Silverback Films for BBC – 2021
My role: Additional Editor, on location in Maryland, US
Following the horrendous pandemic of 2020, whilst most of the world was still in lockdown, I was incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity to flee the UK in order to work in Flintstone, Maryland for a few weeks. Here, a small team of us documented the emergence of periodical cicadas, an event that only occurs once every seventeen years. Brood X, with their deafening song and striking red eyes, swarmed the skies, lawns and trees, and my role was to offload, process, log and edit the footage into a sequence that could be handed off to the main episode editor for finalising. The behind-the-scenes segment at the end of the episode gives you an idea of how the sequence was filmed.
The Mating Game was edited on Avid Media Composer.
Filmed in 22 countries spanning six continents and featuring 80 unique species captured on film, THE MATING GAME details the remarkably intricate, often dramatic and sometimes comical, ways in which animals begin their courtship and overcome enormous obstacles in the race to win a partner. From the great expanses of the grassland, to the deep ocean and tangled jungles, each episode captures the compelling efforts from across the Animal Kingdom that highlight how ruthless and unpredictable the ‘mating game’ can be.
The privilege of reproduction is one that many are willing to pay with their own lives and animals will go to extraordinary lengths in their desire to mate. Whether it be through thoughtful gestures, displays of power, deception or flamboyance, these interactions result in some of the most stunningly unique and shocking spectacles of wildlife on Earth.
Among mating ritual firsts captured on camera include the courtship rituals of the Great Argus Pheasant, a bird renowned among naturalists but whose courtship has never been filmed in the wild due to its extremely reclusive nature. Other firsts include an extremely rare tree frog breeding event captured in a remote patch of virgin rainforest in French Guiana on Christmas Day, as well as the fascinating and somewhat tender courtship behavior between digger bees in the Sonoran Desert that includes everything from a ‘bee brawl’ to a delicate tasting of each others scent.
In the Serengeti, a violent game is played when a Zebra stallion must defend his mares in a herd 30,000 strong, and rains in South Africa trigger intense clashes between an army of African Giant Bullfrogs. Meanwhile, the never-before-filmed display of the Argus pheasant in Borneo’s rainforest offers a much more delicate approach to the mating game.
For all who choose to play THE MATING GAME, they’ll need to flaunt what they got for a chance at seducing a mate and securing a lasting legacy. Navigating the mating season can be daunting for many eligible animals — this is nature like you’ve never seen and these animals are ready to get it on.
THE MATING GAME is produced for BBC, Discovery, and discovery+ by Silverback Films in co-production with NHK, bilibili, and France Télévisions. For Silverback, Jeff Wilson is series producer and Keith Scholey is executive producer. For Discovery and discovery+, Howard Swartz is executive producer. BBC Studios is distributing internationally.
– BBC Studios Press Room
Charles Dyer 