The producer reveals the secrets behind the scenes: the 93-year-old legendary man took 1094 days to shoot a documentary with a Douban score of 9.7
"How old do you think you are now?" asked Han Jing, chief director of CCTV documentaries "Super Equipment" and "Imperial Examination" and chief planner of the "Film and Book Fragrance" series of activities.
"Always be 10 years younger than you think." The answer from Michael Gunton, executive producer of Planet Earth III and creative director of BBC Studios' documentary and natural history department, once again drew warm applause from the audience.
The Shanghai TV Festival, which just concluded, jointly created the "Endless Exploration" unit with BBC Studios. The documentary "Planet Earth III", which took five years to shoot, became the opening film of the "Magnolia Fragrance" Shanghai TV Festival program show. The film was also nominated for the "Best Documentary Series" of the Magnolia Award of this TV Festival. After the TV Festival ended, Gunton did not leave Shanghai in a hurry, but was a guest at the "Film Sea and Book Fragrance" event at the Pudong Library.
On that day, the No. 1 lecture hall of Pudong Library, which can accommodate 600 audiences, was packed, and the branch venue set up in the No. 2 lecture hall at the request of readers was almost full. After the first episode of "Planet Earth III" was played, the audience applauded for a long time. "It is a precious experience for creators to hear the audience's reaction on the spot. Thank you Shanghai audience!" Michael Gunton repeatedly expressed his feelings when he first went on stage.
Michael Gunton watched the works with readers in Shanghai
"Compared with the previous two seasons, Planet Earth III, while maintaining the ultimate visual style and suspenseful narrative, seems to pay more attention to the expression of emotions, especially at some key points, showing a step-by-step emotional advancement." In response to Han Jing's impression, Michael Gunton said that the role of documentaries is to hold up a mirror to the world, showing the beauty of nature on the one hand, and the cruel and heartbreaking side of nature on the other. If documentaries can allow audiences to see their own shadows in animals and resonate with them emotionally, people will care for and protect wild animals from the bottom of their hearts.
Michael Gunton tells readers about the creative team's experience of visiting 43 countries and regions on six continents over 1,904 days, and shares the behind-the-scenes stories of successfully capturing many "firsts in history" with advanced equipment such as light drones, high-speed cameras and remote deep-sea submersibles. "From the first season to the third season, more than 1 billion viewers around the world have watched Planet Earth. These 1 billion viewers come from different countries, different cultural backgrounds and different age groups. If we can tell our stories well and inspire the audience to change their ideas, we can bring positive power to the world."
"When filming Planet Earth III, David Attenborough, known as the 'Father of World Natural Documentary', was already 93 years old, and you are already in your early 60s. What did your ages bring to this documentary?" Hearing Han Jing's question, Michael Gunton waved his hands and responded with a smile: "Wisdom! Knowledge! Fun! And charm!"
"I am very lucky to work in the documentary field. The experience, wonder and fun of this job itself can bring endless energy." Gunton shared an interesting story. "I joined the Natural History Department in my 20s. At that time, I really wanted to work with Sir David Attenborough. At the first department meeting, the head of the department said that we welcome the new director Michael Gunton to shoot this work with us. This work will be the final work of Sir David Attenborough before his retirement. It was 1987. More than 30 years have passed, and he has shot more than 20 works. Now, Sir David Attenborough is 98 years old. Therefore, as long as you still have passion and a sense of mission to tell good stories, it doesn’t matter whether you are 20 or 40 years old."
Han Jing said that Planet Earth III is at the "ceiling" level in the field of natural documentaries, but it also brings challenges to the team. She asked Gunton: "If Planet Earth has a fourth and fifth season in the future, how will the team break its own 'ceiling'?"
"I have participated in many documentaries of this scale. Every time we start shooting a new film, my friends, our support team, and even our investors will ask why we need to shoot more films, haven't we already shot everything that can be shot?" Michael Gunton said, "But in fact, when we really explore nature again, you will find that nature will still bring you a lot of surprises, new stories, new discoveries, and new perspectives. The only challenge is that nature is no longer as resilient as it is now, and there are no longer so many wonders. So, if everyone is still willing to see a better fourth season of Planet Earth, I hope everyone will help us and do our best to protect our home planet."
Pudong Library's "Film and Books" film appreciation and reading promotion activities are a series of public welfare cultural service activities created to implement the concept of "Book City" and create a warm "social aesthetic education" environment. "Combining viewing with reading, introducing high-quality domestic and foreign film, television, literature, and art resources, and inviting creators to the scene to communicate with readers at close range is a form of art popularization that readers love to see." said Wang Qiang, deputy director of Pudong Library.
"Common Home - Documentary "Planet Earth III" Theme Sharing Session" is the fourth issue of the "Film and Book" series of activities. Han Jing revealed that the next event will invite the creators of the dance drama film "The Eternal Waves" to share the creation story of the red IP movie with readers.
The "Film and Book Fragrance" series of activities is guided by the Publicity Department of the Pudong New Area District Committee, Shanghai Film Association, and Shanghai Television Artists Association, co-organized by Shanghai Pudong Library and Shanghai Vision Film and Television Co., Ltd., and supported by the Shanghai Modern Service Industry Development Research Foundation.
