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The sights, smells, and sounds of the deep jungle; a giant moth with a foot-long tonque, an oversized tarantula that feast on chickens, and a band of chimpanzees capable of murder are just some of the headline acts viewers can look forward to in the upcoming PBS "Nature" mini-series
USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 2005 by Fred Kaufman
Why do we need to pay attention to the rain forests? It's simple. The jungle's biggest planetary job is as the great engine of one of the most basic and important biological processes--photosynthesis, which absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As "Deep Jungle" demonstrates, the Earth's rain forests systematically are being cleared. Indonesia alone is responsible for a quarter of their annual disappearance. The wild populations of the orangutan--Asia's only great ape--have halved in a decade, and appear all but doomed. There are an estimated 15,000 remaining.
Here at "Nature," we want to help viewers understand how the natural world works, to help them care about it, and maybe even want to protect it. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to let them look right into the eyes of the animals that populate that world. That is not always an easy task, especially when dealing with animals as mysterious as lowland gorillas, which are facing extinction due to large-scale commercial poaching and habitat loss. As imposing as these 6-foot, 400-pound animals can be, it is interesting to note that gorillas thrive on family, and they require companionship and attention in order to live. It has been said that the first gorillas captured died of loneliness. One of the gorillas' greatest champions is Italian primatologist Chloe Cipolletta. "Deep Jungle" followed Cipolletta as she first approached two of the Byaka's finest trackers, Nbanda and Ngombo, and asked for their help in leading her to the gorillas of Rwanda. At first, they thought she was crazy. Eventually, they agreed. The cameras are there when they see the first evidence: a single imprint of a gorilla knuckle in the dirt. The resulting footage--which follows Cipolletta as she gains the trust of these jungle beings--is very special. The researcher is one of only a handful of people who has managed to befriend a group of lowland gorillas. In the end, the film is as much about the relationship that develops among Cipolletta, the pygmy trackers, and the gorillas as it is about the science.
As with any natural history film, technology was vitally important. In some cases, our cameras found what the naked eye could not. During filming of the Sumatran tigers in the leech-infested jungle, scientists and the film crew were amazed to see bats swooping about the stalking cat. By carefully inspecting the low-light images, they were able to discover that the bats actually were swooping down to pick insects off the unsuspecting tiger's body. To capture such images requires the latest of camera technologies. Throughout filming, the stiffest challenge was shooting in extremely low-light conditions in dense rain forest, which mandated use of high-speed infrared cameras. For example, to see the flapping wings of a manakin (which beat six times faster than a hummingbird) necessitated a 500-frames-per-second camera (usual speed: 25).
Filming under such conditions also mandated more than a little finesse. Cinematographers like David Allen followed scientists up 150-foot trees, where they perched on platforms to await the action. On the ground in Peru, filmmakers crawled on hands and knees after snakes while using low wide angles and straight scopes. Capturing the gorillas required using the quietest equipment possible, which was where digi-cams shone. Shooting bees as they pollinated flowers meant strict attention to depth of field, which required massive infusions of light. At the other end of the spectrum, the skittish Darwin's moth would flit away instantly if even a hint of white light appeared, requiring use of infrared cameras. Yet, no matter how specialized the gear, it is worthless unless an expert is behind the lens. Luckily for us, everyone on the crew brought specialist wildlife filming skills that included living in, climbing through, and understanding the jungle.
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