SHOOT STORY | SEVEN WORLDS , ONE PLANET
His camera system had specialised components to stop it from freezing
ABOVE The art of field craft is invaluable when filming wildlife, such as this seal pup
The skill of field craft and hole carving was similarly crucial for the story regarding Weddell seals at the start of the episode. In the autumn, openings in the ice start to freeze over, so the seals create breathing holes, which they keep open by grinding their teeth against the new layers of ice. Devas says: “We couldn’t use existing holes to film the Weddell seals underwater, because they were using them, so we carved our own holes next to theirs.” In particular, the story follows a mother who had just given birth to her pup in a snowstorm. It can’t swim for the first ten days of its life and is completely dependent on its mother for warmth. “We wanted to see if she would leave her pup on the ice to retreat to the shelter of the water,” Devas explains. Thankfully, she didn’t, and the pup joined its mother in the water when it was able. He continues: “Those shots of the mother and her pup in the water are depicting the first time that the pup has felt water. For the mother to be comfortable enough to let her pup go into the water for the first time with a camera crew there shows they had an extraordinary amount of field craft. And that’s all about being careful of blowing bubbles – because male Weddell seals blow bubbles in aggressive encounters – and being patient about getting shots,
which in the cold water is a challenging thing to do.” It was not only the seal pup that had to endure the cold conditions without the accessible shelter of water – or, in camera operator John Brown’s case, a nice warm bed. “John had to withstand some incredibly cold conditions,” Devas explains. “It was -20°C and there was wind chill. His camera system had specialised components to combat this: the viewfinder was heated to stop it from freezing and, before the shoot, we sent to have the tripod head changed to have a fluid that wouldn’t freeze in those very cold temperatures. This is an exceedingly expensive process, because you wouldn’t use this type of tripod head on any other shoot, so it has to be changed back again.” VAIN SEALS Seals of different sorts are captured throughout the episode. Leopard seals hunt Gentoo penguins and, with glaciers crumbling more quickly due to climate change, appear to have the advantage. In this sequence, there is a fantastic split shot depicting the seal’s body as it writhes through the water. Above, its head bobs at the surface and colonies of Gentoo
penguins wait nervously on the rocks behind. A Megadome was used in Blue Planet II to capture a shot of a walrus, but this was done using something smaller. “It’s still a big dome, it’s ten inches. But it’s no Megadome. It’s much less wieldy; the Megadome requires two people or more just to get it into the water and when you’re getting into the water with leopard seals, you need something that’s going to be reactive. You can’t be spending hours getting the camera operator into the water, because the kit is so huge. You need to be able to get in quickly to get those shots and also be able to get out quickly.” Leopard seals have been known to kill humans. It’s rare, but something Devas had to take seriously. Despite all the preventive measures that might be whirling through your mind, cages, chain mail etc, the filmmaker’s protection was guaranteed by the peculiar fact that seals have a preoccupation with their looks. He explains: “We went with an experienced camera operator, Hugh Miller, who’s filmed leopard seals before. He knows that leopard seals are unpredictable; some will approach the camera, some won’t. When they do approach the camera, what they’re most interested in is their own
20 DEF I N I T ION | FEBRUARY 2020
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