John Downer Productions Ltd.
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Weird Nature

Science is stranger than myth -

This BBC/DISCOVERY series reveals some of the strangest behaviour in the animal world. In a series of action-packed sequences, tyres fall from a truck and disturb salamanders, which turn into living wheels. Mexican jumping beans spring to life and take over a toy store. Fulmars use projectile vomit to attack a climber. Hagfish slime their way out of a fishing boat by turning water into mucus soup. A skunk teaches the hardest street gang a lesson in break-dancing. Animal junkies get high on some strange drugs and we even discover nature's alcoholics. Using new filming techniques and some extraordinary special FX - this is nature as never seen before.

Behind the Scenes...


TITLES -

In Weird Nature, many shots of leaping unicorns, mermaids and flying fish were used to composite the title sequence. Digital FX Suites were used to composite blue screen footage on to the background footage.Use the 'FX Suite' to composite your own version of the 'Weird Nature' titles.

SEQUENCE TIMESLICE -

In Weird Nature, multi-image shots of a leaping bushbaby and gliding animals were captured using a development of the Timeslice technique used in SuperNatural. This special camera has a series of lens arranged in an arc or circle around the subject. Each lens takes a slightly different view which joined together, give the appearance of travelling around an animal frozen in a moment of time. Weird Nature took the technique further by combining it with multiple flash photography. This allowed movement around a progression of frozen images. For the elaborate sequence that shows gliding animals competing in a jungle airshow, Timeslices and live action were combined in the computer to give the feeling of moving through three-dimensional space.

DEVIOUS DEFENCE -

Most programmes in Weird Nature consist of over 700 shots, but "Devious Defences" opens with what appears to be a single shot lasting two minutes. But how do all the animals perform on cue, perfectly timed to the movement of the men? In reality, each element was shot separately in places as diverse as Brazil, Costa Rica and the UK. The resulting behaviour was joined seamlessly in the computer. Joins between shots were made using vegetation and focus shifts.