Of course, the reality is far from that simple.
That series made waves at the time, but no one had touched that subject since.
The reason why it has been ignored is that its too hard!
Its too big a story to tell.
We wanted to take that and elevate it to a new level.
Right from the get-go, the producing trio knew that the series would require three key components to work.
That was the moment where we realized we stood a chance.
We deliberately chose to integrate natural history and CG to give the series veracity.
And finding that balance was probably the hardest thing to do.
Recreating a Lost World
Luckily, that conceit was one that ILM also fully bought into.
We were in from the beginning, says the series VFX supervisor, Jonathan Privett.
I was really excited by the fact that we were going to make it like natural history.
So we embraced an idea called time-travel cinematography.
For instance, you wouldnt shoot a T-Rex on a Steadicam from 3 meters away because youd get eaten…. Its hard in the deep blue because obviously theres no [detail] to track in live-action photography.
Each asset ended up with a 60-page fact file, says Tapster.
Challenges aside, though, the results more than paid off.
We went to Chile to shoot that, says Privett.
So we had these amazing background plates.
But they did get a lot of love as a result of being first up.
When I saw the first render, I thought, Yeah, this is gonna be great.
So a lot of care and attention went into it.
At that point, all of us who were involved were simultaneously excited and terrified.
After an anxious, sleepless night, I awoke to an email simply saying: Steven loves it.
Ive printed that and kept it for posterity!
It wasnt just Spielberg who was a fan; the sequence impressed the academics, too.
That must have been a nice bit of feedback for the VFX team, right?
So yeah, very chuffed.
Thats one of them, definitelythat sequence is exactly inspired by that, Privett smiles.
There arent loads [of Easter eggs], but theres the odd cheeky one or two.
Thats definitely the most complicated scene in the show, says Privett.
Were animating multiple creatures against empty plates filmed in Iceland.
So its a full-on extravaganza.
But creating realistic hides, especially given the complex weather at play, brought an even bigger challenge.
To overcome it, Privett looked to another ILM project:The Mandalorian.
It was definitely a step forward and much more user-friendly.
The result is one of Privetts favorite sequences of the series.
It took a long time to get it 100 percent right, but Im really proud of it.
The creatures in it look superb.
So with that challenge, ILM has really upped its game in terms of what it can deliver.
ForLife on Our Planet, that voice is none other than Oscar-winning Hollywood legendMorgan Freeman.
Great narrators dont just read words on a page; they tell stories, says Scholey.
With Morgan, you are so taken in by his storytelling skills that he draws you into the film.
What was really exciting about working with Morgan is he loved the subject matter.
Hes fascinated about evolution and hes passionate about informing people about the sixth mass extinction that were causing.
In fact, when he read the final moments of the series, he was really moved by it.
It was a special moment, for sure.
The last scene of the series is very provocative and potentially challenging.
It will be interesting to see what reaction we get to it.
Life on Our Planetis streaming now on Netflix.
