BBC’s Oceans series shoots on HDCAM

1. Briefly, what is the series about? How many episodes are there, what does each cover, where will it be shown and when?

Oceans is a new 8 part series for BBC Two which will explore the hidden stories of the planet’s oceans – in HD.

Explorer Paul Rose will lead a team of ocean experts in a series of global science expeditions. With him maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue will investigate our past and our relationship with the sea; marine biologist Tooni Mahto will search out the extraordinary life in our oceans today; and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr will look to the future of our oceans.

2. What is the series trying to achieve? How is it different to other series? What makes it unique?

Our series aims to build up a global picture of our oceans. Each of our expeditions / programmes has a clear goal, one which characterises the ocean we’re in. From exploring one of the warmest seas in the world to investigating the ocean that drives our climate, this series – in a very timely way - will help us understand more about our oceans.

Each programme looks at many different aspects of the oceans – from how they were formed, to the science being carried out to try to help preserve them and learn from them, from the human stories they can tell through shipwrecks and lost civilisations to their extraordinary marine life. The four marine specialists on board have been able to explore archaeology, oceanography and ecology.

Locations around the world

3. Where have you filmed? Could you give us some more detail about some of the locations, why you were there and what you discovered?

Our locations have spanned almost every condition you could possibly imagine both underwater and topside - from submerged underground cave systems to filming beneath the ice that covers the top of our planet. We’ve flown over glaciers, filmed from boats that are “garaged” or “parked” in the polar ice and used new camera technology to get a worms-eye view inside a coral colony.

It took us 10 months to get access to the restricted and militarised waters of the Eritrean region of the Southern Red Sea. We’ve witnessed some incredible natural history phenomena. But it’s not just about fish. We’ve dived on totally unexplored underwater archaeology, penetrated enormous ship wrecks and explored inland cave systems.

4. What is the scope of the series? Is it mainly natural history, scientific, archaeological?

It’s a blend of all three as our presenters are experts across different disciplines, and not forgetting the environmental angle which I would say is a fourth key element. It’s actually really exciting to see our experts feed off one another and often their work can be drawn together.

You can’t forget the expedition element of the series too. Going through the experiences and challenges of a real time expedition gives an insight into just how tricky it can be to run a science project of this nature. An expedition that’s at the mercy of local authorities who can impound the ship, weather that can cut off travelling routes and ice that can stop it going anywhere.

I think it’s worth mentioning the incredibly generous help of scientists throughout this whole series. The global scientific community has provided help which enables our experts to develop the science in situ, to bring it to life for people.

5. Who are the presenters? What do they bring to the series?

The expedition leader is explorer Paul Rose will lead a team of ocean experts in a series of global science expeditions. He’s worked with NASA, the US Navy and led expeditions through Greenland and the Antarctic. Paul Rose was awarded the Royal Geographical Society 2007 Ness Award for the popularisation of Geography. Dr Lucy Blue is a specialist in maritime archaeology and will explore shipwrecks and lost civilisations to look at our past in relation to the sea, Tooni Mahto will search out the extraordinary life in our oceans today; and Philippe Cousteau Jr will look at our oceans future and the way they’re changing. He serves on several marine and environmental advisory boards.

Support from Visual Impact

6. What cameras and other equipment have you used to film the series? Have they performed well? Where did you hire them from?

We used Sony camcorders in the form of HDW-750P HDCAMs and HVR-Z1E professional HDVs hired from Sony Specialist Dealer, Visual Impact, as well as a Toshiba polecam and an Elmo digital headcam for our shoots. As a self shooting director, I found all the camcorders we used performed well. I’d say it’s also as much to do with the people using them as it is the camcorder themselves. We have an outstanding team of camera operators, and assistant camera operators as well as other support crew who ensure the kit is serviced daily and stored sensibly. We needed to make sure the kit was always ready to operate, even in the most extreme conditions. This is particularly important when doing underwater filming, one unchecked seal or a leaking on to a circuit board could jeopardise our entire shoot (not easy to get spares when you’re iced-in to the pack ice a few hundred miles south of the North Pole).

7. Why did you choose to shoot in high definition? Did it make it easier to record underwater scenes? What do the images look like? Is HD necessary for international sales or is it mainly because the BBC wants more HD programming (or both)?

From a technical point of view the detail in HD makes the underwater (and topside) material all the more compelling. It’s particularly critical for capturing fleeting moments, as many natural history moments are. It means that background items can be detailed enough for them to be visible, sounds obvious, but when you’ve spent days waiting for hammerhead sharks to appear and you see an enormous group of them circling in the distance, you want to know your audience will be able to appreciate just how incredible the sight is. Shooting in 25P (progressive) also gives the expeditions a “filmic quality”; the combination of a dynamic (often on the shoulder) shooting style with the progressive filmic quality really gives the programme a distinct (and blue-chip) look. And of course you can’t beat the detail on HD, from a diver’s bubble, to a melting droplet of an arctic icicle, to exquisite markings on 15th century pottery found on the seabed, to the spots and markings on the side of the largest fish in the sea, it makes the viewing all the more pleasurable.

Underwater specialists

8. Who were the camermen/DoP on the series. Are they specialists in underwater shooting or HD?

We have a highly specialised camera team, all extremely experienced in blue chip filmmaking and underwater photography. We have 2 main cameramen on each expedition. Scott Tibbles has worked on each programme and has been instrumental in achieving our series style. Michael Pitts and Paul Atkins have also worked on many of the programmes and have both made incredible contributions to what we’ve achieved. Ian Kellet and Hugh Miller as camera assistants, photographers and lighting experts have also brought an extra element of quality to the material we’ve been able to gather. But on shoots like “Oceans” you need more than just outstanding shooting and a great eye from the camera team. It’s about working around problems together, figuring out how to get the material we need in the time we have, and dealing with things not being as you expected (an all too familiar feeling when trying to second guess the sea). The shoots can be tiring: trying to film Humboldt squid at 3am springs to mind, and without everyone giving a hundred percent it would be impossible to achieve what we do. The Natural History Unit here at the BBC achieve amazing things but usually have much longer with more singular goals in mind – we have a couple of weeks to film a multitude of stories across different disciplines and locations as well as capturing the realities and challenges of the science expedition. The only time to sit down and relax is when we get home.

9. Were there any particular difficult or spectacular shoots you had to do? Could you describe these in a bit more detail, and how you achieved them?

We wanted to film in a black hole in the Bahamas – with a layer of toxic bacteria at about 18m down. We had to be helicoptered onto the site and keep the helicopter on standby in case anyone suffered ill effects from the toxic layer and needed to be air lifted to hospital. We had a few nervous moments, but having communications in these conditions is invaluable so we could monitor the condition of the divers from the surface – and all went well. We have some great shots of our team surrounded by psychedelically purple bacteria, so thick that unless the camera was less than a metre away you couldn’t see a thing. We had a raft of safety measures to make this one happen.

Career moves

10. Could you give me a bit of background on your own career, what other programmes have you been involved in? Are you proud of this new series?

I started out producing radio programmes for BBC Radio 4, a programme called Open Country, it was an incredible training ground to understand storytelling and fundamental producing skills. It’s also where I really developed an interest in making programmes about people and their environment. I moved into television developing ideas along similar lines, where people’s experiences were always the medium for getting messages across. This led me into work on popular anthropology series “Tribe” where I had some incredible experiences. After Tribe I worked on a number of other projects, with writer and broadcaster Charles Rangeley Wilson, directing and self shooting a programme on remote fishing cultures, as well as producing a programme with yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur about the plight of the endangered Albatrosses on the remote Antarctic island of South Georgia. And now to Oceans, the single most logistically complicated shoots I’ve ever worked on, but also amongst the most rewarding. It’s been a privilege to work with an incredible multi-national team. The achievements of the series are thanks to them.

10 October 2008