When it comes to natural history film-making no-one wants to mention the C-word. Conservation in television has become synonymous with talking heads and wordy explanations of ecological function – historically it is not always sexy. It’s also sad – oceans have been steadily warming for the past 75 years, wreaking havoc on the marine ecosystem; something appalling like 90% of fish stocks are overfished; and evidence of human caused pollution is found in every marine habitat, including the deep sea and the ice of Antarctica. What humans have done to this planet is no laughing matter – and people don’t sit on the sofa in the evening with the hope of becoming depressed, they want to be entertained.
Nearly all wildlife film-makers get into the industry because we care about the environment. But even the worthiest eco-warrior amongst us (and I think my colleagues would include me in that category) comes to the realization that, traditionally, these stories aren’t the ones that make it into the high-end programs. So, when Plimsoll Productions hired me to work on the Oceans episode of their new landmark series I knew I was probably signing up to create a film that was beautiful and entertaining, but that it probably wouldn’t be part of the environmental wakeup call that we so desperately need. I was wrong.
From the off, National Geographic wanted Hostile Planet to provide a current take on the status of the planet. The ‘why now?’ of the six-part series was to be the increasing extremity of these habitats and weather due to global warming. But the cynic in me was still prepared to go into editorial battle to tell negative ecological stories on screen, rather than just added in script. I hadn’t expected that National Geographic would be so supportive, or that my strongest ally in this would be Academy Award winning Cinematographer, Director and our Executive Producer Guillermo Navarro.
Known more for his work on blockbusters like ‘Pacific Rim’, than for his knowledge on the Pacific Garbage Patch, Navarro likened the struggles of animals against both the ecosystem and human impact to the most dramatic storylines in feature film. He had no fear in pulling at the audiences’ heart-strings, he just had two conditions, it had to be cinematic and it had to be immersive. From turtle hatchlings running a gauntlet of predators, to great white sharks patrolling new hunting grounds, the animals in Hostile Planet needed to be creatures we could get close to and use technology to film from their POV.
Navarro was keen to avoid what he calls ‘the paparazzi style of natural history documentaries’ – we couldn’t be merely observers, we had to be there with the animals, in their world and experiencing their daily struggle for survival. And the conservation stories had to follow the same format and not break that spell – they had to be from the animals POV and part of their drama, rather than shoe-horned in. They could also be hard to watch, but they had to be so visually captivating you couldn’t bring yourself to look away – from a man that worked on the both beautiful and grotesque ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ these words made a lot of sense.
Thus ‘Hostile Planet – Oceans’ brings you the dream-like shimmering of millions of fish scales falling to the sea floor as their owners are removed from the water in giant nets; the pulsing death throes of boiling corals as the ocean warms; an invasion of alien lifeforms as jellyfish takeover a broken ecosystem; and the monstrous eye of a hurricane whose intensity is fueled by the heating waters. We also see animals we have been made to care about directly affected – penguins battered against rocks by the worst storm to hit the Falklands in 30 years, mullet and predators whipped into a frenzy in the waves from tropical cyclones and perplexed orca pressing their faces against nets filled with masses of herring. The film brings you the cinema and escapism you expect from a blue-chip wildlife documentary, but it also brings the brutal reality of the world into the spotlight.
I’m not trying to put down wildlife programming without an environmental message. I strongly believe there will always be a place for and a value in truly escapist natural history programming. As someone who was sat in front of Attenborough documentaries from a very young age, I can admit that I wouldn’t be here, caring as much as I do, without them. And they have an important role in inspiring people to work on the real frontline in fields like science and conservation. I think the first BBC Blue Planet series saw a huge surge in university applications to study marine biology, for example. However, the ecological state of the world is now so dire, that I believe we have a ethical obligation as filmmakers to at least try to tell the truth – when you start trying to film around plastic bags or boat traffic and only focus your shots on the last remaining healthy patch of kelp, you have to question whether your moral compass is in the right place.
We had to pick our battles though – with National Geographic we were not only trying to deliver conservation stories, we were trying to appeal to an audience that had been switched off from traditional wildlife programming. The addition of Bear Grylls as host was a really smart move in terms of giving an edgier feel, but we also needed the whole program to be dynamic and captivating. So, we couldn’t cover every angle from an environmental aspect – we would have loved to mention pollution and plastics for example. We decided that the issues hitting the oceans hardest were carbon emissions and overfishing and focused on really delivering there.
We also lifted the film (and hopefully the audience) with messages of hope and resilience, rather than those of doom and gloom. The blue whales, atlantic herring and olive ridley sea turtles we filmed have all rebounded from the brink in recent years, due to better protection or fishery regulation. 50 years ago the sight of 100s of orca hunting herring in the Norwegian fjords would have been a myth, but after stricter regulations, allowing stock recovery, humans and orca now share their catch and the atlantic herring fishery there is certified sustainable by the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) – it’s a really good example of why we should only eat seafood from sustainable sources, and shows us that nature can be resilient and recover, if we give it the opportunity to do so.
I’m not saying that films like ‘Hostile Planet – Oceans’ are going to solve the planet’s problems – for that our greatest hope lies with scientists and policy makers across the globe. But if we can reach out and inspire the public to care about these issues, we are giving them a more understanding audience. It would have been unthinkable to feature human induced problems in a landmark nature film in the past, and this is a bold and timely move from National Geographic. Of course, we can always push things further, and ideally, we’ll see more of these films become a call to action, with initiatives like National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic? running alongside them. But at the very least this film, and the positive viewer reaction to the series, is proof that as filmmakers we can be both artists and conservationists, without letting either side down.
National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic? initiative is a global, collaborative commitment to significantly reduce the amount of single-use plastic that reaches the ocean by raising awareness, elevating science and education, advancing innovation and inspiring action.
Learn more about the Planet or Plastic? initiative and take the pledge at natgeo.com/plasticpledge
HOSTILE PLANET
Six-part Series Premiering Internationally on National Geographic Channel
This is not your mother’s nature series! Hostile Planet, a six-part series executive produced by Academy Award-winning cinematographer and director Guillermo Navarro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), Emmy-nominated producer Martha Holmes (“The Blue Planet”), Emmy Award-winning Tom Hugh-Jones (“Planet Earth II”) and BAFTA winner Bear Grylls (“The Island”), draws attention to the most extraordinary — almost supernatural — accounts of animals that have adapted to the cruelest evolutionary curveballs. Hosted by survivalist and adventurer Grylls, Hostile Planet zooms in on the world’s most extreme environments to reveal the animal kingdom’s epic stories of survival on this fast and continuously changing planet. This is a drama told in an intimate manner with innovative camera technology and a lens that captures several first-ever behaviors. Each titular episode spotlights a unique environment – mountains, oceans, grasslands, jungles, deserts and polar – to navigate the brutal conditions endured by some of the most complex, unrelenting and awe-inspiring species on the planet. As animals face an overwhelming host of challenges including punishing weather, intense competition for resources and constant predator-vs.-prey conflict, life still finds a way.
Sophie Morgan is a natural history TV producer at Plimsoll Productions and Director on the Oceans episode of Hostile Planet – she is a closed circuit rebreather diver that specialises in telling underwater stories. From Arctic fjords to remote coral atolls, she has filmed new marine behaviours and managed complex dive shoots in demanding oceanic environments around the globe. She is passionate about using cutting edge filming tools and new perspectives to reveal a world that is inaccessible to many. She is a keen conservationist who uses original storytelling techniques to inspire people to care about the ocean and its inhabitants. Recent credits include BAFTA and EMMY award winning series Blue Planet II and now National Geographic Channel’s new landmark series Hostile Planet. Follow on Instagram: @sophiedives
Banner photo at top: An enormous colony of Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. The colony is a magnet for brown hyenas (Hyaena brunnea) and black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), which come to hunt the pups. (National Geographic/Mateo Willis)