Through the course of 2022 & 2023 I worked as a 'Senior Camera Operator' on "The Secret Lives of Animals" for Apple TV+.
This new series was created by the BBC Natural History Unit for the Apple TV+ streaming platform - born out of several years of production under the working title of 'Project Dolphin'.
The series employed a huge number of talented producers, directors, APs, researchers, camera operators and production staff, making up a fantastic team within the BBC that I was incredibly grateful and honoured to be part of.
During my 2 years working on "The Secret Lives of Animals"
I spent 250 days in the field across 14 shoots -
travelling from the arid deserts of Namibia to the high mountains of the Dolomites. I was able to contribute to 8 of the 10 episodes, employing a range of
filming techniques including GSS, motion control macro, drone & boat-based gimbal, alongside traditional
long lens filming.
Filming Desert elephants for the "Growing old" episode of the series took the team to the Hoanib valley of Namibia.
The aim of the trip was to capture Elephants digging for water at sites where the little ground-water that is available in the dry river beds of the area runs closer to the desert's surface - geographical knowledge passed on through generations of these Elephants that is essential to their survival here.
Using a combination of traditional long lens filming from one vehicle, and the latest GSS 516 system on a second car allowed the team to track and move with the Elephants as they transitioned through these vast desert landscapes. Over the course of 4 weeks in the field we witnessed and captured the resilience of these animals, and this rarely seen digging behaviour in intimate detail. Despite the dusty and arid conditions, it was a real honour to get the chance to film these beautiful creatures alongside a brilliant team of passionate and dedicated individuals.
Shot with: Russ MacLaughlin
Directors: Mags Lightbody, Ella Morgan
Fixing/Driving: Blackthorn films
Kit: GSS, Red Helium, Mavic 3 drones
Filming Fiddler crabs on the coastline of Panama was a particular highlight of the series. Found just a stones throw from the famous canal, a daily drama played out between the tides, as male Dancing fiddler crabs (Leptuca terpsichores) battled for the right to mate.
With a short tidal window each day and variability in the crabs activity through the lunar cycle, we had difficult time constraints when attempting to capture the crabs mating behaviour.
Not to mention our "target behaviour" of filming hood building crabs (those that build an elaborate sandy hood above their burrow) only occurred in around 15% of males - a tricky task!
By deploying a motion control rig underslung below a support system on skis I was able to easily move around the beach from burrow to burrow, targeting the elusive "hood builders" without having to de-rig the camera or disturb the crabs.
Coupling this strategy with the slow and quiet action of the moco rig allowed us to inject dynamic slides and parallax moves into our shots without alerting the crabs, who are notoriously skittish.
Getting the chance to film this exciting story with a brilliant team was a standout moment on the series for me, and one I will remember for a very long time!
Director: Summer Keirnan
Kit: RED Raptor, Custom moco rig
Capturing the daily struggles of Vervet monkeys in South Africa was one of the more challenging shoots of the series.
Over the course of a day Vervets travel large distances throughout their territories, always on the move and rarely staying put for long, thus requiring a filming strategy that centered around being mobile and reactionary.
Moving through dense bush and over undulating terrain with heavy kit is never an easy task, so a lightweight & adaptable setup was essential. In this case I opted to use the DJI RS3 Pro gimbal, with ring grip and easyrig, to track and follow the monkeys whilst they were on the move.
A secondary benefit of a dynamic rig such as this gimbal setup was the immersive nature of the shots it produced, allowing parallax movements and close up shots up to 200mm in length all whilst remaining mobile.
Traditional long lens shooting and remote cameras were also pillars of this sequence, particularly when capturing the predators faced by the Vervets day to day, such as Leopards, Pythons & Martial eagles.
I was proud to work alongside an amazing team across two shoots, and together we came away with a sequence that encapsulates the hectic lives of the Vervet monkeys as well as we had hoped.
Shot with: Kev MacLaughlin
Director: Lewis Hatfull
Kit: RED Gemini, Z Cam F6, RS3 Pro gimbal, Mavic 3 drones
Burrowing owls presented one of the species I was most excited to encounter whilst filming for "The Secret Lives of Animals". Residing in the vast Prairies of Montana alongside Prairie dogs and Coyotes these owls live out their lives in a habitat that feels truly wild.
Despite their diminutive size and quirky nature the Burrowing owls presented several challenges to the team, most notable of which being their wariness. Careful fieldcraft was required to work close to their burrows, using wooden hides & decoy lenses to capture traditional long lens shots.
Immersive shots closer to the owls' burrows were executed using fake cameras placed in their vicinity, moving in closer over the course of several days, before being replaced by the real remote cameras. The Z Cam S6 camera teamed with wide stills lenses allowed for easy remote operation from inside the hides, whilst keeping a relatively low profile and small footprint for the owls - after all these cameras were still larger than the owls themselves!
Shot with: Keith Brust, Elliot Lowndes
Directors: Louis Rummer-Downing, Sheryl Bawden
Kit: RED Gemini, Z Cam F6
Filming Elephants crossing the mighty Zambezi river to access prized feeding spots on the islands located above above Victoria Falls was a once in a lifetime experience.
Over the course of a month alongside a brilliant and talented team we spent day after day on the water, using small boats to patrol the banks & islands looking for signs that bull elephants were preparing to cross the river.
Tasked with capturing this vital river crossing with long lens, gimbal and drone we split into two teams, covering as much ground as possible, ensuring we were in the right place at the right time.
However rolling on the moment the Elephants entered the water and were swiftly taken by the current was both awe-inspiring and humbling - these huge creatures were still at the mercy of this vast river. This wasn't a moment behind the camera that I'll forget for a long time!
I feel very honoured for the opportunity to experience this shoot and share the river with a group of wonderful people.
Shot with: Neil Farilie, Tom Varley
Directors: David John, Beth Staley
Kit: RED Helium, Z Cam F6, DJI RS3 Pro gimbal, Inspire 2 drone
Capturing high speed footage of rain falling on Army ants in the jungles of Costa Rica was a unique challenge to overcome.
High speed filming with cameras such as the Phantom VEO requires a huge amount of light, not something that is synonymous with tropical rainforests! Not to mention filming tiny subjects with light hungry macro lenses was an additional hurdle to face. Pushing the camera to upwards of 500 frames per second in order to capture the falling droplets needed careful consideration and the addition of artificial light - in this case the ultra mobile Stellapro and Aputure 300d series of lights, able to run off batteries in the field and be easily stowed when the next downpour blew through the forest.
Elsewhere in the forest the rest of a brilliant team captured ultra-macro and timelapse footage of the Army ants, bringing together a great sequence under fantastic direction.
Shot with: Mark Payne-Gill, Ester De Roji
Director: Louis Rummer-Downing
Kit: Phantom VEO
Travelling to the Dolomites to film scenics and backplates for a Ballooning spider macro sequence was a unique challenge during the series.
Modern macro sequences are increasingly using virtual backdrop techniques such as unreal engine, in order to bring studio shooting to life. However many of these techniques work best with real backdrop materials, be that drone shots, slider moves or 360 degree photogrammetry.
Over the course of the shoot we captured a wide array of scenic drone shots, macros shots in the stunning wildflower meadows, 360 captures of mountain environments and FPV drone shots diving off the huge Dolomite cliffs. All of these materials were then used by a brilliant team back in the studio to bring the journey of the ballooning spiders to life, from hatching through to their aerial escape over the mountains!
Director: Simon Baxter
Kit: RED Raptor, Mavic 3 drones
Shot with: Nick Ball, Robin Cox, Sam Lewis
Director: Rowan Sharp
Kit: RED Helium, Z Cam F6, DJI RS3 Pro, Mavic 3 drones
Shot with: Stephen Matter
Directors: Ellis Roberts, Matt Clements
Kit: Z Cam F6, Moco jib, Kessler timelapse rigs, Noxon cablecam