WATCH: How BBC Nature Videos Get Made

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


This post courtesy BBC Earth. For more wildlife news, find BBC Earth on Facebook and Posterous.

Our world may be very big, but sometimes it is the smallest stories that teach us the most about this planet. BBC Earth brings you three incredible videos where the innovative use of technology has helped our team capture nature’s true magic.

For example: Did you know you can see colonies of grass cutter ants from space? Below, producer Rupert Barrington explains how he managed to get within unprecedented proximity of a nest of up to five million grass cutter ants:

This isn’t the only example of innovation in natural history. In the following clip, executive producer Mike Gunton shares fascinating insight into the imagination of the male Vogelkop bowerbird:

Developing technology to capture the minuscule and the marvelous is one thing. But what happens when what you’re trying to film is located underneath eight feet of solid ice? Below, producer Neil Lucas talks about the incredibly rewarding but painstaking task of filming in these challenging conditions:

Armed with a passion for the natural world and the desire to communicate its incredible stories, BBC Earth filmmakers will continue to surprise and delight us for years to come.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY...

Trump is clamping down on the media—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and a thuggish Federal Communications Commission. Corporate media are caving, but Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member has chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Help us make the most of it!

Every contribution through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

We have nearly 50 years of experience standing up to bullies. Government intimidation, nuisance lawsuits, threats to our nonprofit status—we’ve seen it all. Yet because we’re supported by a community of readers like you, we’re still here and still reporting like hell. Please stand with us. Every dollar you give will go twice as far.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY...

Trump is clamping down on the media—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and a thuggish Federal Communications Commission. Corporate media are caving, but Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member has chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Help us make the most of it!

Every contribution through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

We have nearly 50 years of experience standing up to bullies. Government intimidation, nuisance lawsuits, threats to our nonprofit status—we’ve seen it all. Yet because we’re supported by a community of readers like you, we’re still here and still reporting like hell. Please stand with us. Every dollar you give will go twice as far.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate