed (My Octopus Teacher) and cinematographer Ben Sadd (Jago: A Life Underwater; … Read more
CREATURE COMFORTS Cinematographer Jack Mifflin used the Laowa Ranger Compact Cine Zoom to capture European marmots in the wild. Images of wild marmots eating biscuits was the spur for award-winning filmmakers Yaz Ellis and Jack Mifflin to produce a short film highlighting the complicated relationship between humans and feeding wildlife. The pair, who live in … Read more
THE RIGHT PACKAGE FOR A SUCCESSFUL SHOOT Whether navigating tropical jungles, searing deserts, icy mountains, or the depths of the ocean, wildlife filmmakers face a unique set of challenges. Despite the variety of environments, a common set of considerations always guides their essential kit list. On every shoot, technical challenges are inevitable as capturing something … Read more
INTREPID ADVENTURE Anyone growing up in the UK is familiar with Captain Scott’s race to the South Pole as a tale of tragic heroism but there is far more to the story that a new film sets out to explore. The Worst Journey In The World is a biopic set in Antarctica, recounting one of … Read more
CAPTURING THE GRIT AND GLORY Guardians – a gripping new documentary series filmed using Blackmagic Design kit – sheds light on the courageous work of anti-poaching rangers in the Zambezi Delta of Mozambique. Produced by Conservation Film Company for EarthxTV, seven-episode documentary Guardians tracks the efforts of anti-poaching rangers – the unsung heroes – as … Read more
WILD NINJA Kristi Odom travels the world as a photographer and filmmaker to highlight wildlife stories and protect them. As an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, she has helped raise nearly $1m for conservation. On a recent trip to Bolivia, Kristi Odom visited La Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary to raise money … Read more
FEMALE FORCE Networking and support group Women in Wildlife (WiW) is connecting and amplifying women working within the wildlife industry. We hear from its founder and members about the group’s vital work. The planet is facing climate and biodiversity loss crises that impact all of humanity and yet globally, women remain underrepresented in leading solutions … Read more
SECOND NATURE Some of the cinematographers behind Planet Earth III reveal their techniques to capture the big wild world in all its glory. For wildlife cinematographer John Haskew, any filmmaking, including shooting the natural world, is “all about the story and engaging and educating the audience”. Immersing the viewer in the world of the subject, … Read more
FEMALES IN THE FRAME As well as the female dynasties at the centre of the story in Queens, talented and passionate women took on key roles behind the camera and throughout the production team to capture the groundbreaking wildlife series. After more than a century of bringing the world to readers via its distinctive, yellow-bordered … Read more
WILD WORLD For wildlife cinematographer Bertie Gregory, “the animal always comes first”. This principle is clearly evident in his BAFTA-nominated series, now streaming on Disney+. As Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory unfolds, you can see his relationship with his subjects is one of profound respect, even when they kill other animals to survive. This … Read more
WILD AT HEART Meet the organisations, charities, festivals and more who play their part in making the world of wildlife filmmaking a roaring success. BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is the best-known producer of natural history content in the world, responsible for some of the most globally successful factual content of the past 10 … Read more
WORLD UNITED Find out how some productions are combining visual effects flair and natural history expertise to create the next generation of wildlife documentaries. In 1999, Tim Haines, BBC Studios Science Unit, Discovery Channel, and Framestore released an ambitious six-part nature documentary television miniseries, Walking with Dinosaurs, that mixed real locations with CGI to give … Read more
TAKE TO THE SKIES Aerial filming – whether by helicopter or drone – may be more mobile than shooting from a hide on the ground, but dynamic and useable footage of wildlife requires just as much patience and experience. “There’s a lot of animal behaviour that you can only see and understand from an aerial … Read more
SMALL BUT MIGHTY From shrimps to spiders, capturing the natural world’s smaller inhabitants calls for specialist kit and knowledge. Macro cinematography demands meticulous control, with a mix of studio-based and on-location work. Veteran filmmaker Richard Kirby says most macro cinematographers build a simple set “and take that anywhere,” blending the back of the set and … Read more
ALONE AND UNAFRAID In wild shooting, nothing is more difficult or challenging than working solo. Dealing with wildlife in extreme conditions requires constant risk assessment. We asked three cinematographers what steps they put in place to ensure their safety on solo shoots. Originally from Australia, Kirsten Slemint has a background in science and journalism. She … Read more
INTO THE BLUE Join the cinematographers taking the plunge into our oceans as they strive to capture the world beneath the waves. It used to be that simply taking a camera to an unusual place – the top of a mountain, space, or the depths of the sea – would satisfy producers of high-end documentaries. … Read more
CLIMBING THE LADDER It’s no secret that wildlife filmmaking is a competitive field, but new talent is welcomed, whether you choose the film school route or an alternative path into the industry. Finding work in almost any part of the film industry has never been easy, and a discipline as specific as natural history narrows … Read more
THE ROAD WILDLY TRAVELED The wilderness is filled with paths; deer trails, hikes across mountains or into rainforests, or anywhere else leading, as Shel Silverstein once wrote, “where the sidewalk ends.” But if you want to wield a camera and document all those non-human spaces and their inhabitants, where does the trailhead start for your … Read more
KITTED OUT FOR SUCCESS Film and TV projects have long combined custom-built equipment with the latest high technology, and that seems even more common in natural history work. The natural history field demands material that’s novel and achieves the sort of high-end gloss that’s become a baseline. Katie Mayhew describes it as “the blue chip … Read more
NATURE KNOW HOW Providing a definitive overview of how to shoot wildlife is a near-impossible task. However, with help from a selection of brilliant and very experienced cinematographers, we can cover some of the ground rules. In terms of kit, many cinematographers say the smaller the creature tends to be, the more things you need … Read more