Last night, I had the pleasure of attending National Geographic’s premiere for Hostile Planet at the 4DX Cineworld O2. It was an epic experience and I have never seen a nature documentary in that type of immersive environment before. When the ice came, the room cooled down, during storms, snow and haze filled the cinema and all throughout, jets of water sprayed lightly onto your arms during water sequences and the chairs tilted to really add the sense of movement to compliment the shots. In essence this means that I can never watch a nature documentary from my home again without missing the 4DX experience, but alas….
The six-part series is executive produced by cinematographer and director Guillermo Navarro and hosted by British explorer and presenter Bear Grylls. Hostile Planet is described an epic drama told in an intimate manner with new camera technology allowing a close-up vantage point as the animals navigate through their changing landscapes. It focuses on the more unseen elements from the natural world that are more intense than those featured in traditional documentaries. The kill, the plight, the suffering, the challenges that all of our beloved animal friends endure out in the wild. It shows the sheer determination and desire to live exhibited by numerous species along with riveting tales of dedication and love.
I am super excited to experience the rest of the series. National Geographic is available to watch in the UK on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, BT, and TVPlayer.
During a Q and A with the director, we learnt a lot about the mission from the crew in creating this piece – how the scene with the mountain lion is the best scene any of them have shot in their lives and how the depleting nature on our planet is a priority and we all understand that we need to act now to reverse the damage caused, which is all possible! Go vegan.
To watch the short video I made with National Geographic last year, click here.