Capturing Planet Earth
Creative
Client: BBC Earth & Vox
To promote the launch of Planet Earth II on BBC America, I commissioned this three part YouTube ‘explainer’ series collaboration for BBC Earth & Vox.
Based on the insight that behind the scenes sequences were performing particularly well on the BBC Earth social channels, the editorial focus of the series was the plethora of technical innovations that came out of the BBC’s Natural History Unit.
Episode 1 looked at how smaller cameras and stabilisation technology, pioneered by the NHU and spearheaded by Sir David Attenborough, revolutionised documentary film-making. The second episode looked at how warping time in footage could unveil incredible new science and animal behaviours impossible to see with the naked eye. And the final episode of the series showed how the BBC captures the ‘night-side’ of Planet Earth and how one affordable home camera opened up new ways to see the nocturnal natural world.
But more than all that, this series was about the importance of storytelling. As Mike Gunton, Executive Producer of Planet Earth II and Creative Director of the NHU puts it…
“No technology will ever replace the ability to tell a story that grips and fascinates and emotionally connects with an audience.”
Comprised of interviews with the show’s producers, BTS footage from the series and Vox’s inimitable graphical animations, the three films garnered over 8.3 million organic views on YouTube and won a Silver Lovie Award for Best Science & Education Video.
For BBC Earth:
Creative: Leo Birch
Producer: Oliver Martin
Interview Videographer: Jack Rubinstein
For Vox:
Creative Producer: Joss Fong
Art Director: Dion Lee