American bison in Badlands National Park.
National Geographic by Disney +
There is a lot to love about America. Armed rebellion to overturn the will of the people and court decisions rejecting decades of legal precedent and contrary to the will of the majority despite the presence of astonishing beauty and natural wonders across the country. New series from National Geographic, “beautiful america“It gives you a front row seat to see the nature of America that few people have the chance to see on their own.
beautiful america
The six-part series from Vanessa Berlowitz and Mark Linfield – the award-winning team behind ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘Frozen Planet’. The series was narrated by Michael B. Jordan – an actor from “Black Panther” and “Creed”.
The six episodes are:
- land of heroes
- land of water
- Northland
- wilds of the west
- Heartland
- Brave new world
A press release for the series explains that “each episode of ‘America The Beautiful’ features clever and brave animal heroes of all sizes – from grizzlies to bald eagles and mountain lions to ants – whose antics and funny behavior are brought to life with the character – storytelling. To capture the animals’ elusive behaviors.” Unprecedented on Earth, a new generation of remote and gyro-stabilized cameras were used.In the final episode, to celebrate America’s champions of human conservation, producers worked directly with indigenous tribes such as the Chippewa Cree of Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana to film the reintroduction of the bison. and the Gwich’in people of Alaska to document the battle to protect the Arctic sanctuary from oil drilling.”
need for speed
From the perspective of a human’s lifespan – or even nearly 250 years of a nation’s history – America’s mountains and rivers seem to never change. But the truth is that nature is constantly adapting and evolving. America’s unique geography pushes the forces of nature to extremes – to shape and reshape the Earth over time.
These areas and animals have been captured on film before – especially by National Geographic. However, one thing that makes “America the Beautiful” unique is that it is the first natural history series to put cinematic cameras on combat aircraft. The series takes viewers on an amazing tour through some of the most impressive sights on Earth, revealing the rich and textured worlds unique to the continent. Cameras mounted on planes show how America’s landscapes fit together and shape one another — revealing how the Sierras made the Mojave Desert or how the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon. The same atmospheric system also enabled the team to photograph wild weather, including shots of giant cells and hurricanes at close range.
I spoke with aerial cinematographer Greg Wilson about the latest in aerial photography technology. He told me he appreciated working on this project because it allowed him to go back to his roots as a nature photographer who is still a photographer in some way. “But this time the implementation of highly advanced technology camera systems mounted on the front of the aircraft, and the imaging capabilities that we have been able to build with these technical tools are unprecedented.”
Wilson told me, “They gave us a lot of freedom and a lot of confidence to develop the shot making capabilities and the team to be able to design shots that had never been done before and those great photos that no one had seen before.”
To take aerial shots, use a file Shoot F1 Rush. It’s a very sophisticated piece of equipment and there are only three of them. It is a stable 6-axis cam system in a jet configuration capable of withstanding up to 350 knots of velocity and 3G of force on the axis.
“We’ve taken that and pushed in a lot of our own technology advancements, both with Shotover and with our technicians to ensure the system is on top. The requirements we put on it are very different from a typical Hollywood movie where you need the camera to be perfect for 15 seconds to get Your picture of a “Top Gun”. I don’t do that kind of work, but some of our shots take over 45 minutes to perfect sometimes in very turbulent environments. So there was a tremendous amount of effort to create a one-of-a-kind tool that really works under situations. The most demanding of which I think a camera has ever been placed.”
A quick side note: National Geographic understands that taking aerial footage of fighter planes has consequences for the environment. They purchase carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions, benefit communities, and support biodiversity to offset production emissions, including those from aircraft used in photography.
All six episodes ofbeautiful americaIt will be available to stream exclusively on Disney+ starting July 4 – Independence Day. You should definitely check it out. If you love nature, democracy, religious freedom and human rights, you should also make sure to vote in November.