01x11 - The Making of The Americas

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to "The Americas,"

an extraordinary journey

across Earth's great supercontinent,

five years in the making
on 180 expeditions.

This groundbreaking series
reveals a unique world of wonder.

Now we uncover how this
TV spectacular was made.

That's very good.

Thank you.

Bring it on.

I'm Tom Hanks.

Let's make magic, shall we?

I'm going to go in there for just a bit.

Being part of this epic
show is quite an education.

Turquoise Brown motmots.

OK, now you're just making up words.

It's been a joy working with the team

to tell these fascinating stories.

Despite its isolation, each year,
thousands of seabirds

find their way to the
island of San Pedro Martir

in search of romance.

But I find the tales
from behind the camera

equally astonishing...

the extraordinary lengths they
go to to get these images...

Nobody said it was going to be easy.

Look at that. Look at that.

in some of the most extreme
places on the planet.

Well, we are at 5,000 meters,
and it is hard.

How does one team of people even start

to make a project like this?

Other movies used to brag
about ten years in the making,

a cast of thousands.

This is about 4 billion years

in the making, the Americas,
and it has a cast of billions.

Even after many years in the
film business, I had questions.

How do you even figure this stuff out?

What's the sh**ting schedule?

How much footage do you take?

What lenses do you bring along?

How many protein bars are
the crew going to need?

One thing's for sure,

to work in the wildest places on Earth,

the team always had to
expect the unexpected.

First up, in South America,
the Canberra team

trekked high into the Andes mountains

to film one of the most
spectacular wildlife events

on the planet.

With scorching temperatures
and toxic waters,

life at 14,000 feet is tough.

It takes a crew two weeks
to reach Laguna Colorada

and acclimatize to the altitude.

We're at 4,300 meters.

And if I sound out of breath,
it's because I am.

It's pretty incredible place to be.

But despite the harsh
and hostile conditions,

there's a fiesta on the horizon.

The dress code... pink.

Flamingos... colorful,
graceful, and way too far away.

What are we trying here is to get

really close to the flamingos.

We are aiming for the tight close-ups

of the display of the dance.

If Felipe's going to film every aspect
of the courtship dance,

they're going to have
to get a lot closer.

Plan A, building a hide from grocery

crates to help them blend in.

Nice.

They even add decoys
to show the flamingos

this isn't a threat.

But the birds still keep their distance.

Got a plan B?

We tried a hide. It didn't work.

The only way to film the dance
is by walking towards them.

So we are going to try
to get into the lake.

But wading into this lagoon is risky.

It's very slippery and muddy,
and there's big holes,

and you cannot see them.

One minute you think you're safe walking

around and then the next,
you slip into a hole.

And there's another problem.

The vivid red waters of the lake

are a pretty corrosive
c*ck of chemicals

that could burn human skin.

So Irene and the crew need
protective waterproof clothing

and another ingenious plan.

We built this flamingo raft.

This actually floats and will allow us

to get closer to the flamingos
without getting detected.

The lagoon is huge.

It's much bigger than you would expect.

After hiking for over a mile,
they're finally within filming range.

So that's it.

We've got the flamingos behind us,

and now we're going to use
the raft to hide behind it

and just very slowly approach them.

Very nice.

Very close.

Spending hours filming
in this caustic water

is taking its toll on Felipe.

My hands are burning like fire.

But the images are unique,
so it's worth it.

Beautiful.

This is the stuff we live for.

With these spectacular shots in the can,

the crew can at last
head back to dry land.

That was quite an adventure.

But Felipe has one last crucial thing

on his flamingo wish list,
to film the dance from the air.

I can't believe it.

I mean, we were out there with a drone,

and they were dancing towards the camera.

I could never even imagined
pictures like this.

What a result.

The crew have overcome
every hurdle to film

these flamboyant flamingos,
even in one of the most

hostile locations on Earth.

But for a story in Southern Chile,
the only way to succeed

is to gain the trust of a top predator.

Here in the spectacular
mountains of Patagonia,

the team are in search
of an elusive wild cat...

a puma.

If you want to observe pumas,
it's definitely

the best place on the planet.

I really like working with large animals

that I can be on the ground with

and I can follow them on foot.

And there's not many places you can

do that with apex predators.

... The story we're trying to tell

is about a puma mom, Pataka,

really struggling to feed her two cubs.

I find her very elegant.

I love her gaze.

I love how she moves and just her eyes.

I could stare at her all day long.

As always, getting close is
critical to tell the story.

But pumas are powerful wild
cats and potentially deadly.

I mean, the reality is, if these cats

wanted to go after you,
you'd have a real problem.

If you ever find yourself
in an unlikely situation

where a cat may be kind
of treating you like prey,

you don't run.

You act like you're
the more dominant cat.

John has built a unique
relationship with Pataka.

Pataka particularly likes John very much.

John has filmed Pataka
before when she was a cub.

And I think maybe she
can remember his smell.

It's been really amazing to follow
her from a kitten to being a mom.

I definitely, from my side,
have a connection with her.

And that's how John can
get close enough to film

these astonishing moments, including

Pataka sharing a meal,

something that's almost never been seen.

It's one of the rare animals
where you're probably seeing

stuff every day that no scientist

and in many cases no person has
probably observed ever before.

Filming animals like these is always

thrilling and unpredictable.

But sometimes the stars of the show...

Don't move.

From sun-scorched deserts
to impenetrable jungles

and the freezing Arctic...

Temperature is not too bad,
minus 20 something, I think.

filming "The Americas"
requires an extraordinary team.

This is so amazing.

Only the most intrepid need apply.

This group of expeditionary filmmakers,

they are dedicated to having
the camera in the right place

to capture on film something
that our human eyes would never

be able to find on their own...

everything from insects that are that big

to animals that weigh 100 tons.

It's astounding that they
capture this on film.

For their next mission,
"The Americas" crew

are targeting a filming first in the
mysterious cloud forest of Ecuador,

home to the only species
of bear in South America.

For researcher Irene, this is a world

away from flamingos in Bolivia,
but it's no less exhausting.

We have to go up and down
the Canyon to get some spots

where we can film the bears.

After two years of research,
the team is here to film

young spectacled bears as
they make their first climb

down the mountain,
a daunting descent of over 1,000 feet.

The reason why we came
at this time of the year

is because we've been following
this bear called Sylvester.

She's a very experienced mama bear.

She should be coming out of her nest

with her really young cubs,
but she's nowhere to be found.

This place is so big. It's huge.

In order to spot the bears

the main tool we are using is the drone.

But after days of
searching from the skies,

maybe they've been looking
in the wrong place.

And the bears take them by surprise.

Don't move.

They came out of nowhere.

In fact,
this isn't Sylvester and her cubs.

But this bear family
are certainly curious.

This could be risky.

There's a danger if you put yourself

between a bear and her cubs,

potentially, that's not a
very safe position to be in.

The mom's gone behind us.

She doesn't seem to mind us at all.

Heading down,
the cubs are a bit more wary,

so we're trying to be super quiet,
and we clear the path,

so there's a clear
route for the mom to go

back down to the cubs.

Now, that's what you
call a close encounter.

That was amazing.

That was so, so cool.

That was really good.

Lucky, everybody here was super calm,

and she sort of sensed that we were OK.

It was all cool.

OK, good.

But where is Sylvester and her cubs?

We're currently in the tree house,
which is like the best

place to have a view of the whole valley

so that we can track
where the bears are going.

Flying drones through these jagged peaks

requires great skill.

And eventually Seb's expertise pays off.

Once we spotted Sylvester and her cubs,

we couldn't believe it.

Good, good!

The cubs need to climb down to find food.

But for them,
the descent is extremely dangerous.

It was a very, very scary moment.

They were going down a very steep cliff

where in the past other cubs died, sadly,

so the team was very scared.

Seb must hold his nerve.

He's only got one shot at filming this.

We all held our breath, and we

were just on the edge of our seat

wondering what was going to happen.

That was amazing.

The bears have made it, and their reward,

an enchanted forest of fruit trees.

This place is just amazing.

So we've just got our
female bear here now

with two cubs in absolutely
the most perfect position

right in front of us.

So magical.

I feel very privileged to have witnessed

these bears up close.

I wish I'd been there too.

But even in the most beautiful places,

the full force of nature
is never far away.

Filming across a super continent

means months of living far
from the comforts of home.

Washing your clothes in a stream,

do they come out any cleaner?

I'm not entirely sure.

Each location brings fresh challenges.

It's pretty extraordinary to
be camping out on the ocean.

I got about eight cactus
spines in my hand.

It takes stamina and determination.

Are you all right, dude?

And sometimes to live in the wild,

you have to go a little bit wild.

I wonder, what is the cherry-picking

process of figuring out who is
going to go where to film what?

I would love to work on "The Americas,"

but I am not going to the Amazon

to get bit by toxic insects.

And yes,
I know that there are some people

that were dying for the
opportunity to do all those things.

And just as well, because we needed

a team to spend over a month
deep in the Amazon rainforest.

Here, "The Americas" crew are aiming

to film for the first time
a giant harpy eagle raising

her newly hatched chick.

With a 7-foot wingspan and talons

the size of a grizzly bear's claws,

the harpy is the most
powerful eagle on the planet.

They have somewhat of a reputation,
those massive talons.

I hope they're going to be relaxed.

Justine is an expert in filming wildlife

from the world's tallest trees.

She's been doing it for over 20 years.

I'm bang on eyeline with the mother.

But for wildlife camerawoman Helen Hobin,

filming at these extreme
heights will be a first.

I've never been in a tree like
this before, so a bit new to me.

Going up.

Welcome to the canopy.

This is going to be my home
while I stake out and watch

this female harpy eagle's every move,

hopefully start to see the chick.

To follow the chick's progress,

Helen and Justine will be filming

on these narrow platforms
for 12 hours a day

for the next three weeks.

It's stifling hot.

So many mosquitoes up here,
driving me mad.

But at least there's room service,
kind of.

And it will all be worth it if they

can get the perfect
shots of the harpy mom

and her tiny chick.

What a beauty.

She is stunning.

There's a chick.

First time I saw his fluffy
little head poking out.

Absolutely magical.

The chick is less than a week old

and too vulnerable for mom
to leave alone in the nest.

He's also hungry.

Poor little guy.

He's calling and calling for some food.

He needs some fresh meat.

I just hope that the dad
comes in with food soon.

But while they wait for dad,

there are more immediate
dangers on the horizon.

God, blimey.

And you can see the rain steaming
across the forest on my left.

Looks like a storm is coming in.

That was quick. Oh, My.

The weather turned pretty feisty.

And you can see the rain
really pouring down now.

This is a perilous time for the chick.

He could drown if the nest is flooded.

She's hunkered down.
You could barely see her.

She was covering the chick
completely in the rain.

And it's seriously risky
for Justine and Helen, too.

I think I just saw a flash of lightning

towards the south.

You don't want to be hit by lightning

especially not if you're sitting

on a metal platform.

Just have to hope the
platform stays attached

to the tree and the tree keeps standing.

What's it looking like up
there for you right now?

I heard that thunder.

Yes, we need to come down.
Start evacuation.

Let's go!

With the threat of a lightning strike,

it's becoming far too dangerous.

And while the mother harpy desperately

tries to protect her chick,
the crew is forced to abandon filming.

Once the weather has settled,

the crew can get back up
to their filming platforms.

It's all pretty nerve-racking.

Is there any sign of life?

Is the chick OK?

I see the mom.

Can't quite see the chick.

Yes.

Thankfully, he's made it.

And there's more good news on the way.

There's the male.

The male has just come in.

Yes.

He's bearing a gift.

He's brought in some food.

At last the chick can feed.

I've just been watching
her really tenderly cut

at these little tiny pieces of meat

and just place them
into her chick's mouth.

It is incredible.

I have to say,
I am delighted with what we've got.

It's amazing, amazing.

For Helen,
filming these extraordinary birds

high in the treetops is
something she'll never forget.

There's been a whole range of challenges,

but it's just been incredible.

Getting to film wildlife
is such a privilege.

It's just been really moving.

I'm going to be very sad to go.

"The Americas" crew spent thousands

of hours getting as close
as possible to their

animal stars...

Yeah.

They've gone out now for a
night's foraging in New York.

filming unique moments in their lives.

It's so cute when they do this.

Although sometimes they did
find themselves outnumbered.

I'm currently taking refuge
on top of the city truck.

The other team can't get out
their vehicle because they're

so well surrounded.

And in the Caribbean,

they even made friends with
some very spiky characters.

Cuba... famous for its stunning beaches,

vintage cars, and crabs?

"The Americas" crew
came here in the spring

to film one of the greatest wildlife
spectacles on Earth,

the migration of Cuban land crabs.

Every year, as many as 10 million

undertake this perilous journey
from the forest to the sea.

They could come out at
any moment between now

and in the next ten days.

Yes, yes.

So it's really hard to predict,

but it gets triggered by the
first arrival of the rains.

They need the rains to
come out of their burrows

and start their migration.

Something's brewing.

Come on, rain.

At last, the rains arrive

and so do the crabs

in huge numbers.

So there are crabs in
every single corner,

including the bathrooms.

Wherever you turn, there are
hundreds and hundreds of crabs.

It's quite hard not to step on them,

so you have to be super careful.

Hello.

My God, baby crab.

It's so sweet.

As the crew get to know the crabs,

they begin to see them
in a whole new light.

You look around, they're like
little characters everywhere.

There are some feisty
ones and timid ones,

and you can't help but kind of fall
in love with them a bit, really.

They're amazing, amazing animals.

But these crabs face a deadly challenge

as they approach their final destination,

crossing the coastal highway.

They didn't even slow down.

They just kept going.

These crabs have walked like
six miles to get to the sea,

and the sea is 30 meters that way.

And they're just k*lled
in their thousands.

It breaks your heart, really.

Fortunately,
most of the crabs do make it.

Some even seem determined to hitch

a ride in the crew's vehicle.

They're literally inside.

I don't even know how they got in.

Whoop.

Come on..

Even the small ones..

With the car decrabbed and
the roads finally clear...

the crew can move on to
capture the last stage

of the crab's epic journey...

when they release thousands of eggs

into the Caribbean waters.

Over five weeks, Irene and the team

have grown more fond
of the Cuban land crabs

than they would ever have imagined.

It's just been such an
emotional roller coaster.

We knew it was going
to be quite a challenge

to show their charisma,
because not many people think

of them as cute as we do.

We think they're really special.

Getting to know the
animals of the Americas

can be a rewarding experience.

But what truly amazed me
were the filming firsts

that the team uncovered.

"The Americas" crew worked closely with

the world's leading scientists
and photographers to reveal

cutting-edge discoveries.

Like one of my favorites,
the unique images

of the world's largest animal,
the blue whale,

breaching and swimming
together in groups.

There is something magical
about watching mammals frolic

in the sea, to swim as fast as they do,

to do it so beautifully,

even when they're the
size of a Greyhound bus.

And in the giant Redwood forests

of Northern California,
near where I grew up,

there's this extraordinary little
animal I knew nothing about.

You guys, honestly, when you see this...

there's this salamander that
jumps off of 200-foot trees,

somehow they get shots.

The team had to haul filming equipment

all the way up to the
tops of these giant trees

to sh**t this.

In slow-motion falls this salamander

with its arms and legs
spread and his tail going on.

Then you're going honestly say,
who got this shot?

I now know it's called
the wandering salamander,

the miniature daredevil
that uses this technique

to skydive around the forest.

But no one had ever
captured it on camera.

Watch as it jumps, immediately throws

those arms out and above the
body for the parachute posture.

They're not just sticking
their arms out and praying

for a soft landing.

They're actively maneuvering and steering

themselves through the air,
so this is a first.

One of the most exciting
discoveries we made

was off the coast of a small island
in the Eastern Caribbean,

where we put together a specialist team

to unlock the secrets
of one of the ocean's

most enigmatic animals.

Sperm whales are creatures from myths

and legends, the largest toothed
predator anywhere on Earth.

For decades, scientists have believed

that sperm whales search for
prey deep on the ocean floor.

But this has never been filmed before.

We can't go down to the
depths that sperm whales hunt

at, so the only way to do that is

to put the camera on
the animal and let it

do the filming itself.

To capture that is our ultimate goal.

This custom-made camera has
specially designed suction cups

to attach it harmlessly to the whale.

The technology inside the
camera is incredibly complex.

When the tag comes to the surface,
the arrow will pop up,

and it will ping a signal to a satellite

and allow us to download
the location of the tag.

This camera tag system is one of the most

advanced ever built.

It's important to remind yourself

how incredible these large predators are

and how unique it is that
we get to study them.

If Giles and this team of top scientists

can successfully film a sperm whale

hunting on the ocean floor,
it will be a world first.

Deploying the camera will
require skill and timing

both from Peter, the scientist,
and Dave, the boat driver.

The last thing we need is Dave,
the driver,

is going to give this
his little bit of luck.

There you go, Dave.

I will name this tag Fido.

I bless you, Fido.

Bless you.

You can see the flumes every ten seconds

or so straight in front of us.

There are two together.

We have whales.

The team has just a few minutes

to get the camera on the whale before it

dives again for maybe an hour.

Ready, Peter?

Always.

Now let's go for the one to the left.

I think that's the one that's closest.

Just slow, slow.

Perfect.

Yes!

- Brilliant.
- Well done, mate.

Brilliant tag.

It's all up to Dave. He's driving.

Well done, Dave.

Cracking driving, mate.

We actually just got our
first tag on a whale.

With its onboard camera, is this whale

about to become the world's
largest ever content creator?

The camera tag is designed
to release after five hours.

But with the battery
running lower by the minute,

will they find it in time?

It's a race against
time as Simona searches

for the sperm whale's camera tag
before it stops transmitting.

I'm hearing something that
sounds of a lot like the pings

from our tag.

My god.

Look what we found.

This is awesome.

So excited to see what's on it.

Back at base, it's the moment of truth.

What will the camera reveal?

Everything in this project
lines up to one moment.

Let's see what's on this tag.

Here we go, guys.

We're on board a whale.

Beautiful.

The whale dives to an
astonishing 2,500 feet.

The team can hear her making
clicking sounds to locate

her prey in complete darkness.

Those are echolocation clicks.

She's actually hunting now.

both: Yeah.

These clicks can be
louder than a r*fle shot,

making sperm whales the
loudest animals on the planet.

And the clicks get faster as the
whale hones in on its target.

It sounds like she's
getting closer to something.

Pretty sure that was a squid.

Yeah.

What was that?

She's feeding at the bottom.

That's insane.

Finally, the team get a glimpse,
a whale's-eye view

of these awesome animals
hunting deep on the ocean floor.

We are officially hunting
with a sperm whale.

Never in my wildest dreams could I

have hoped to be able to see an animal

like a sperm whale hunting
deep beneath the surface.

To be able to show that to the
world utterly blows my mind.

Everywhere "The Americas" crew went,

they pushed the limits in
search of the perfect shot...

Look at that beast out there.

And it was intense.

I'm not going to lie.

It was touch and go.

getting a fresh perspective on

the supercontinent's unique
animals and its epic landscapes.

But catching a glimpse of
the rarest cat in the U.S.

seemed like mission impossible.

El Sauz Ranch in deep South Texas,

home to the elusive ocelot...

and where wildlife filmmaker Austin

Alvarado is on its trail.

These ocelots are such
a mystery because they

are so hard to see.

You're not going to find these
cats roaming out in the open

too often.

They like getting into the thick brush.

The nastier and thicker the brush,
the more excited I get.

The future of these cats is uncertain.

Austin is trying to film
a female ocelot here

hoping to see if she has kittens.

That's great. You think your
head's about ocelot level?

Right there.

Perfect.

I didn't even know what an ocelot

was when I was a young kid, right?

I grew up in the inner city.

And when I first showed
up to this brush country,

I had a learning curve.

But getting an ocelot on
a camera trap was unreal.

That's when I started really,
I mean, becoming obsessed.

Fewer than 100 ocelots are
left in the U.S. today,

so finding out if there are kittens

here is really important.

After a few days,
Austin and his camera assistant,

Christian, are back to check the cameras.

We've been running these cameras out here

for months and months now,

and this excitement never gets old.

OK, let's see what we got.

What was that?

Nice.

We got this cat just walks
through the middle of the frame.

It's great news that the
female ocelot is here,

but there's no sign of any kittens.

It's just her by herself?

Yeah, so far, it's just her.

We haven't seen kittens yet.

I'm going to see if we got
anything on that main camera.

Man, nothing.

No kittens.

So that's extremely concerning.

There are only a few
cameras left to check.

Snap.

Sick.

We got the kittens.

Man Christian, we got the kittens.

Just walking through the middle.

Dude, that's so freaking awesome.

Let's go.

By showing there are kittens here,

these remote cameras have revealed

new hope for the future
of these beautiful cats.

These cats,
these individuals that we're bringing

to the big screen,
they're going to matter.

They're going to matter
for the bigger picture.

It's the beginning of what we need

to do to help these cats out.

Five years in the making of
this groundbreaking series...

Incredible, incredible spectacle.

the crew have immersed
themselves in the true wonder

of this supercontinent...

It looks absolutely enchanted.

and I feel lucky to be part
of this extraordinary show.

As soon as the opportunity
came up to say,

would you like to be the
voice of "The Americas,"

I said, I think I've lived
for that opportunity.

You will find things here in the Americas

that do not exist anywhere
else and never have.

And that's one of the things
that I think is the great joys

of watching this.

It is a steady parade of, holy cow,
how did they get that?

I've never seen that before.

Really?

It is a cavalcade of wonder

and a celebration of just what it takes

to showcase this remarkable
place that we call home.

I wouldn't mind just doing
the whole thing again.