Author Scott Alexander talks about experiencing the diversity of wildlife in all the continents, images of which will now be brought to life through Seven Worlds, One Planet. By Team Viva
What is the core idea of the show Seven Worlds, One Planet?
Looking and studying about animal habitats and their conditions in seven continents looks like a very simple idea. But what surprises me is that we haven’t seen this approach before. But it’s amazing. About 200 million years ago, all the continents were joined up, which broke apart and each of them went through a separate journey. Each one has its unique existing wildlife and it is great that we could tell the story of each of those continents to the people.
Share some of your key takeaways from the show?
One of the key things for me about the series is the fact that we were finding new stories, new species, new locations. One of the key things of any series is providing the audience with a content that they haven’t seen before. People keep on watching the same kind of stuff and they get bored. The fact that we got so many new stories and successful shots is great. We are happy about this as we even discovered a few new species. We have different stories from different continents that we will be sharing with the audience.
What are your views on the diverse wildlife and landscapes across the seven continents?
It is incredible. And what’s remarkable about the show is that it is able to showcase this wonderful diversity of life that exists across the continents. We are at the time now where many species are on the verge of extinction, which can be due the climate change, poaching or loss of habitat. We have covered all these stories in the series. What one can learn from it is about the amazing wildlife, which one should look after. We live in the environment and we use natural resources so we should make sure that they are also preserved carefully.
How challenging has it been to shoot across contrasting weathers and animal behaviour? Any anecdote you wish to share...
It was incredibly challenging because animals don’t follow your script. You cannot plan because you will not get the kind of behaviour you want. The animals wouldn’t know what you want them to do but sometimes some shots will be that great that it would be better than what you were expecting. So you never know what shot you will get and how it will turn out to be. The entire shooting is very time consuming. For example, a five minutes sequence can take five weeks to be shot but the more time you spend filming in the wildlife, the better the sequence is.
We were filming in Antarctica, which is the most hostile continent and certainly the coldest. It’s dry, windy and one of the most remote continents. Getting to Antarctica is very challenging in itself. It took us six days of sailing across the roughest paths. The challenges while shooting are numerous but the reward is great. You get to see the most amazing locations and the most amazing landscapes.
Which continent according to you is doing its best to preserve ecosystem and what all can the rest learn?
What we are trying to do is to deliver a message through each show. We are trying to talk about climate change and many other environmental issues like the increasing storms that have a detrimental effect on the wildlife as the chicks get blown off from their nests and can’t get back. They can’t reunite with their parents. In Africa, we have covered a story where poaching is severely affecting wildlife. In Australia, due to human intervention in some areas, there is increasing detrimental effect on the wildlife and as the result, many Australian species are becoming extinct. So we try and point out these kind of issues but we don’t want all of it to be negative. There are good stories out there too — ones that could encourage people to work towards saving the environment and tell them that it’s not too late to do something. We want them to realise that if we all do our own bit, then we can make a difference.
The show premieres in India in January. What’s your message to the audience on the importance of nature conservation?
I want people to notice the most incredible diversity of wildlife and also at the fact that these shows are shot by the world’s best cameramen. The best director and top Hollywood musical composers have created the music for the show, by which we can make out the good quality of the show. I want people to enjoy it as they will be looking at some new stories and I also want them to connect with the diversity and save planet.
(The series will premiere on January 13 on Sony BBC Earth.)