1 00:00:08,708 --> 00:00:11,734 "Wild passions" 2 00:00:11,878 --> 00:00:13,607 It's not a nine-to-five job. 3 00:00:13,747 --> 00:00:17,774 It's not about forgetting about your work when you get home from the office 4 00:00:20,020 --> 00:00:23,478 only on three occasions have venomous snakes actually gotten me. 5 00:00:25,725 --> 00:00:29,422 The thing that can go wrong is if we mis... 6 00:00:30,797 --> 00:00:32,094 It's not really work, is it? 7 00:00:32,232 --> 00:00:32,721 Yeah. 8 00:00:32,866 --> 00:00:34,424 It's just a way of life . A way of life for us. 9 00:00:36,302 --> 00:00:38,964 When I get to see something that nobody's ever seen before, 10 00:00:39,105 --> 00:00:40,902 that's a thrill that I don't think I'll ever get over. 11 00:00:42,375 --> 00:00:45,742 It's getting that image in a way that it's never been captured before. 12 00:00:49,482 --> 00:00:51,848 It's like gambling. You go out and you never Know what you're gonna get. 13 00:00:51,985 --> 00:00:53,919 And more than likely, you're not gonna get anything. 14 00:00:55,588 --> 00:00:58,079 But the payoff is that we live in paradise. 15 00:00:58,591 --> 00:01:00,525 And we have a life that nobody else has. 16 00:01:56,049 --> 00:01:57,949 They're images that enchant. 17 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,723 Through them, we're face to face with creatures we've never imagined... 18 00:02:05,925 --> 00:02:09,417 witnesses to the stark drama of struggles for survival 19 00:02:11,097 --> 00:02:13,622 voyeurs of nature's most hidden moments 20 00:02:18,271 --> 00:02:20,671 What does it take to capture those images? 21 00:02:24,277 --> 00:02:25,767 Confronted that cobra? 22 00:02:26,679 --> 00:02:27,976 Swam with that shark? 23 00:02:32,385 --> 00:02:35,548 You're about to meet some of the world's most talented filmmakers. 24 00:02:38,791 --> 00:02:43,194 On any given day, they're at work on wildlife films for National Geographic. 25 00:02:47,433 --> 00:02:50,425 You'll learn what they do, how they do it, 26 00:02:51,037 --> 00:02:55,269 and what it takes to bring back unforgettable images. 27 00:03:00,580 --> 00:03:03,515 I think a lot of people think it's a dream job. 28 00:03:03,650 --> 00:03:05,948 In many ways, it is, I suppose. 29 00:03:06,085 --> 00:03:09,248 But it's a helluva lot of hard work 30 00:03:12,926 --> 00:03:14,791 It used to be much harder. 31 00:03:16,262 --> 00:03:20,164 The first wildlife filmmakers were true adventurers. 32 00:03:22,068 --> 00:03:26,061 The wilderness was wilder then, and conditions were much more primitive 33 00:03:29,676 --> 00:03:32,611 Filmmakers often developed their own film in the bush. 34 00:03:33,780 --> 00:03:37,648 And transportation was more often four-legged than four-wheeled. 35 00:03:40,453 --> 00:03:44,355 Early pioneers even had to invent their own equipment. 36 00:03:51,731 --> 00:03:53,198 Those intrepid explorers 37 00:03:53,333 --> 00:03:56,234 brought back images that werea revelation to the public. 38 00:04:00,006 --> 00:04:03,464 People had never seen moving pictures of animals in the wild. 39 00:04:09,415 --> 00:04:11,007 The footage was hard-earned, 40 00:04:11,417 --> 00:04:15,353 but it was guaranteed to keep audiences amazed and enthralled. 41 00:04:23,730 --> 00:04:27,222 Today, dependable cameras, hi-tech gear, 42 00:04:27,533 --> 00:04:30,764 and all kinds of vehicles make the job easier. 43 00:04:31,638 --> 00:04:34,232 But the challenge has gotten tougher. 44 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:40,902 The public sees incredible things on film every day. 45 00:04:41,748 --> 00:04:44,148 In fact, they want to see more incredible things. 46 00:04:44,284 --> 00:04:47,776 So we in the business are actually pushing the pinnacle of perfection 47 00:04:47,954 --> 00:04:49,114 higher and higher and higher. 48 00:04:49,789 --> 00:04:51,450 We're competing against ourselves. 49 00:04:51,591 --> 00:04:54,788 We're making it more difficult for ourselves to come out with new things. 50 00:04:58,197 --> 00:04:59,858 And when you're doing film work there's a certain amount 51 00:04:59,932 --> 00:05:02,059 of pressure to get the shot. 52 00:05:02,201 --> 00:05:07,002 And you tend to do things that push the envelope a little bit. 53 00:05:09,509 --> 00:05:12,410 Sometimes, you can push a little too hard. 54 00:05:13,746 --> 00:05:16,579 For the first test of National Geographic's Crittercam, 55 00:05:17,083 --> 00:05:19,415 the camera was attached to the fin of a shark 56 00:05:21,587 --> 00:05:25,614 But the shark swam off prematurely, and things took a horrific turn. 57 00:05:27,694 --> 00:05:29,958 A fisherman tried to help by hooking the shark 58 00:05:31,097 --> 00:05:35,898 He didn't realize that cameraman Nick Caloyianis was just ten feet away 59 00:05:37,503 --> 00:05:38,697 But the shark did. 60 00:05:46,145 --> 00:05:49,080 Wanna keep pressure on these points, now. 61 00:05:49,215 --> 00:05:50,375 A little more pressure. 62 00:05:50,516 --> 00:05:52,381 Up over here. Up over here. 63 00:05:52,518 --> 00:05:55,146 The shark tore open Nick's hand, and bit his leg to the bone. 64 00:05:57,490 --> 00:06:02,189 Nick was medevaced out and went through nine operations in 21 days. 65 00:06:04,297 --> 00:06:06,561 It took him three and half months to recover. 66 00:06:08,768 --> 00:06:13,068 And then he returned to work on another film about sharks. 67 00:06:15,174 --> 00:06:17,699 Accidents do happen. It certainly wasn't the shark's fault. 68 00:06:17,910 --> 00:06:20,743 I would never blame the shark for what happened to me. 69 00:06:24,484 --> 00:06:25,917 Nick's attitude isn't unusual. 70 00:06:26,452 --> 00:06:30,786 In fact, most wildlife filmmakers don't think it's dangerous work 71 00:06:31,624 --> 00:06:32,989 I don't think it's dangerous work 72 00:06:33,126 --> 00:06:37,290 I think it's certainly not dangerous work if you're considering the animal. 73 00:06:39,932 --> 00:06:42,594 We've gotta remember that snakes are on the defensive all the time. 74 00:06:42,735 --> 00:06:44,760 They're not an offensive animal who's gonna attack you. 75 00:06:45,972 --> 00:06:47,906 You would think there'd be things down 76 00:06:48,007 --> 00:06:49,531 there that are constantly stinging and biting, 77 00:06:49,675 --> 00:06:51,802 but surprisingly, that's not the case. 78 00:06:55,248 --> 00:06:59,309 Press them harder, though, and they'll admit to their share of close calls. 79 00:07:00,219 --> 00:07:03,416 I lost a finger to a puff adder, 80 00:07:03,990 --> 00:07:06,515 first of all, in handling that for photography. 81 00:07:07,326 --> 00:07:09,089 Very nearly lost my life. 82 00:07:10,296 --> 00:07:12,924 I got spit in the eye by a spitting cobra. 83 00:07:13,065 --> 00:07:19,937 And then, no, actually I got bit by a coral snake, and the coral snake died. 84 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,034 I fell out of the tree in Guyana 55 feet. 85 00:07:23,543 --> 00:07:25,534 I was bitten by the insect that gave me 86 00:07:25,678 --> 00:07:30,308 I was caught up in a war in Rwanda. 87 00:07:30,450 --> 00:07:31,781 I've been charged by elephants 88 00:07:31,918 --> 00:07:36,787 and hung up with microphone cables and couldn't get away. 89 00:07:36,923 --> 00:07:40,324 Oh, I dunno, you have to be careful. 90 00:07:42,595 --> 00:07:45,325 Some years later, I was bitten in the backside by a leopard. 91 00:07:45,465 --> 00:07:46,693 I'd jumped down off a cliff and I landed right in front of it, 92 00:07:46,833 --> 00:07:51,099 and it came out and got me in the butt 93 00:07:51,938 --> 00:07:54,099 I got out of the car. The cubs were playing to the one side, 94 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,004 and the female, the mother was lying on the other side 95 00:07:57,143 --> 00:07:59,407 I started walking towards them with the camera, 96 00:07:59,545 --> 00:08:01,012 and the next thing, the motherjust came at me. 97 00:08:02,515 --> 00:08:05,712 She actually stopped probably five meters away, 98 00:08:05,885 --> 00:08:07,853 growling and hissing and then moved off. 99 00:08:08,588 --> 00:08:09,520 I got in the car. 100 00:08:09,889 --> 00:08:13,017 The other thing was African bees. 101 00:08:13,159 --> 00:08:17,186 We were attacked by African bees 102 00:08:17,330 --> 00:08:20,128 to the point where we thought we were going to die. 103 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,230 All of us were stung 40, 50, 60 times in the head and the face. 104 00:08:25,571 --> 00:08:26,595 A couple of years after that, 105 00:08:26,739 --> 00:08:30,368 I was filming underwater in this crystal clear spring in * * *01:08.29 106 00:08:30,510 --> 00:08:33,411 Two males started a fight. 107 00:08:33,546 --> 00:08:37,414 In the confusion, one of the male hippos charged and got me by the leg. 108 00:08:37,550 --> 00:08:39,313 Shook me around like a rag doll for awhile. 109 00:08:40,319 --> 00:08:43,618 I had a hole through my leg big enough to stick a coke bottle through. 110 00:08:50,630 --> 00:08:53,929 But danger doesn't deter the best wildlife filmmakers. 111 00:08:55,034 --> 00:08:58,936 They'll go to incredible lengths or heights to get the shot. 112 00:09:01,674 --> 00:09:04,165 That's what Neil Rettig is famous for. 113 00:09:05,111 --> 00:09:07,671 Here, he's climbing 150 feet up 114 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,476 to film the world's most powerful bird of prey the harpy eagle. 115 00:09:15,021 --> 00:09:17,285 It has a wingspan of more than six feet, 116 00:09:17,690 --> 00:09:19,954 and talons the size of bear claws. 117 00:09:21,694 --> 00:09:25,391 The harpy will attack any intruder that gets too close to its nest 118 00:09:26,198 --> 00:09:29,031 including a precariously perched cameraman. 119 00:09:29,902 --> 00:09:32,894 The first time an eagle flew at me, I was scared to death. 120 00:09:44,584 --> 00:09:48,076 The problem is if you're climbing up, and you don't Know where they are, 121 00:09:48,220 --> 00:09:50,916 you have to look in a 360 degree 122 00:09:51,223 --> 00:09:53,453 radius around to try to spot when they're coming, 123 00:09:53,926 --> 00:09:55,393 because if you didn't see 'em, they'd definitely hit you. 124 00:09:55,528 --> 00:09:57,291 They're incredibly powerful. 125 00:09:58,097 --> 00:09:59,997 If you weren't roped in, they could Knock you right off the limb. 126 00:10:00,933 --> 00:10:03,527 Leatherjacket that was totally shredded by the end of th 127 00:10:03,669 --> 00:10:06,832 It was just like a big hole in the back, you Know. 128 00:10:09,875 --> 00:10:11,638 How do you end up in a spot like this 129 00:10:12,278 --> 00:10:16,009 150 feet up, warding off attacking eagles? 130 00:10:17,450 --> 00:10:18,417 Like most filmmakers, 131 00:10:19,318 --> 00:10:22,446 Neil's been following this path from his earliest days. 132 00:10:22,588 --> 00:10:25,614 I grew up in an area that had a lot of wildlife. 133 00:10:26,125 --> 00:10:28,059 My parents were very supportive. 134 00:10:28,194 --> 00:10:32,460 I would collect turtles, and salamanders, and snakes, and so forth. 135 00:10:33,566 --> 00:10:36,433 And I really had an interest in birds of prey especially. 136 00:10:40,606 --> 00:10:43,040 Today, when he's not on the road, 137 00:10:43,175 --> 00:10:47,236 Neil spends every spare moment raising hawks on his Wisconsin farm. 138 00:10:48,748 --> 00:10:50,875 You're a good boy. 139 00:10:51,283 --> 00:10:55,379 I got into falconry in the late 60's and early '70s. 140 00:10:55,955 --> 00:10:58,856 Birds of prey are just so free and fantastic. 141 00:11:02,928 --> 00:11:06,056 Neil's hobby became a career back in the 1970s, 142 00:11:06,532 --> 00:11:09,592 when he learned of a giant eagle that had never been photographed. 143 00:11:10,336 --> 00:11:12,099 A complete novice at the time, 144 00:11:12,238 --> 00:11:15,901 Neil shot the first film ever made about the harpy. 145 00:11:18,177 --> 00:11:21,874 Now a highly-respected old pro, he's returned. 146 00:11:22,381 --> 00:11:23,678 He's spent six months here, 147 00:11:24,383 --> 00:11:28,615 hoping to capture the first flight of a young harpy chick 148 00:11:30,389 --> 00:11:30,946 I think all of us have 149 00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:36,985 a lot of experience sitting in a blind for weeks at a time, 150 00:11:37,129 --> 00:11:39,689 and not shooting a single inch of film 151 00:11:39,832 --> 00:11:41,925 waiting for something to happen, and maybe it never will. 152 00:11:46,639 --> 00:11:51,975 The young harpy spent weeks testing its wings and Neil's patience. 153 00:11:57,583 --> 00:11:59,210 And then one day 154 00:11:59,351 --> 00:12:02,980 he went maybe 60 feet out into the canopy of the nest tree 155 00:12:06,992 --> 00:12:08,152 and I was ready, you Know, 156 00:12:08,294 --> 00:12:09,955 I had my finger on the shutter release 157 00:12:10,096 --> 00:12:12,360 and I was ready to roll the camera thinking, 158 00:12:12,498 --> 00:12:14,762 "This is it. We're gonna get this first flight." 159 00:12:14,934 --> 00:12:16,458 And it just took him forever. 160 00:12:16,936 --> 00:12:20,167 He slowly walked down the limb and he kept walking. 161 00:12:20,306 --> 00:12:22,706 And I go, "oh, my God, he's gonna walk all the way back" 162 00:12:23,275 --> 00:12:25,175 But then, finally, he just suddenly flew. 163 00:12:25,311 --> 00:12:27,176 I was rolling the camera and I got the first flight. 164 00:12:45,998 --> 00:12:49,729 Some unusual skills are required for filming birds of prey. 165 00:12:50,970 --> 00:12:52,267 Everybody ready? 166 00:12:53,973 --> 00:12:54,598 Did it go over? 167 00:12:54,974 --> 00:12:56,373 Neil uses a cross bow to rig cable 168 00:12:56,509 --> 00:13:00,275 for tracking shots through rain forest canopies. 169 00:13:08,988 --> 00:13:11,889 We have a vertical tracking system where we can lift the camera 170 00:13:11,991 --> 00:13:15,085 from the ground to the top of a huge tree. 171 00:13:19,465 --> 00:13:21,729 We have a horizontal tracking system. 172 00:13:22,067 --> 00:13:25,036 You get a floating sensation, tracking through the forest. 173 00:13:28,474 --> 00:13:33,673 All these things take a lot of time and it's a lot of hard work 174 00:13:33,813 --> 00:13:38,307 Neil became Known as a man who could film in high places. 175 00:13:38,450 --> 00:13:40,247 For awhile, every phone call I was getting 176 00:13:40,386 --> 00:13:43,412 from producers had something to do with climbing. 177 00:13:48,694 --> 00:13:51,925 No climbing was required when Neil went to film in the Arctic. 178 00:13:52,498 --> 00:13:56,195 A plane put him down on top of remote prince Leopold Island. 179 00:13:58,103 --> 00:14:02,039 But the job did call for someone who wasn't afraid of heights. 180 00:14:03,576 --> 00:14:03,905 It was just incredibly bleak 181 00:14:04,043 --> 00:14:09,037 I mean the cliffjust falls away, a thousand feet straight down. 182 00:14:11,350 --> 00:14:14,319 The cliffs were bathed in sun the day Neil arrived. 183 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,188 But things went downhill after that. 184 00:14:18,557 --> 00:14:22,323 We had the worst weather I think I've ever experienced out on the field. 185 00:14:22,461 --> 00:14:28,730 I mean blowing gales, and sleet, and freezing rain, and howling wind. 186 00:14:31,570 --> 00:14:33,470 Trapped in their tents 187 00:14:33,606 --> 00:14:34,368 by the harsh weather, 188 00:14:34,506 --> 00:14:39,170 Neil and his soundman were going stir crazy Arctic style. 189 00:14:40,112 --> 00:14:43,172 All the eggs have fallen off the cliff 190 00:14:43,315 --> 00:14:45,306 All the eggs have fallen off the cliff 191 00:14:45,784 --> 00:14:46,443 All of them. 192 00:14:51,457 --> 00:14:54,187 When the weather did clear, Neil had other problems. 193 00:14:54,593 --> 00:14:56,993 He was trying to film a colony of murres, 194 00:14:57,263 --> 00:15:00,721 nesting in crumbly stone on the sides of the treacherous cliff. 195 00:15:01,967 --> 00:15:06,233 To get the shot, Neil had to go right to the edge. 196 00:15:08,173 --> 00:15:11,074 The wind literally would buffet you and, you Know, 197 00:15:11,210 --> 00:15:12,905 it threatened to blow you right off the cliff. 198 00:15:13,045 --> 00:15:16,139 Of course, you're not going to survive falling 1,000 feet. 199 00:15:17,249 --> 00:15:22,277 So we're talking about this 200-pound apparatus that we had to set up right 200 00:15:22,421 --> 00:15:25,788 on the edge of the cliff with these rocks that are flaking away 201 00:15:26,292 --> 00:15:29,352 And to get the shot, we wanted to actually sweep the camera out 202 00:15:30,562 --> 00:15:33,395 with a wide angle lens to sort of give you a birds-eye view 203 00:15:33,532 --> 00:15:35,090 of what it'd look like to look straight down. 204 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:42,902 Neil got the shot 205 00:15:44,076 --> 00:15:45,907 and then, a bonus. 206 00:15:47,313 --> 00:15:50,612 There were thousands of nest sites spread out along this cliff face. 207 00:15:51,016 --> 00:15:53,246 And there was an Arctic fox that used to raid the nests, 208 00:15:53,385 --> 00:15:55,376 but he never came to the area where... 209 00:15:55,521 --> 00:15:57,284 we were filming, which was the ideal spot for filming. 210 00:15:58,457 --> 00:16:01,483 One day, the fox came along and I was just thinking, 211 00:16:01,627 --> 00:16:02,559 "God, wouldn't it be great 212 00:16:02,695 --> 00:16:04,856 if he started raiding these nests right in front of the camera?" 213 00:16:04,964 --> 00:16:08,525 And sure enough, he went in front of the camera, 214 00:16:08,667 --> 00:16:11,465 raided the nests, maybe 10 times, 10 different nest sites. 215 00:16:12,071 --> 00:16:13,936 I mean, it was just like perfect choreography. 216 00:16:18,243 --> 00:16:20,074 And that was probablythe most rewarding sequence 217 00:16:20,212 --> 00:16:21,736 I've ever done in the wild. 218 00:16:21,914 --> 00:16:24,178 It was just luck It just happened while I was there, 219 00:16:24,316 --> 00:16:26,477 you Know, that's a rarity. 220 00:16:28,921 --> 00:16:32,652 Today, filmmakers like Neil Rettig are well-established professionals 221 00:16:32,791 --> 00:16:36,318 in what could actually be called a career. 222 00:16:37,496 --> 00:16:42,263 But it wasn't like that when renowned African filmmaker Alan Root started out 223 00:16:43,969 --> 00:16:46,494 Wildlife photographer wasn't something you could find 224 00:16:46,638 --> 00:16:47,900 in any career guide's booklet. 225 00:16:48,741 --> 00:16:51,733 Fortunately, because the whole business was in its early days, 226 00:16:51,944 --> 00:16:53,912 the standards, I have to say, were pretty low. 227 00:16:55,014 --> 00:17:00,611 So anything a cut above home movie footage would get onto television, 228 00:17:00,753 --> 00:17:03,278 because it was all new and exciting to them. 229 00:17:03,655 --> 00:17:05,020 And I really appreciate that, 230 00:17:05,157 --> 00:17:10,561 because the youngsters today have a much harder nut to crack to get in. 231 00:17:11,964 --> 00:17:12,896 Actually, just drop me down here. 232 00:17:15,401 --> 00:17:20,270 I think there is more pressure on me because this is my first film 233 00:17:20,406 --> 00:17:23,967 and I obviously want it to be a good film. 234 00:17:24,109 --> 00:17:26,942 Go right, pete, go right, go right. 235 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,172 But as long as I'm learning, that's the key thing. 236 00:17:29,782 --> 00:17:31,613 Still running, still running. 237 00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:32,978 Matt Aeberhard's here in Tanzania 238 00:17:33,118 --> 00:17:37,214 to make a National Geographic film about jackals. 239 00:17:38,123 --> 00:17:39,147 Stop! 240 00:17:39,291 --> 00:17:41,657 They're a tough animal to keep in frame. 241 00:17:46,465 --> 00:17:49,696 Missed it. Missed it. 242 00:17:50,636 --> 00:17:53,127 Despite the frustrations and challenges, 243 00:17:53,272 --> 00:17:56,036 for Matt, this is the fulfillment of a dream. 244 00:17:56,742 --> 00:17:59,939 It's taken some real doing to get this far. 245 00:18:00,879 --> 00:18:03,643 After failing at University, 246 00:18:03,782 --> 00:18:07,843 I was really forced to really go for something and do my best. 247 00:18:10,456 --> 00:18:12,981 He landed a few menial jobs in film, 248 00:18:13,125 --> 00:18:15,992 including work for a British company that made wildlife films. 249 00:18:17,029 --> 00:18:20,692 I made teas for people, worked long hours, 250 00:18:20,899 --> 00:18:22,298 I made sure I was noticed. 251 00:18:22,434 --> 00:18:23,867 And gradually, one thing led to another. 252 00:18:25,270 --> 00:18:27,864 It led to an invitation to come work 253 00:18:27,940 --> 00:18:30,670 for a wildlife filmmaker in the Serengeti. 254 00:18:33,245 --> 00:18:36,976 Driving out to the Serengeti was, yeah, one of the best days of my life. 255 00:18:37,116 --> 00:18:39,516 I believe I cried when I saw the Serengeti, 256 00:18:39,651 --> 00:18:43,553 because I'd arrived and it really was the culmination 257 00:18:43,689 --> 00:18:46,055 of a good deal of difficult driving, 258 00:18:46,191 --> 00:18:50,594 boring work, and finally I'm here, doing what I want to do. 259 00:18:57,202 --> 00:18:57,964 You ready, peter? 260 00:18:59,071 --> 00:19:01,437 Matt spent five years working for someone else 261 00:19:01,974 --> 00:19:03,703 before attempting a film of his own. 262 00:19:05,077 --> 00:19:07,045 This is his big chance. 263 00:19:07,312 --> 00:19:10,042 He won't get many more if he doesn't deliver. 264 00:19:13,018 --> 00:19:15,384 He's chosen a difficult subject. 265 00:19:15,587 --> 00:19:17,919 Jackals are unsympathetic heroes. 266 00:19:19,491 --> 00:19:20,719 People watching the film might be disgusted 267 00:19:20,893 --> 00:19:25,762 by the fact that these jackals are preying on little bambis. 268 00:19:27,199 --> 00:19:29,759 But that gives me a good challenge. 269 00:19:31,503 --> 00:19:32,401 I don't have a problem 270 00:19:32,538 --> 00:19:34,130 with the fact that people might hate the jackals one minute 271 00:19:34,273 --> 00:19:37,470 if I can make them like the jackals the next minute. 272 00:19:38,777 --> 00:19:42,110 Make them feel something. If they feel something, that's good. 273 00:19:46,485 --> 00:19:49,113 Jackals can be doting parents. 274 00:19:51,056 --> 00:19:52,421 And Matt wants to show that by capturing a key scene 275 00:19:52,558 --> 00:19:58,292 the moment when the pups emerge from the den to greet their mother. 276 00:20:03,302 --> 00:20:06,294 Stop. 277 00:20:08,707 --> 00:20:11,039 No, useless. 278 00:20:15,948 --> 00:20:16,846 Matt's too late. 279 00:20:17,816 --> 00:20:19,010 Half a scene won't do 280 00:20:21,086 --> 00:20:22,883 Well, I missed the beginning. 281 00:20:23,622 --> 00:20:27,114 I should have been earlier, because I Knew exactly where she was going. 282 00:20:30,295 --> 00:20:31,592 Every day bring's a frustration, 283 00:20:31,730 --> 00:20:37,635 but you just have to continue on and eventually it will work out. 284 00:20:37,769 --> 00:20:38,861 Isn't that right, pete? 285 00:20:40,072 --> 00:20:42,802 Maybe tomorrow, or day after, you might get it again. 286 00:20:42,941 --> 00:20:45,307 Absolutely, absolutely. 287 00:20:50,816 --> 00:20:52,078 A couple of hours away, 288 00:20:52,217 --> 00:20:55,675 veteran Dutch cameraman Anton Van Munster is shooting 289 00:20:55,821 --> 00:20:58,619 a National Geographic film about a family of cheetah. 290 00:20:59,358 --> 00:21:01,258 It looks like something's about to happen. 291 00:21:31,023 --> 00:21:33,685 Less than 15 seconds from beginning to end, 292 00:21:33,825 --> 00:21:35,759 and the cheetah never went out of frame 293 00:21:36,828 --> 00:21:38,728 okay, stop here. Go quick 294 00:21:38,864 --> 00:21:41,594 Now, Anton moves in for the close-up. 295 00:21:42,467 --> 00:21:44,367 It puts him right on top of the kill. 296 00:21:44,503 --> 00:21:48,371 Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, stop like this. 297 00:21:50,542 --> 00:21:53,102 Of course, I've seen it more than once by now. 298 00:21:55,047 --> 00:22:00,883 But I still can hardly bear to watch. It's terrible. 299 00:22:01,153 --> 00:22:04,953 But sentimentality in nature doesn't exist. 300 00:22:09,628 --> 00:22:11,994 Things couldn't be going better for the seasoned veteran. 301 00:22:14,299 --> 00:22:15,129 As for Matt... 302 00:22:17,002 --> 00:22:19,732 oh, we missed it. 303 00:22:21,139 --> 00:22:23,164 Go one... to the left, yeah. 304 00:22:26,712 --> 00:22:28,646 Right, right, right, right, go around these... 305 00:22:28,780 --> 00:22:29,906 Keep on this side... 306 00:22:30,048 --> 00:22:34,280 Go right, pete, go right, go right. 307 00:22:34,820 --> 00:22:35,809 And now to the left. 308 00:22:35,954 --> 00:22:37,012 Go, go, quick Yes, of course. 309 00:22:37,155 --> 00:22:38,782 Okay, stop like this. Stop like this. 310 00:22:38,957 --> 00:22:40,424 There we are. Missed it again. 311 00:22:40,559 --> 00:22:42,026 Fantastic. 312 00:22:42,527 --> 00:22:46,827 We missed what happened here just by a couple of minutes. 313 00:22:48,033 --> 00:22:51,469 Matt would be happy just to get close to his animals. 314 00:22:52,304 --> 00:22:54,397 It's clearly no problem for Anton. 315 00:22:55,140 --> 00:22:57,131 I'm happy that there's glass. 316 00:22:57,275 --> 00:23:00,108 And while the cheetah are climbing all over Anton's car, 317 00:23:00,479 --> 00:23:02,606 Matt's is breaking down. 318 00:23:09,154 --> 00:23:22,192 The linkjust snapped blow a gasket here relentless problems 319 00:23:28,006 --> 00:23:31,100 But good wildlife filmmakers are persistent. 320 00:23:32,811 --> 00:23:35,041 Once again, Matt waits at the den, 321 00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:38,809 hoping to catch the pups emerging to greet their mother. 322 00:24:07,145 --> 00:24:09,875 Finally, the right place at the right time. 323 00:24:12,384 --> 00:24:13,942 A crucial scene for Matt 324 00:24:14,586 --> 00:24:17,885 a testimony to the gentle side of the jackal. 325 00:24:32,304 --> 00:24:36,297 Capturing key moments is a challenge for all wildlife filmmakers. 326 00:24:45,083 --> 00:24:47,813 How do you get great scenes like these? 327 00:24:53,191 --> 00:24:56,217 What does it take to be a good wildlife filmmaker? 328 00:24:58,964 --> 00:25:04,493 The first thing you need is patience that verges upon stupidity, 329 00:25:05,036 --> 00:25:05,968 because you're down there, 330 00:25:06,104 --> 00:25:09,369 and typically you're cold and uncomfortable, 331 00:25:09,508 --> 00:25:12,375 and you have to be sort of mentally 332 00:25:12,511 --> 00:25:14,638 marginal to stay there for hours on end. 333 00:25:14,779 --> 00:25:18,078 To me, the challenge is the most important thing. 334 00:25:18,216 --> 00:25:20,241 If somebody says to me, you Know, 335 00:25:20,385 --> 00:25:22,080 "Here's a species that's never been filmed before, 336 00:25:22,521 --> 00:25:25,183 and you probably can't do it." 337 00:25:25,423 --> 00:25:28,950 That would like feed the fire within me to actually accomplish it. 338 00:25:29,361 --> 00:25:31,955 Good wildlife filmmakers are primarily naturalists. 339 00:25:32,097 --> 00:25:35,362 And their interest in wildlife filmmaking stems 340 00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:39,834 from their interest in animals. 341 00:25:44,709 --> 00:25:46,939 If you understand the animal behavior, 342 00:25:47,078 --> 00:25:50,377 you have a better chance of being able to film it, 343 00:25:50,782 --> 00:25:54,081 as opposed to understanding the camera technique 344 00:25:54,219 --> 00:25:56,187 and trying to film some animals? 345 00:25:56,788 --> 00:25:57,584 Never going to work 346 00:26:03,261 --> 00:26:07,254 Derek and Beverly Joubert have spent a lifetime in close contact 347 00:26:07,399 --> 00:26:08,593 with the animals they film. 348 00:26:10,035 --> 00:26:12,196 And they've learned every trick of the trade. 349 00:26:16,975 --> 00:26:19,466 We almost try and become part of them 350 00:26:19,611 --> 00:26:21,943 so that we Know exactly what they're doing 351 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:23,911 and what they wouldn't want us to do. 352 00:26:32,791 --> 00:26:35,885 For the Jouberts, wildlife filmmaking isn't a job; 353 00:26:35,994 --> 00:26:37,928 it's a way of life. 354 00:26:39,965 --> 00:26:41,728 Over here we've got a handy item. 355 00:26:41,933 --> 00:26:48,702 It's an elephant's pelvis and it's great for having our wash basin. 356 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,332 And then, of course, our famous toilet 357 00:26:54,546 --> 00:26:56,241 You don't sit there for long 358 00:26:56,414 --> 00:26:58,507 because the teeth are still in the elephant's jawbone. 359 00:27:01,886 --> 00:27:03,353 Life in the bush is basic. 360 00:27:03,922 --> 00:27:08,222 But the Jouberts' reward is an unusual intimacy with wildlife. 361 00:27:09,761 --> 00:27:13,857 When we're sitting somewhere and an elephant comes to us, 362 00:27:14,733 --> 00:27:17,600 we will just sit and soak up the atmosphere 363 00:27:17,736 --> 00:27:20,330 and almost communicate with him. 364 00:27:22,474 --> 00:27:27,104 That is something that you would not get in many places. 365 00:27:31,383 --> 00:27:33,317 Such moments are unforgettable 366 00:27:34,252 --> 00:27:36,880 like Howard Hall's extraordinary encounter 367 00:27:36,988 --> 00:27:37,750 with a patagonian right whale. 368 00:27:40,458 --> 00:27:42,756 It was a remarkable experience, 369 00:27:42,927 --> 00:27:45,487 because after we'd been with the animals a few days, 370 00:27:45,630 --> 00:27:50,158 one of them actually became curious and wanted to play with us. 371 00:27:50,635 --> 00:27:51,932 And it was amazing. 372 00:27:52,070 --> 00:27:53,401 We found that the whale would come right down to me, 373 00:27:53,538 --> 00:27:57,030 come right down, and sit on the bottom next to me 374 00:27:57,175 --> 00:28:00,269 and lean over toward me so that I would scratch his eyebrow. 375 00:28:01,179 --> 00:28:02,840 And he loved for us to scratch him. 376 00:28:03,181 --> 00:28:04,205 And we're talking a huge animal, 377 00:28:04,349 --> 00:28:07,284 we're talking this gigantic behemoth of an animal, coming down, 378 00:28:07,419 --> 00:28:12,482 settling only a few feet away with his eyeball only 18 inches from you, 379 00:28:12,624 --> 00:28:14,319 and then you just reach out and scratch his eye, 380 00:28:14,459 --> 00:28:16,620 and you watch him looking at you while you do that. 381 00:28:18,329 --> 00:28:20,854 Now you may think, you Know, you look into the eye of a whale, 382 00:28:20,932 --> 00:28:24,891 you're not going to see any characterization or emotion there. 383 00:28:25,036 --> 00:28:26,025 But you can. 384 00:28:35,013 --> 00:28:38,642 There are filmmakers who are drawn to a particular animal. 385 00:28:40,452 --> 00:28:44,115 We've found bats to be particularly fascinating subjects. 386 00:28:46,458 --> 00:28:47,982 For me, birds of prey. 387 00:28:50,195 --> 00:28:52,288 Water hogs, they're amazing things and 388 00:28:52,430 --> 00:28:54,591 as I've said, such humorous little guys. 389 00:28:57,469 --> 00:29:00,734 In some cases, you'd have to call it an obsession. 390 00:29:03,675 --> 00:29:05,506 Okay, hold it, just hold it a second there, yeah. 391 00:29:07,612 --> 00:29:11,013 That's my favorite bear there 392 00:29:11,516 --> 00:29:14,542 polar bears are Tom Mangelsen's passion 393 00:29:18,690 --> 00:29:19,918 Beautiful bear, that guy. 394 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,920 You can't help but get attached to them, you Know, 395 00:29:25,063 --> 00:29:26,553 you just watch them, and you Know certain individuals, 396 00:29:26,698 --> 00:29:29,394 that I let myself kind of get involved in that. 397 00:29:29,534 --> 00:29:33,436 I'm always happy to see, you Know, a bear that I recognize. 398 00:29:36,975 --> 00:29:40,877 Tom Mangelsen is an award winning photographer and filmmaker. 399 00:29:41,479 --> 00:29:43,709 He's come here to Cape Churchill 400 00:29:43,915 --> 00:29:48,409 in northern Canada every year for the past ten years. 401 00:29:52,157 --> 00:29:55,251 With his assistant, Cara, and an old friend, Spence, 402 00:29:55,927 --> 00:29:59,021 Tom traverses the frozen landscape in his tundra buggy, 403 00:29:59,164 --> 00:30:02,190 searching for yet another great shot of the bears. 404 00:30:05,236 --> 00:30:07,636 I think they're just beautiful to begin with, you Know, 405 00:30:07,772 --> 00:30:11,299 they're designed for this landscape. 406 00:30:13,912 --> 00:30:15,140 They're powerful, they're strong, 407 00:30:16,281 --> 00:30:19,307 they're able to live solitary, predatory existences. 408 00:30:19,951 --> 00:30:23,717 Extraordinary beings, you Know, nice to watch. 409 00:30:25,857 --> 00:30:29,384 But getting so attached to your subjects can take its toll. 410 00:30:30,895 --> 00:30:35,355 Tom followed a female he called "pretty Bear" for six or seven years. 411 00:30:36,134 --> 00:30:39,934 He was thrilled to discover two cubs trailing behind her last year 412 00:30:40,471 --> 00:30:43,031 So it was difficult for him to watch 413 00:30:43,474 --> 00:30:46,375 when one of the cubs sickened and later died. 414 00:30:48,279 --> 00:30:50,110 It's hard not to be emotional when you see something that's just, 415 00:30:50,248 --> 00:30:55,550 that is kind of horrific as a cub dying in a snowstorm, 416 00:30:55,687 --> 00:30:59,350 and a mother trying to protect it from all comers, 417 00:30:59,490 --> 00:31:00,582 staying there with it, even though the thing's, 418 00:31:00,725 --> 00:31:04,752 poor thing's been dead for two days. 419 00:31:12,136 --> 00:31:15,037 Tom's emotional connection to the bears 420 00:31:15,473 --> 00:31:17,907 leads us to see them in a different light. 421 00:31:20,378 --> 00:31:22,403 The pictures I probably enjoy most are 422 00:31:22,547 --> 00:31:24,777 the ones that are hopefully more aesthetic 423 00:31:24,949 --> 00:31:28,476 and soft and more painterly, maybe. 424 00:31:32,423 --> 00:31:34,482 That's probably most people's favorite overall, 425 00:31:34,626 --> 00:31:36,719 the one called the "Bad Boys of the Arctic." 426 00:31:36,861 --> 00:31:38,692 It looks very human, you Know, 427 00:31:38,830 --> 00:31:42,766 the guy's kicked back looking like he's you Know, ready to turn on the TV 428 00:31:42,967 --> 00:31:45,595 or watching the football game or having a beer. 429 00:31:48,172 --> 00:31:49,298 I named that image "polar Dance" 430 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,237 because it looked like they were dancing. 431 00:31:51,376 --> 00:31:55,836 It looked like a classical dance that people would do. 432 00:31:56,014 --> 00:32:00,974 Actually, it's two large adult male polar bears play fighting. 433 00:32:23,541 --> 00:32:26,271 You guys, this could be so cool. 434 00:32:26,477 --> 00:32:27,739 Alright. 435 00:32:28,379 --> 00:32:29,403 That's nice to see. 436 00:32:31,449 --> 00:32:34,941 In the distance, a mother and two cubs saunter into view. 437 00:32:36,287 --> 00:32:38,152 You've got to be impressed by an animal 438 00:32:38,289 --> 00:32:41,918 that can raise two eight-month-olds in this landscape. 439 00:32:42,060 --> 00:32:46,292 I mean, look at that, that's harsh out there. 440 00:32:47,699 --> 00:32:51,100 Those little guys have been probably walking for 20 miles, maybe. 441 00:32:52,303 --> 00:32:53,600 She keeps looking back, 442 00:32:53,671 --> 00:32:56,162 checking on that one that's kind of lagging behind a little bit. 443 00:32:58,876 --> 00:33:01,709 Tom decides to take a chance to get closer to the action. 444 00:33:02,180 --> 00:33:04,375 Be a lot nicer to see her low. 445 00:33:09,253 --> 00:33:11,244 It's risky going down on the ground. 446 00:33:11,456 --> 00:33:14,391 But the mother bear seems a safe distance away. 447 00:33:18,262 --> 00:33:19,889 She's not gonna leave the cubs to get us. 448 00:33:25,336 --> 00:33:28,601 But Tom doesn't see the huge male walking up from behind the buggy. 449 00:33:35,013 --> 00:33:36,674 He and Cara race up the steps, 450 00:33:44,589 --> 00:33:45,920 leaving the camera behind. 451 00:33:46,958 --> 00:33:48,926 That's a little excitement for a change, huh? 452 00:33:49,060 --> 00:33:49,890 That was too close! 453 00:33:50,094 --> 00:33:50,958 Good thing Spencer saw him, huh? 454 00:33:51,095 --> 00:33:52,926 You see how they can just come out of nowhere? 455 00:33:53,031 --> 00:33:57,730 Too bad your camera's down there, 'cause it's a great scene. 456 00:33:57,869 --> 00:33:58,995 Oh, it's a wonderful scene. 457 00:33:59,237 --> 00:34:01,228 That's one of the shots I've been trying to get 458 00:34:01,372 --> 00:34:02,600 for the last five or six years. 459 00:34:04,609 --> 00:34:06,668 I don't Know if I'll get another chance at it or not. 460 00:34:06,811 --> 00:34:08,210 That was our first mother and cubs. 461 00:34:08,346 --> 00:34:14,376 Ahh! Jeez! I can't believe it! 462 00:34:18,222 --> 00:34:21,521 In this business, things don't always go right. 463 00:34:21,659 --> 00:34:23,422 But there's something you gotta get, 464 00:34:23,561 --> 00:34:25,995 you gotta get that bit of behavior that is absolutely vital for the film 465 00:34:26,130 --> 00:34:29,258 and you just go through hell sometimes to get it. 466 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:35,202 It's a very bitter cold, wind chills of minus 100 Fahrenheit. 467 00:34:35,339 --> 00:34:38,536 You can freeze your flesh in five or six seconds. 468 00:34:39,177 --> 00:34:40,144 It's so incredibly hot. 469 00:34:40,278 --> 00:34:43,145 It's 115 Fahrenheit and it's just muggy. 470 00:34:44,982 --> 00:34:46,506 And, of course, days without having 471 00:34:46,651 --> 00:34:49,085 proper showers and baths and things like that. 472 00:34:50,755 --> 00:34:53,918 You're often out on small boats. Conditions are rough. 473 00:34:54,258 --> 00:34:56,920 You occasionally get to reveal what you had for breakfast, 474 00:34:57,028 --> 00:34:58,052 which is pretty unpleasant. 475 00:34:59,163 --> 00:35:03,623 Millions and billions of mosquitos, and black flies, and * * * *01:35.03 476 00:35:03,768 --> 00:35:06,862 and every little kind of bug you can imagine would get in your eyes 477 00:35:07,004 --> 00:35:09,438 and your nose and your ears and your throat. 478 00:35:09,974 --> 00:35:11,566 You're up to here in muck, 479 00:35:12,176 --> 00:35:15,270 going through just a disgusting stench of water. 480 00:35:15,947 --> 00:35:17,005 Neil would turn back and look at me and I said, 481 00:35:17,415 --> 00:35:18,814 "Isn't this a glamorous business?" 482 00:35:23,121 --> 00:35:25,214 We've had film assistants that have come out to us 483 00:35:25,356 --> 00:35:28,052 and that have paid us to let them go. 484 00:35:32,196 --> 00:35:34,255 Problems just go on and on and on. 485 00:35:34,398 --> 00:35:36,798 And it's amazing how many good films get turned out every year. 486 00:35:39,270 --> 00:35:41,500 When you really want to do something bad, 487 00:35:41,639 --> 00:35:43,630 it's amazing what you can put up with. 488 00:35:54,118 --> 00:35:58,418 Not many people would want to get this close to a deadly black widow spider. 489 00:35:59,624 --> 00:36:00,955 One bite could kill you. 490 00:36:01,092 --> 00:36:02,252 Yeah, she's getting a little close. 491 00:36:03,127 --> 00:36:05,960 But it's all in a day's work for George and Kathy Dodge. 492 00:36:06,097 --> 00:36:07,621 You gettin' her? Where'd she go? 493 00:36:07,765 --> 00:36:11,963 We come in close contact with venomous animals of all kinds. 494 00:36:12,103 --> 00:36:13,866 That doesn't necessarily concern us. 495 00:36:13,938 --> 00:36:15,906 I mean, the point is getting the shot. 496 00:36:16,574 --> 00:36:19,304 For the National Geographic film, "Bite of the Black Widow," 497 00:36:19,443 --> 00:36:24,244 George and Kathy decided to get more personally involved than usual. 498 00:36:24,382 --> 00:36:28,478 All that they really asked us to do was film 499 00:36:28,619 --> 00:36:30,951 a black widow underneath a blanket. 500 00:36:32,056 --> 00:36:36,459 We thought, Well, let's put the person under there and add a little movement. 501 00:36:44,502 --> 00:36:45,969 I better cut soon. 502 00:36:46,337 --> 00:36:47,599 I don't want to risk her getting too close. Good one! 503 00:36:47,705 --> 00:36:48,672 Yeah, yeah. 504 00:36:48,806 --> 00:36:49,932 Yeah, now, get her out of here. 505 00:36:50,041 --> 00:36:54,910 It was a nice idea as long as the black widow didn't move too far too fast. 506 00:36:55,046 --> 00:36:56,104 Get her! 507 00:36:56,247 --> 00:36:56,906 Okay, I'm trying. 508 00:36:57,181 --> 00:36:58,273 If we timed things just right, 509 00:36:58,416 --> 00:37:01,078 we'd get the black widow out from under the cover before 510 00:37:01,219 --> 00:37:02,880 it actually reached his flesh. 511 00:37:10,428 --> 00:37:13,363 While many filmmakers head out into the bush 512 00:37:13,497 --> 00:37:15,556 in search of nature's largest animals, 513 00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:17,861 the Dodges specialize... 514 00:37:18,002 --> 00:37:22,530 in filming the smallest and many would say the creepiest. 515 00:37:31,515 --> 00:37:35,474 You can only see elephants and lions and zebras and wolves 516 00:37:35,620 --> 00:37:39,613 and bears for so long, I mean, there are only certain, 517 00:37:39,757 --> 00:37:42,885 limited species of each one of these animals. 518 00:37:43,327 --> 00:37:47,286 But insects beetles, wasps, bees, flies, 519 00:37:47,431 --> 00:37:49,194 I mean, they're countless, they're countless. 520 00:37:49,333 --> 00:37:50,891 We could never run out of subjects. 521 00:37:55,172 --> 00:37:57,663 But if you think it's hard figuring out what an elephant 522 00:37:57,808 --> 00:38:01,107 or lion is about to do try insects. 523 00:38:03,414 --> 00:38:06,383 Like a black widow spider is going to lay eggs, 524 00:38:06,617 --> 00:38:08,084 well she isn't going to tell us. 525 00:38:08,219 --> 00:38:10,346 We don't speak Black Widow. So she isn't going to tell us, 526 00:38:10,488 --> 00:38:13,616 "oh, I'm going to be laying these eggs at exactly one o'clock tonight." 527 00:38:15,293 --> 00:38:20,356 We had 12 black widow females and they were all ready to lay eggs, 528 00:38:20,498 --> 00:38:23,331 all in separate cages, all ready to be put on the set. 529 00:38:24,602 --> 00:38:26,570 One of us will go to bed and the other one will stay up 530 00:38:26,704 --> 00:38:29,730 and watch the black widow for three hours 531 00:38:29,907 --> 00:38:31,704 and then we shift back and forth like that. 532 00:38:34,912 --> 00:38:37,039 Oh, she's really doing it, huh? 533 00:38:37,181 --> 00:38:41,880 The least bit of interference would cause her to abandon the whole process 534 00:38:42,019 --> 00:38:43,577 just a light going on, 535 00:38:43,721 --> 00:38:48,124 or any sudden shock to the container would throw off the whole scene. 536 00:38:49,927 --> 00:38:52,157 Even when the black widows performed on cue, 537 00:38:52,763 --> 00:38:54,890 other problems invariably cropped up. 538 00:38:55,499 --> 00:38:56,397 Okay, roll camera, she's starting. 539 00:38:56,534 --> 00:39:00,334 Even though we had two cameras, this animal's got eight legs. 540 00:39:00,471 --> 00:39:03,668 Several times we'd get egg laying, but not a good shot, 541 00:39:03,874 --> 00:39:06,274 because one or two of her darn eggs would get in the way. 542 00:39:10,348 --> 00:39:13,545 And then the mating of the male and the female 543 00:39:13,684 --> 00:39:16,619 now you're dealing with 16 legs in the way. 544 00:39:16,921 --> 00:39:22,120 How do you get a clear decent shot of the male mating with the female 545 00:39:22,259 --> 00:39:23,954 where you can see what's happening? 546 00:39:24,095 --> 00:39:25,960 It wasn't easy. It wasn't easy at all. 547 00:39:31,369 --> 00:39:35,169 George and Kathy even managed to get the black widow to bite on cue. 548 00:39:35,906 --> 00:39:37,635 How did they do it? 549 00:39:40,344 --> 00:39:42,505 That is one of our little professional trade secrets, I'm afraid 550 00:39:43,781 --> 00:39:47,046 We don't even tell our family. Our family will ask us... you Know 551 00:39:47,184 --> 00:39:50,551 "Well, how did you do that shot? How did you do this shot?" 552 00:39:50,688 --> 00:39:51,518 We don't tell anybody. 553 00:39:52,356 --> 00:39:56,417 Sometimes, the animals don't do what the Dodges want them to. 554 00:39:56,694 --> 00:40:00,061 For the National Geographic film, "Ants from Hell," 555 00:40:00,197 --> 00:40:02,461 George and Kathy wanted to shoot 556 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:05,364 a timelapse sequence of fire ants devouring a frog. 557 00:40:07,138 --> 00:40:09,902 The frog needed to be taken down, all the way down to a skeleton, 558 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,736 so there was literally nothing left. 559 00:40:13,511 --> 00:40:17,003 It took a lot of studying to see exactly how long does it take 560 00:40:17,148 --> 00:40:19,082 a colony of ants to take down that size of frog. 561 00:40:20,885 --> 00:40:24,286 But apparently, the fire ants hadn't read the script. 562 00:40:25,756 --> 00:40:29,590 The very first colony didn't eat the frog, they buried it. 563 00:40:33,764 --> 00:40:36,733 So we dig up the frog, put him back, start on another colony, 564 00:40:36,867 --> 00:40:40,462 and they eat the frog half way and abandon it. 565 00:40:42,506 --> 00:40:43,598 It took quite a few attempts, 566 00:40:43,741 --> 00:40:45,572 but we finally got it and it came out very nicely. 567 00:40:56,353 --> 00:40:59,117 George and I are challenged, challenge ourselves 568 00:40:59,256 --> 00:41:02,316 to go after those images which haven't been captured before. 569 00:41:03,828 --> 00:41:08,162 I mean, to whatever degree that takes us, extreme macro or telephoto, 570 00:41:08,299 --> 00:41:12,633 it's getting that image in a way that it's never been captured before. 571 00:41:16,607 --> 00:41:18,575 My particular favorite shot that 572 00:41:18,709 --> 00:41:22,543 we've ever done is a close up of the harvestman eating the aphids. 573 00:41:27,818 --> 00:41:31,549 No one had ever seen a harvestman eat an aphid before. 574 00:41:31,689 --> 00:41:33,384 We not only saw it, we filmed it. 575 00:41:37,194 --> 00:41:38,821 We're bringing this to the public 576 00:41:38,963 --> 00:41:42,194 so the public can appreciate this animal and its uniqueness. 577 00:41:43,334 --> 00:41:43,766 This is what makes ourjob worthwhile. 578 00:41:43,968 --> 00:41:48,837 This is what makes doing wildlife photography so exciting. 579 00:41:51,775 --> 00:41:54,972 I found the jumping spider to be a very interesting subject, 580 00:41:55,112 --> 00:41:59,879 because it has sort of a soft cuddly look to it, which is appealing. 581 00:41:59,950 --> 00:42:03,181 Soft and cuddly. Did you hear that? Soft and cuddly. 582 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:04,878 This is what I love about this woman. 583 00:42:04,989 --> 00:42:06,980 She loves all animals... 584 00:42:07,124 --> 00:42:09,888 she calls a jumping spider cute and cuddly. 585 00:42:10,027 --> 00:42:12,996 It doesn't matter what we shoot or what we photograph, 586 00:42:13,130 --> 00:42:17,726 she empathizes with the animal, gets to really like it. 587 00:42:17,935 --> 00:42:20,631 I couldn't find another woman like this on the face of the earth, 588 00:42:20,771 --> 00:42:24,104 you Know, if I spent the rest of my life trying, 589 00:42:24,241 --> 00:42:25,936 and especially one that looks as good as this. 590 00:42:27,745 --> 00:42:29,110 I'm one lucky man, I'll tell ya. 591 00:42:32,416 --> 00:42:35,408 While there are wildlife filmmakers who work alone, 592 00:42:35,653 --> 00:42:39,453 it's striking how many of them team up with their spouses or partners. 593 00:42:41,425 --> 00:42:43,586 I'll tell you when you hit 24 frames. 594 00:42:43,794 --> 00:42:44,556 Because in this business, 595 00:42:44,962 --> 00:42:48,090 a good year you might be gone 250 days out of the year. 596 00:42:48,232 --> 00:42:49,995 And what kind of relationship can you have 597 00:42:50,134 --> 00:42:51,499 with somebody that's waiting at home? 598 00:42:52,336 --> 00:42:58,935 So the ideal situation is if your partner can be part of the team. 599 00:43:00,744 --> 00:43:02,143 Most couples, you Know, 600 00:43:02,279 --> 00:43:04,713 they see each other at the beginning or end of the day. 601 00:43:04,915 --> 00:43:06,906 And there's a big chunk in the middle where they're interacting 602 00:43:07,051 --> 00:43:10,316 with other people. And we have ourselves. 603 00:43:11,455 --> 00:43:13,184 And very often, we're off in wilderness areas 604 00:43:13,324 --> 00:43:18,159 and we just have to get on and thank goodness we do. 605 00:43:18,929 --> 00:43:20,089 Look how easy that was. 606 00:43:20,230 --> 00:43:20,559 That's right, that's right. 607 00:43:20,698 --> 00:43:23,963 We live with the job. I mean, 608 00:43:24,101 --> 00:43:26,296 I could wake up at two o'clock in the morning and, 609 00:43:26,437 --> 00:43:28,928 you Know, "Kathy, Kathy, I just got the greatest idea." 610 00:43:31,742 --> 00:43:33,141 There sure are difficulties. 611 00:43:33,277 --> 00:43:38,442 I mean, working at nighttime is an incredible difficulty... 612 00:43:38,582 --> 00:43:42,518 because she wants to sleep a little bit longer than me. 613 00:43:45,689 --> 00:43:48,920 We have the domestic crossing over into the professional world, 614 00:43:49,026 --> 00:43:50,084 back and forth. 615 00:43:50,227 --> 00:43:53,287 There would be squabbles taking place over who was gonna be responsible 616 00:43:53,430 --> 00:43:55,762 for vacuuming up the back guano, 617 00:43:55,966 --> 00:43:57,558 let's say, that's dragged into the carpet. 618 00:43:59,903 --> 00:44:04,897 We have these goals and things that we wanted to do in life 619 00:44:05,209 --> 00:44:06,972 and we've dedicated to that. 620 00:44:09,613 --> 00:44:13,379 If Beverly didn't share the dedication that I had or vice versa, 621 00:44:13,517 --> 00:44:14,245 it wouldn't work 622 00:44:15,285 --> 00:44:16,183 And we would not be 623 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:18,979 a filmmaking married couple out in the bush. 624 00:44:24,094 --> 00:44:25,686 So, what do we do? Are we gonna get end takes? 625 00:44:25,829 --> 00:44:27,922 First let me do this and then we'll do a front take 626 00:44:28,065 --> 00:44:30,124 and then we'll add some questions. 627 00:44:30,801 --> 00:44:33,497 One such couple is Richard and Carol Foster. 628 00:44:33,971 --> 00:44:38,101 The husband and wife are among the world's leading wildlife filmmakers 629 00:44:38,642 --> 00:44:40,735 They make a perfect team. 630 00:44:42,713 --> 00:44:44,374 Richard's the cameraman, 631 00:44:44,515 --> 00:44:47,973 while Carol does sound, still photography and research. 632 00:44:48,652 --> 00:44:50,552 Back there. Oh, they're so cute. 633 00:44:55,793 --> 00:44:58,057 We're both naturalists. And we both think in the same way... 634 00:44:58,962 --> 00:45:01,021 even though we do separate things, 635 00:45:01,165 --> 00:45:03,429 then we come together when it is a film 636 00:45:05,903 --> 00:45:08,098 Carol and I compliment each other very well. 637 00:45:08,272 --> 00:45:10,467 We're actually both very different kinds of people. 638 00:45:10,607 --> 00:45:12,370 I'm much more laid back 639 00:45:12,509 --> 00:45:13,874 Carol rev's much higher than I do. 640 00:45:14,478 --> 00:45:17,003 I tend to get a bit mentally lazy sometimes, 641 00:45:17,147 --> 00:45:20,776 and she gives me a quick kick, you Know, when that happens. 642 00:45:20,918 --> 00:45:24,319 And I try to calm her down when she gets too hyper, you Know, 643 00:45:24,455 --> 00:45:27,219 so we have a pretty good effect on each other. 644 00:45:27,825 --> 00:45:28,587 It works well. 645 00:45:30,594 --> 00:45:33,529 We couldn't make these films as individuals. We really couldn't. 646 00:45:33,664 --> 00:45:37,896 It's too wide a breadth of stuff to get done. 647 00:45:38,302 --> 00:45:41,567 And we both have respect for each other in what we do. 648 00:45:47,277 --> 00:45:50,940 Recently, this filmmaking team had to confront a grave challenge. 649 00:45:52,449 --> 00:45:55,907 They were in Venezuela, filming one of the world's biggest snakes 650 00:45:56,086 --> 00:45:58,350 he anaconda for National Geographic. 651 00:46:00,224 --> 00:46:03,557 At first, it seemed like the danger would be in getting the shot. 652 00:46:04,762 --> 00:46:07,424 They were following a researcher whose favorite method 653 00:46:07,564 --> 00:46:10,590 of finding the snakes was to feel for them underwater 654 00:46:10,734 --> 00:46:11,758 with his bare feet. 655 00:46:13,637 --> 00:46:16,868 To get his respect, which was, actually, 656 00:46:16,940 --> 00:46:19,773 I was quite happy to do, was to take off my shoes as well. 657 00:46:21,011 --> 00:46:25,038 We've got stingrays, which if you tread on one and it stings you, 658 00:46:25,182 --> 00:46:26,149 it's three months out of your life. 659 00:46:26,917 --> 00:46:28,782 They're very, very bad, very poisonous 660 00:46:29,153 --> 00:46:33,146 You've got electric eels, which put out 500 volts 661 00:46:33,290 --> 00:46:36,885 and they'll Knock you straight out of the water if you get shocked by them 662 00:46:39,062 --> 00:46:41,121 The snakes actually are not aggressive when they're in the swamp, 663 00:46:41,265 --> 00:46:43,460 because they're used to being trodden on by other animals. 664 00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:45,966 It's only when you start grabbing them and hauling them out, 665 00:46:46,103 --> 00:46:47,900 that's when they start turning around and biting you. 666 00:46:52,109 --> 00:46:53,542 But as it turned out, 667 00:46:53,677 --> 00:46:57,374 the Fosters faced a much more serious threat than the anacondas 668 00:46:57,514 --> 00:46:59,345 during their time in Venezuela. 669 00:47:00,551 --> 00:47:03,315 And all of a sudden I had these sharp pains in my spine. 670 00:47:03,453 --> 00:47:06,422 And when I got up, my right leg wouldn't work at all. 671 00:47:06,557 --> 00:47:09,890 And I was dragging it. And then my left leg went. 672 00:47:10,027 --> 00:47:12,928 And then we decided we better medevac me out of there. 673 00:47:14,198 --> 00:47:16,598 The mysterious illness puzzled doctors 674 00:47:17,267 --> 00:47:21,533 only one thing was certain: Carol wasn't letting it stop her. 675 00:47:22,306 --> 00:47:24,467 I didn't want to go back to the States or anything. 676 00:47:24,608 --> 00:47:25,870 I wanted to go back to the film, 677 00:47:25,943 --> 00:47:29,879 because I had spent so much time getting it to that spot, 678 00:47:29,980 --> 00:47:32,448 so I says, "I'm going back to the field." 679 00:47:32,683 --> 00:47:36,710 And I was either in a wheelchair or somebody was always carrying me. 680 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:37,682 It's a good thing you're light. 681 00:47:37,821 --> 00:47:39,880 I Know. They carried me. 682 00:47:39,957 --> 00:47:41,390 And I says, "I'm going to every scene." 683 00:47:43,961 --> 00:47:47,226 Over time, Carol regained the use of her legs. 684 00:47:49,967 --> 00:47:53,095 Okay, Frank, you've got her. Okay, you've got her. 685 00:47:53,237 --> 00:47:56,900 Now, less than nine months after her stint in a wheelchair, 686 00:47:57,007 --> 00:47:59,339 she's joining Richard on an arduous shoot. 687 00:48:00,210 --> 00:48:03,077 For a National Geographic film about bats, 688 00:48:03,213 --> 00:48:06,740 the Fosters and their team are descending into a huge bat cave, 689 00:48:07,251 --> 00:48:10,220 a few hours from their home in Belize. 690 00:48:11,054 --> 00:48:13,249 Grand Central Station of a cave, this, isn't it? 691 00:48:14,725 --> 00:48:15,191 It's a monster. 692 00:48:17,461 --> 00:48:19,656 The steep descent is treacherous. 693 00:48:20,297 --> 00:48:22,527 But it's a shoot Carol wouldn't want to miss. 694 00:48:23,467 --> 00:48:26,493 The Fosters have brought along a unique thermal camera. 695 00:48:26,904 --> 00:48:28,769 That registers heat rather than light. 696 00:48:29,606 --> 00:48:32,769 It's just the thing for filming in pitch black caves. 697 00:48:35,579 --> 00:48:39,515 Hidden in the darKness are all kinds of creepy crawlies 698 00:48:43,387 --> 00:48:45,252 not to mention, thousands of bats. 699 00:48:49,993 --> 00:48:53,394 Going into a bat roost, it's a pretty unhealthy place. 700 00:48:53,530 --> 00:48:56,021 These bats are all sitting around the roof, and they crap down on you, 701 00:48:56,166 --> 00:48:57,656 and there's piles of guano on the floor, 702 00:48:57,801 --> 00:49:02,465 and the temperature is higher than it is outside. 703 00:49:03,006 --> 00:49:05,531 It's sort of a Turkish bath feeling about the whole place. 704 00:49:05,676 --> 00:49:11,273 There's airborne diseases that the bats propagate in the guano. 705 00:49:12,182 --> 00:49:13,911 The main feeling is you want to get the job done 706 00:49:14,051 --> 00:49:15,245 and get the hell out, quite frankly. 707 00:49:15,652 --> 00:49:19,349 But it's worth going in there just to get the images. 708 00:49:19,723 --> 00:49:21,850 Okay, we're gonna need that, so we're gonna need to take that in. 709 00:49:21,992 --> 00:49:23,459 Soon, the team is setting up 710 00:49:23,593 --> 00:49:26,426 for a shot they never could have attempted before. 711 00:49:26,730 --> 00:49:28,664 The cave is too big to light. 712 00:49:28,899 --> 00:49:31,459 But with the thermal camera, 713 00:49:31,601 --> 00:49:33,796 it's heat, not light that counts. 714 00:49:34,871 --> 00:49:38,432 It's like a starry night. Look at that 715 00:49:38,608 --> 00:49:40,599 Yeah, exactly like a starry night. 716 00:50:02,733 --> 00:50:03,961 You want more detail on the stalactites, 717 00:50:04,101 --> 00:50:05,227 or you just want 'em darker? 718 00:50:05,369 --> 00:50:07,803 Um, detail, I think, if you can. 719 00:50:09,573 --> 00:50:10,767 That's really nice. Keep it there. 720 00:50:11,274 --> 00:50:14,209 You wanna record that? 721 00:50:19,649 --> 00:50:22,846 The images are everything Richard and Carol had hoped for. 722 00:50:24,554 --> 00:50:26,613 They're showing the bats in a new way, 723 00:50:27,024 --> 00:50:30,551 using technology early filmmakers could never have imagined. 724 00:50:34,965 --> 00:50:36,660 But for this husband and wife team, 725 00:50:37,501 --> 00:50:41,597 being able to capture this scene together is a personal triumph as well 726 00:50:43,673 --> 00:50:48,133 For recently, Carol's mysterious illness was finally diagnosed 727 00:50:48,278 --> 00:50:50,712 as multiple sclerosis. 728 00:50:53,784 --> 00:50:56,184 Now, I hope I'm going into remission, and then, 729 00:50:56,319 --> 00:50:59,413 I'm still able to go into some caves and work on the bat film. 730 00:50:59,556 --> 00:51:02,616 And I really tried hard because I, you Know, 731 00:51:02,759 --> 00:51:06,320 I have to always be there, because I like it so much, you Know. 732 00:51:08,565 --> 00:51:11,398 We're going to fight this thing all the way through and, 733 00:51:11,535 --> 00:51:13,503 you Know, with modern drugs, 734 00:51:13,637 --> 00:51:14,729 who Knows? There may be a cure next year. 735 00:51:15,839 --> 00:51:19,468 So you just keep that, keep your body in shape as much as possible 736 00:51:19,609 --> 00:51:20,507 and carry on making films. 737 00:51:25,816 --> 00:51:30,879 For dedicated professionals like these wildlife filmmaking is in the blood. 738 00:51:31,321 --> 00:51:33,881 They'll keep at it as long as they're able. 739 00:51:34,958 --> 00:51:37,119 They do it because they love it. 740 00:51:37,494 --> 00:51:39,928 And because they Know it's important. 741 00:51:40,730 --> 00:51:44,689 Someday, their films may be the only record we have 742 00:51:44,835 --> 00:51:47,531 of wildlife that is fast disappearing. 743 00:51:51,708 --> 00:51:53,437 The fact of the matter is the cameramen 744 00:51:53,577 --> 00:51:54,805 and the film crews need to be out there, 745 00:51:54,978 --> 00:51:57,446 because tomorrow, it's not going to be there. 746 00:51:57,681 --> 00:52:00,650 To see, you Know, 25 hammerhead sharks go by, 747 00:52:00,917 --> 00:52:03,147 you're bound to be impressed. But 15 years ago, 748 00:52:03,553 --> 00:52:05,748 it would have been 500 hammerhead sharks. 749 00:52:07,991 --> 00:52:10,118 As a cameraman, I have an opportunity to make a difference. 750 00:52:10,260 --> 00:52:14,890 People see these wonderful animals, and they don't want them to disappear. 751 00:52:35,318 --> 00:52:37,149 From the first hardy pioneers 752 00:52:37,287 --> 00:52:39,915 who dazzled new audiences 753 00:52:42,292 --> 00:52:45,455 to the conservation minded professionals of today, 754 00:52:46,530 --> 00:52:49,624 wildlife filmmakers are adventurers 755 00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:54,702 driven to bring back images that hold us spellbound. 756 00:52:59,442 --> 00:53:03,879 I can't imagine a job which has so much reward, certainly for me. 757 00:53:08,585 --> 00:53:12,146 We have fun every single day of our lives. 758 00:53:13,223 --> 00:53:17,284 I think that there's nothing else that I'd rather be doing 759 00:53:17,761 --> 00:53:19,729 right now on this earth.