--- title: How to Make <i>Earth</i> | TIME description: Rebecca Keegan meets the directors of the visually stunning documentary 'Earth' to discover how to become a nature filmmaker canonical: https://time.com/video/CoXJjZ7h/ og:title: How to Make <i>Earth</i> og:description: Rebecca Keegan meets the directors of the visually stunning documentary 'Earth' to discover how to become a nature filmmaker og:url: https://time.com/video/CoXJjZ7h/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CoXJjZ7h/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Make <i>Earth</i> twitter:description: Rebecca Keegan meets the directors of the visually stunning documentary 'Earth' to discover how to become a nature filmmaker twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CoXJjZ7h/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How to Make _Earth_ > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How to Make Earth [Watch (HLS stream): How to Make Earth](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CoXJjZ7h.m3u8) (4:29)  _Published 2009-04-22. Rebecca Keegan meets the directors of the visually stunning documentary 'Earth' to discover how to become a nature filmmaker_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:08 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Earth-like Planets Discovered](/video/2aIiM1Sp/) ### Earth-like Planets Discovered [NASA's Kepler Discovers 'Earth 2.0'](/video/8nTw5Yly/) ### NASA's Kepler Discovers 'Earth 2.0' [New Earth-like Planets Discovered By NASA's Kepler Telescope](/video/fCApPc72/) ### New Earth-like Planets Discovered By NASA's Kepler Telescope --- ## Transcript >> Today I hear the call of the wild, nature filmmaking. >> Here's the big guy, this is what you've been waiting for. >> I'm Rebecca Keegan and I used to be the Hollywood correspondent for Time Magazine. Sweet gig, right? Well, when the economy nose- dived, I became a fulltime free- lancer and now I'm pounding the pavement working my movie industry contacts to try and get a job in Hollywood. I'm headed deep in to the Los Angeles Zoo with Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill to find out how they made " Earth ". Disney nature's epic feature that tells the story of the animals on our planet over a years time. And I wanna get some tips on how I can make a leap in to nature documentaries. Both Alastair and Mark started out making nature films for the BBC and worked on the hit TV series " Planet Earth ", which helped inspire this feature. The film follows 3 animal families; a polar bear and her cubs, a whale and her calf and a mother elephant and her baby. It's kind of like a global survival manual for animal kind, covering hunting, herding, migrating, feeding. Hope they come out with a human version soon. The film was shot by 60 camera men in 64 countries and took 5 years to complete. Sounds to me Alastair and Mark have some job security. Our first stop is the lowland gorilla. >> Anyway, why don't you set- up your tripod. >> Okay. >> And we'll wait for the gorillas. >> The first thing I learned is that nature filmmaking requires a unique fashion sense. >> I think the hat's probably the best bid though. >> Yeah? >> Yeah. The jeans are okay. >> What about the footwear, Mark? >> Wear those, no. >> Do you have to be British to make this kind of movies? >> A lot of people in the wildlife making business are British. There's been a great tradition of the amateur naturalist among the Brits that goes back to the old colonial days, where you know, we were going around the world invading places. >> Right. >> I think we can be a bit more patient and a bit more tolerant. >> Uh huh. >> Of their uncomfortable situations as well. >> Uncomfortable situations like? >> Mimic dysentery. >> Flies beneath your skin. >> Filaria. >> Mushrooms, fungus. >> Bilharzia, giardia, guinea worm which lives under your arm. >> It's so long; if you pull it out quickly it breaks. So what you do is you get a matchstick and every day you do one twist of the matchsticks and the thing comes out. >> You'll really enjoy the diseases. >> That sounds like a real glamour gig. >> Now you need to mount your camera on your tripod. Here we go, now by the way, but you're a bit slow the polar bear would have come out of its den. >> Oh I've totally missed it. >> You have missed the action. Now, but you are now facing the major challenge of wildlife filmmaking. >> And what's that? >> Is that you're all setup. >> Uh huh. >> You got sort of the right clothing on. >> Right. >> And nothing's happening. >> And nothing's happening. >> What do you guys do when you get to this point? >> First, is to be sure that you are actually in the right place. Physically trying to get in to the mind of the animal. >> Exactly. >> Here comes your gorilla. >> That's right. You're gonna be ready. >> And it's a big boy. You wanna get him; he's the big odd alpha male. >> Yeah. >> Look a bit on the right. He's beautiful. >> Well, he's impressive. >> Once we're done monkeying around with the camera, I get Alastair and Mark to hit me with their top 3 suggestions for getting started in the nature film biz. >> I say the first thing, the very first thing, which is really sure, would be to buy a little camera. >> Yeah. >> I think you've gotta prove that you are a very good story teller. >> Uh huh. >> Because in the end, like any movie, wildlife films are about stories. I think the third most important thing is never ever give up. Because the thing about wildlife filmmaking is lots of people wanna do it. >> Uh huh. >> Lots of people wanna be David Attenborough and you just need to keep on knocking on the door, keep on trying. Because if you're not a determined person, you won't get a job. But also you won't be good at the job. >> Uh huh. >> Because the animals demand a great deal of patience entirely, you have to be determined to be-- to succeed in this business. >> Good luck. >> Yeah. And you know, give us a call in the next time. >> Send us your first film. >> Really? >> Send us your film. >> Could we-- I mean, like " Earth 2 "? >> Yeah. >> We'll never know. >> It's still here? Armed with my new expertise, I decided to start small. This is good stuff. " Earth" opens on Earth Day, April 22nd. 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