How Evolving Technology Has Helped the Planet Earth Documentary Series to Be More Cinematic

In the first episode of a three-part miniseries, Joss Fong and Dion Lee of Vox explain the history of the iconic BBC Earth series Planet Earth and Planet Earth II, specifically noting how evolving film and digital technology has served to capture some of the most stunning images of animals around the world, allowing this series to come across more like a feature film than a documentary.

Handheld stabilizers are most effective when you can get close to the animal, and a lot of animals don’t like that, so they’ll never replace tripods. Rather they add to the rapidly growing arsenal of tools becoming available not just to pros, but to everyone, to be able to get shots that look like Hollywood blockbusters. But ultimately, what makes a movie great isn’t just the pictures, it’s the story The Natural History Unit’s style has shifted over time from more educational to more cinematic.