James Cameron was not near the Penguins this time, but he is very familiar with their environment.
“When I went to Antarctica myself, I had adapted a Nikon Still Camera to the cold with special lubricants,” he says Popular science. “I went to the South Pole and the film shattered in my hand when I tried to change it. The camera froze. I took a video camera, I wrapped it in a heating package and it [died] In two minutes. I have a good idea of ​​what is needed to take conventional equipment in that area and to survive. “
Bertie Gregory
This time, the legendary director of Titanic” Terminator 2the Avatar series, and more served as an executive producer for the three -part documentary by National Geographic Secrets of the penguins. The newest in the award -winning series, Secrets of the penguins represents the highlight of a two -year excursion around the world. More than 70 scientists and filmmakers have crossed the world from Cape Town and the Galapagos Islands all the way to Antarctica’s Ekström Ice shelf To observe these iconic escape -free birds.
At the Ekström-IJsplank, a film crew of three people resisted a total of 274 days that documented a 20,000-member Keizer Penguin Colony. The team has never captured the visual material of chicks that navigate through drift ice cream, penguins who use their beaks to climb out of a crack, and even seem to practice a bound few adults with rolling a future egg with the help of a snowball position.
While Cameron has not earned the temperatures of the subzero Secrets of the PenguinsHe still helped with the editing of the resulting hundreds of hours of images in the new three -part series. And he is grateful that the team is prepared with more than just a Nikon.
“Simply systems are adapted to the cold and the heat in the tropics [required] Cut Drone technology, “he says.” They used the DJI drones that are very, very good for things like this. GoPro, Osmo, Canon – I mean, you name it. “
What particularly interested Cameron-itself a pioneer in underwater and deep ocean film technology-wash the adapted rigs designed to catch a glimpse of penguin colonies up close and personal.
[ Related: Poop stains reveal four previously unknown Emperor penguin colonies. ]
‘[They have] To be low and move between the penguins, “says Cameron.” It is a personal acclamation. They have to feel comfortable with a strange new thing in their environment, but after three days they are a bit over it. “
He also quotes the need for lowlight cameras because of the unique sunlight conditions of Antarctica.
“Many things for that liminal environment when the sun is just sticking along the horizon and ultimately just goes. You are in a kind of constant twilight for a few weeks,” says Cameron.
While it is over Secrets of Series -submissions aimed at octopuses, whales and elephants, Cameron says that the themes are part of what distinguishes this new series from previous entries.
“Look, you can’t study penguins without finding climate change … [but] Thematically we wanted to present the miracle of nature and not miss people with a debt trip over our behavior as people, “he said.”[But] They are always affected, they are always negatively influenced.
Although Cameron says they have done their best not to be ‘too Cassandran’ about the situation, he admits that the effects of warming up temperatures were more striking than in previous seasons.
“Penguins life in these marginal coastal environments. Many are in Antarctica, and it is influenced. The polar areas are first and most strongly influenced by climate change,” he says.
Cameron, however, emphasizes the most important goal of Secrets of the penguins Not despair at all, but hope.
“The goal of the series is to take a new generation of viewers and to ensure that they have a feeling of love and wonder about nature,” he says. “If we respect nature and we respect the wisdom about how these animals have learned to adapt and survive, perhaps that will influence our behavior when Push comes.”
For Cameron, the world is still full of people who focus on conservation and the celebration of nature.
“I think that is the case that we are capable of. I think there are many people. Unfortunately, not enough people are currently in power,” he admits. “But you know, you never know. We do our best.”
Secrets of the penguins Premières on April 20 at 8 p.m. EST at National Geographic, with all episodes available to stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
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