Hidden Kingdoms

HIDDEN KINGDOMS REVEALED

In this series, the team's mission

was to show viewers the natural world

from a completely new perspective.

To achieve their goal,

they had to combine their experience as wildlife film-makers

with techniques learned from the world of feature films,

using special effects, storyboards,

but most crucially of all, a great cast of characters.

Cameraman Jip and producer Simon

set off into the wilds of Kenya to find them.

The anímals in the series were small.

But the kit required was greater than ever,

weighing almost half a tonne.

The theory is, the smaller the things you film,

the more kit you need.

After dark, Simon discussed his ambition with the team.

If there was one thing I'd really love to get, it's just trying to...

give the audience an impression of what it might feel like

to be running down there,

just a couple of inches high off the ground

at the same speed as a sengi.

So, basically like a car chase?

Yeah, a sengi car chase.

To learn as much as possible about the sengi,

next morning they met with trackers from the local village.

Trackers are more used to finding lions or big game,

but these had been using their skills to piece together

the sengis' movements.

Yeah, this is the poo of the sengi.

And with their help,

they soon spot one of the distinctive race tracks.

Here's a trail.

-Really? Where? -Yeah. There.

-You're kidding. -No, it goes over there.

But it is true when you come down here,

I mean, you definitely can see a path.

That's a great sign.

It wasn't long before the team got their first glimpse.

Wait! There it goes.

-Wow, that was right in the distance. -Did you see that?

-It just went "Vooom!" -That is amazing.

-Did you even get it in shot? -I don't even know.

I mean, I think I wasn't framed where it was.

-Just ran across there. -Did it?

This was going to be harder than they thought.

The ground they're covering in that time is ridiculous.

Jip, keep your eyes open.

Jip moved into position.

The sengi continued to run rings around them.

Oh, there he goes, he went straight past you.

It would be tricky but the team put their plan into action.

Work began on building the perfect stage for the Hidden Kingdom stars.

First, for a dung beetle.

By building stages in the savanna,

the team could film the animals from low angles

to show the audience the true scale of this Hidden Kingdom.

To recreate the world from a small creature's perspective

would require some special effects.

Here's another technique, the use of blue screen.

We can then cut out the blue background

and replace it with something else.

And all these elements come together

to create this kind of Hidden Kingdoms look.

And the stage is set.

Tomorrow they would go in search of the one thing

that would attract the beetles.

The following morning, the team got up well before dawn

to collect the vital ingredient

that would attract the beetles to the stage.

At the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage,

young elephants are cared for by their keepers

until they're ready to head back into the wild.

Our chances of obtaining elephant dung have drastically increased.

The crew would join them on their daily walk

to seize any opportunity that presented itself.

Morning.

You on that? Nice close up.

It's a two-trowel technique now.

That one was nice, solid, good form.

Elephant flatulence.

It's a good sign. It's a good sign.

It really smells bad.

With the secret ingredient to hand,

they could return to the stage,

watch the skies, and wait for the dung castle to work its magic.

-Here he is. Look. -Focus on that.

Look, look, look, look, look, look, look.

There's our star.

The first sighting.

-They are coming in from all directions. -What do you want to do?

Look, straight for it, look.

At last, the beetles can take the stage.

Welcome to the Hidden Kingdom.

The great thing about these beetles in the wild

is they just pick a direction and they keep going and keep going

and keep going - they're the perfect actors.

Time enough to implement their plan for the sengi.

They would need to win its trust...

and began to build a special filming territory.

Complete with trail..

If a sengi would adopt their track, they had a chance,

and Jip knew how he could keep up.

The camera's gonna whizz down here...

at sengi speed, which is...

well, lightning speed, really.

To get down on the sengis' level we have to dig a trench,

dig a blooming great hole

to put the camera in, and the cameraman in,

so that we're eyeball to eyeball with this incredible animal.

After a lot of work with a pick and shovel,

the track was ready for a test run.

This should give you something to look at.

Every Hollywood star needs its own stand-in.

And, three, two, one.

If they could earn the sengis' confidence and work with them,

they might have a chance

of bringing this animal's incredible abilities

to the screen.

But obviously at ten times the speed.

-You know, this might just work. -Yeah.

As the days wore on, one worry remained.

Would a sengi ever adopt the trail they'd built

and trust the team enough to race alongside it?

OK, try one as fast as you can.

-Ready? -Yeah, I got it.