02x05 - The Making of ... a Fly on the Wall

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Narrator] Bugs are awesome!

[ding]

But they're also really small,

which makes the challenge
of filming them...

[Crewmember] Ow!

[Narrator] ...enormous.

[Camera operator]
Oh, my boot's coming off.

[Narrator] Our team of 450,

including dozens of
world class scientists...

[Scientist] Hey!

[Narrator] ...brave
the gnarliest landscapes

across the globe.

[Camera operator] Probably
the most difficult environment

I've had to sh**t in.

[Narrator] Filming
over 130 different species,

our crew must push the limits

of a new generation
of camera technology,

to take you closer than ever

and bring the most
extraordinary miniature dramas

to life.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

New York!

Not the first place
you'd think to find bugs,

but this place is
crawling with them.

And our big city crew
is braving new heights

to film this bold
jumping spider.

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He's trying to protect
his penthouse

from an unwanted intruder.

♪ ♪

[siren]

[Crewmember] He's gone over.

[Crewmember]
He's gone over.

[Narrator] Thankfully...

[Crewmember]
Oh, wow, look at that.

[Narrator] Our jumping spider
is in safe hands.

[Frank Somma]
My previous career,

I was a New York City
firefighter.

[Narrator] But today,
Frank is working

as our spidey
stunt coordinator.

[Frank] We're in Manhattan, on
the top of a 22-story building.

View is excellent.

[Narrator] Turns out heights
are no big deal for this bug.

But for the crew
and their equipment...

[Crewmember] Go for it.
[Frank] Good?

[Crewmember] Yep.

[Narrator] ...falling 250 feet
off this high rise

would be less than optimal.

[Frank] Don't lean over
the wall too much.

[laughs]
[Crewmember] Me?

[Frank] Yeah, you.
[Crewmember] Oh, I'm good.

[Narrator] Frank thinks
jumping spiders

are easy to love,

especially when seen up close.

Too cute!

[Frank] They almost seem
to have a personality.

They have excellent vision.

They'll look at you
with these puppy dog eyes;

eight of 'em.

[Narrator] But they have
a mind of their own.

[Frank] Unlike people
or larger animals,

you can't really train them.

I just try to guide 'em
in a certain direction.

[Narrator] The biggest stunt
our spider has to do today

is a leap


Seriously?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Oops.

Fortunately, when you've got
a built-in safety line,

it's a softer landing.

Alright. Take two.

[ding]

It's not every day a spider
gets to ride in an elevator.

♪ ♪

Okay.

This one's for really real.

♪ ♪

Crushed it!

Because he does this
kind of thing every day.

[Frank] What's life like for
a jumping spider in New York?

Hectic.

[laughs]
Just like every New Yorker!

[Narrator] No crew or cameras
have taken a fall.

So, what do we say, Frank?

[Frank] That's a wrap!
[chuckles]

[Narrator] From the concrete
jungle to the real jungle,

there's more bugs here
per square foot

than any other place on Earth.

But that doesn't mean
they're easy to find.

Especially at night.

And when they're one
of Costa Rica's top predators,

it's straight-up scary.

[Andrew Stephenson] Everything
that is dangerous in the forest

comes out at nighttime.

We, we need to watch out
for snakes,

not just on the ground,
but also overhead,

and the carnivores:
the jaguars, the ocelots.

They all come out at night
to hunt as well.

[Narrator] It's not just
one creature

that Andrew's searching for...

it's a swarm.

Army ants!

[Andrew] These ants are
such efficient hunters,

that if they don't move home
every single night,

they're gonna run out of food
in the forest,

so these are pretty much
the apex predator

in this environment.

[Narrator] But even an army
can be tough to track down.

Unless...

[Andrew] Just a minute.

[Narrator]
...you know where to look.

Andrew's found the ants'
temporary base camp.

[Andrew] We've got a fantastic
bivouac building up,

just in the roots
of this buttress root tree,

and that's a really
impressive sight.

You never get bored
finding this in the forest.

It's almost like
a butcher shop in there.

They're all chopping up
the limbs and the bodies

of the animals
that they bring in.

[Narrator] Oh. Fun.

The next hurdle will be
filming the army ants

as they head out to hunt.

[Andrew] So, we need to be there
right when dawn comes.

[Narrator] While we wait for
the rest of the crew to arrive,

let's hit pause
on this ant story

and catch up with our other
teams around the world.

♪ ♪

Like in the Australian bush,

on fire,

or this quaint pond in England.

[Crewmember] Action!

[Narrator] Or this tropical
island off Borneo,

where finding our bug stars
seems to be a breeze.

[Crewmember] There's just loads
around here, yeah.

[Narrator] But filming them

is going to be difficult.

[Lucia Chmurova] So, we are
on an island called Pulau Tiga,

which is a small island
off Sabah,

and we are here to film
some tiger beetles.

[Narrator]
This tiger beetle species

has never been filmed before.

And for good reason.

[zooming]

They can really move.

[Lucia] So, just for reference,

people can run
six body lengths a second.

With tiger beetles, they can run
over 170 body lengths.

So, that means that they are

roughly 20 times faster
than people.

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[Dale Hudson] There's a lot
at stake with this gear.

Working with electronic
equipment next to salt water

is never ideal.

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

[Narrator] The plan
is to place a beetle

directly in front
of the camera.

How tough can that be?

[Lucia] Nope!

You need to be quite
patient with them.

They kind of react
to your body movement,

so to try to get close enough
to them to be able to catch them

is very hard.

And nope!

Nothing.

[Narrator] Oh, man.

This could take a while.

Patience alone won't be enough
to film this next bug.

Our jungle team needs
a bug whisperer to call him in.

♪ ♪

Orchid bees can travel
over 15 miles a day.

So, the chances of seeing
this tiny green bug

in a gigantic green forest?

[John Capener] Be very lucky
to find one, let alone film one.

But you can at least
get them to come to you.

[Narrator]
Enticing the orchid bees

is the job
of local expert Carlos.

[Carlos Alberto Hernandez Vélez]
It's a privilege to be here,

and it's a very special place,

because every time
that you come here,

you'll see another species
that you haven't seen

in, in some time.

So, I recognize and feel like

they are like my friends
or something.

It's like, "Hey! I haven't
seen you in a while!"

[Narrator] Orchid bees
love orchids, obviously.

The problem is, they're
normally found way up there.

Luckily, Carlos has
his own collection.

[John] That's where
we want it, isn't it?

[Carlos] Yeah, this is
a good spot, and that one is...

[John] That's fine.

[Carlos] It's attractive.

[Narrator] On their own,
these orchids might attract

only a few bees a day.

So, the crew could be waiting,
like, forever

to get the shots they need.

But don't stress.

Carlos has a secret solution.

[Carlos] So, I have
my collection of scents here.

This is a very attractive one.

So, a male bee, they are
attracted to different perfumes.

And I think there's a bee
already here.

[humming]

I can hear him.

There it is.

[humming]

Oh, this is a big one.

Hey!

We have a bee.

[Narrator] Orchid bees collect
a variety of scents,

store them in pouches
on their hind legs

and blend them to make
an alluring perfume.

All to charm a lady bee.

Ooh la la!

♪ ♪

The rarer the fragrance,
the better.

[John] This time,
we'll be ready to go.

Just stick some on that.

[Narrator] When you all
kinda look the same,

it helps to smell unique.

And thanks to Carlos'
love potions,

there's bees aplenty.

♪ ♪

[John] Orchid bees are
such fun to work with,

because you're actually
giving them something new

that they're excited about,

and in return,
we get to film them a bit.

It feels like a great tradeoff.

Yeah. Yeah, I think we got it.

[buzzing]

♪ ♪

[Narrator] There are no
magical techniques

for filming our next character.

Found in one of the most
inhospitable places on Earth

is this bug-eyed fish.

Mudskippers thrive here
in the mangroves of Malaysia.

But reaching their gloopy home,

where they battle
for territory...

[Mudskipper] Hey!

[Will Foster-Grundy]
Oh, my boot's coming off!

[Narrator]
...is proving to be...

[groans]

...a struggle.

♪ ♪

[Will] The glamorous life
of a wildlife filmmaker.

[Narrator] This mud is
unskippable for humans.

Crawling and slithering,
though, are still on the table.

♪ ♪

And eventually...

Will the cameraman
is in the perfect position

to film these sloppy standoffs.

[Will] So, I've got a bit
of nice light, thank goodness.

The mudskippers
are out in force.

All hopping around,
marking their territory.

But the main issue is
that behind me, over here,

the tide is coming in fast,
so the kit could be in jeopardy,

or I could, worse, and I could
be stuck in the mud.

[Narrator]
Time for a hasty retreat.

♪ ♪

[Will] When you finally
get setup,

and you've got
a bit of nice light,

and the skippers
just start to interact,

the tide comes up
at rapid speed,

and I have to bail out
as quickly as possible

before the equipment and myself
gets buried under the water.

So, whilst it's great
to finally be out

and actually filming
on the mudflats,

we got pushed out within
probably 25 minutes.

The most difficult environment
I've had to sh**t in.

[Narrator] Newsflash
from the beach in Borneo!

[Lucia] Mmm!

[Narrator] Lucia finally scored
a tiger beetle.

Dale wants to film it up close
as it escapes from the waves.

[Dale] That's looking
great there.

Waiting for waves.

This could be it.

♪ ♪

Pbbbt! He was off.

We have more, don't we?

[Lucia] Nope.

[Narrator] These guys just
do not take direction.

[Bug] Hee hee hee hee!

[Narrator] Hopefully
by the time we come back,

they'll have found
a more cooperative beetle.

Over in this backyard in Texas,

there's one bug that's not
just uncooperative,

it's downright despised.

[Matt Langbehn] I love bugs.
I think they're super cool.

But my least favorite ones
to work with are fire ants,

and the reason for that is
fire ants sting.

[Narrator] But the crew
are trying to look past

their bad rep.

[Alex Hemingway] It wasn't until
we visited the location,

in fact, the first sh**t,
that we, in a way, struck gold.

[Narrator] When our team turned
on the unused water feature,

they found a large colony
of fire ants.

[Sean Doyle] Literally,
thousands and thousands of ants

started pouring out.

It was crazy.

[Narrator] The crew saw the
perfect opportunity to showcase

how extraordinary these
little menaces actually are.

[Alex H.] I think once
you use the technology

that we have at our disposal,
cameras that can slow down time,

lenses that can shrink us down
and be in their world,

you start to very quickly
see these things

in a very different light.

[Narrator] And nothing
is more inspiring

than a strong community spirit
in the face of danger.

[Alex Jones] You'll see ants
climbing onto each other,

clinging on like this
with their little legs,

and eventually, they all prevail

and save themselves
during a flood.

[Sean O'Donnell] Rather than
being like a collection of ants,

it's almost like the mass
kind of behaves

as a semi-solid object.

[Alex J.] Whoa!

[Matt] Okay, that looks...

That's so cool!

[Sean] It looked pretty cool.
[Crewmember] Yeah?

[Sean] Yeah, yeah.

[Narrator] Mayday!

These incredible shots reveal
how the ants stick together.

Each taking
its turn underwater,

sometimes for hours at a time.

Displaying the qualities

that have helped fire ants
take on America.

[Sean] The way they're able
to do these amazing things

is pretty impressive,

and it'd be nice to see
people recognize that,

rather than just
see them as a pest.

[Narrator] And the last
pool obstacle

for our rafting fire ants
is a human.

[Alex J.] Can you bring them
closer toward me, to me?

[Swimmer] This is a highlight
of my life. [chuckles]

[Alex J.] That was great!

[Alex H.] Oh, my god!
That was so cool!

[Swimmer] I forgot it was there!

I'm like, thank god
I didn't knock it over!

[Alex H.] I was like, "Ah-ah!"

[laughter]

Nerves of steel.

[Narrator] Fire ants
may still be hated,

but once filmed like this,
you gotta admit,

these guys are
pretty impressive.

Land ahoy!

♪ ♪

When you see the world
from a bug's perspective,

you realize just how big
their obstacles really are.

Biggest of them all?

A six-ton African elephant.

Dung beetles live
beneath their feet.

But filming this
close encounter

requires some serious prep.

♪ ♪

First up...

make sure our star
gets VIP treatment.

[Nthabiseng "Tumi" Mathikge]
We washed her,

'cause they're always
covered in soil and dung,

and it becomes difficult
to just see

that really beautiful
purple color that they have,

so, once she's on set, you can
just admire her, you know?

[Narrator] Totally gorgeous.

Time to get down to business.

[Nat Sharman] So, ideally,
we want to set up camera,

and then an elephant foot
will come into frame.

[Tumi] It will be great to see,

like, the contrast
between a huge animal,

such as an elephant, and really
small, teeny-tiny dung beetle.

We want to see
the sort of interactions

that she'll be having.

[Narrator]
Getting the camera this close

also puts our crew
in the squish zone.

Luckily, this orphaned elephant
is used to humans.

But the dung beetle's
safety depends

on one more thing
falling into place.

♪ ♪

[Nat] You're gonna
get pooing now.

[splat]

[Narrator] Ah-ha!

The perfect crash mat.

Hot out of the oven.

[Nat] And turning.

Okay, dung beetle in
when you can.

[Narrator] And as long as our
dung beetle has a poop cushion,

she'll live to tell the tale.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Nat] She's thinking
that the camera is.

[Crewmember] Yeah.

[Nat] Will you take
those boxes off?

[Crewmember] Yeah, I think
the boxes are confusing him.

[Nat] The boxes are
to protect my camera.

[Narrator] Take two.

[Nat] You ready?
Okay, we ready to go, Sean?

[Sean] Okay.
[Nat] And turning.

[Crewmember] Come.

[Nat] You guys ready? Let's go.

Whoa!

[Narrator] The elephant
has played his part.

As for our dung beetle?

[Crew] Yay!

[Crewmember]
Oh, that's brilliant.

Excellent, look at that!
Perfect!

[Nat] She's alright,
completely alright.

[Tumi] Yeah.

[Narrator] Dawn at last
in Costa Rica.

The camera crew
has set out early

to film the army ants
on the hunt.

Remember these guys?

But looks like they're
late to the party.

The ants got up even earlier.

They're already on the march!

To get the shots they want,

the crew needs
to get ahead of them.

Not easy with all this
fancy camera gear.

[Alex J.] All of these vines
catch on everything.

All the tripod legs,
your legs, everything.

♪ ♪

So, we tried to move
in front of the wave,

but as soon as we put
the equipment down,

they're already passing by us.

[Narrator] This is pushing
the team to breaking point.

[Alex J.] Ow!

[Andrew] You really wouldn't
want to be much longer

where Alex is crouched
'cause he's gonna get eaten.

We've got ants all round us.

They're actually dropping on us,

and obviously you can see
the problems we're having.

[Crewmember] Ow!

[Andrew] Army ants
will bite and sting.

They have both weapons
at their disposal,

but the closer we get in,
the better shots we get,

so it's a case of just
grinning and bearing it

and just putting up with
the pain and getting the shots.

[Alex J.] Whoa, look at that.

That's sick!

I think we've definitely
got the shot.

It's pretty exciting.

Constantly we're running
around and everything,

but yeah, once you get it,
it's pretty epic.

[Narrator] Thanks to Andrew's
"ants-pertise,"

and the crew's persistence,
it's mission accomplished.

Can the same be said
for the Borneo beach crew?

Not really.

They're still here,

trying to film a tiger beetle
escaping waves.

[Dale] That's great,
that's great.

Wave coming, wave coming.

Come on, come on.

Yeah!

[Narrator] Finally!
The perfect shot!

[Dale] That looked good!

[Narrator]
But it has taken all day.

Perhaps it's time to test
a new approach.

[bee buzzing]

On this peaceful British farm,

filming the world
of a bumblebee

is giving our camera crew
quite a buzz.

♪ ♪

They're attempting to mimic
a forager bee in flight.

But it's pushing their
most advanced technology

to the limits.

[Dr. Adrian Thomas] So, you've
got hundreds of millions

of years of evolution

that's honed biological systems
to work beautifully,

and it may be just
too difficult to do,

even with the technology
we've got now.

[Narrator] This drone
has been souped up

to reveal what it's like
to fly like a bee.

♪ ♪

It can easily match its speed,

but it'll need to up its game

to mimic the bee's
lack of depth perception.

[Adrian] So, unlike us, where
we've got eyes widely spaced

so we can do stereo,

we can work out distances by
how the eyes converge on things,

they can't do that, so they
have to shift the whole body.

So, if there's a flower
that they're going to,

they'll just maneuver around it,
go, "Oh, there it is."

[Narrator] Alright.
Let's try this one again.

[Adrian] Going up.

♪ ♪

Little shot of the crew there,
and back to the ivy.

Mm, that's quite, it's quite
a nice bumblebee speed,

really, isn't it?

Oh, it's going
under the tractor.

Interesting.

[Crewmember] Oh, that's lovely.

[Adrian] And through
the middle of the gap. Nice.

I mean, a bumblebee would
definitely go under it, no?

[Crewmember] Yeah.

[Adrian]
Very happy place for them.

I'm very impressed with that.
[Crewmember] Tighter.

[Adrian] It's the right speed,
it's the right height.

Yeah, I'm, I think
this is really nice.

[Crewmember]
And then into the flowers.

So, we can give these
a little nudge, potentially.

There you go.
Right into that flower.

I think we've done that.
Yeah, that's good. [laughs]

[Crewmember]
Do you want another one?

[Crewmember] If we've got enough
battery for another pass

through the tractor,
then that'd be cool.

Okay. But that was impressive.

We're actually getting
the camera right in there.

Okay, coming up
through the tractor.

[crash]

[Narrator]
Nailed the flight path,

but not the flight time.

With a battery life
of just three minutes,

our drones have some
serious evolving to do

to match the bumblebee's
endurance.

They can stay on the grind
up to six hours a day.

♪ ♪

During the making
of A Real Bug's Life,

caring for bugs has been
critical to our team.

[Lucia] I'm releasing
the beetles

after the whole day of sh**ting,

just making sure that we release
them in the same place

where we caught them
in the morning.

Here you go.

[Narrator]
Some of the bugs we filmed...

[Crewmember] It's very pretty.

[Narrator] ...have been
easy to love.

[Lynn Faust] Almost everybody
I've ever met likes fireflies.

And here's a little guy
right here.

He's attracted to the camera.

He's going,
"Well, I'll check that out."

Fireflies represent nature
at its best, in a way.

They're not dangerous,
they don't carry disease.

They're not hurting
our food crops,

and they're just
a thing of beauty.

They give a charismatic
and tangible benefit

to everyone's life.

They're like little ambassadors

to bring people
back into nature.

[Narrator] But not all bugs
have this level of support.

And they need our help.

Over 40% of our insect species
are in decline.

At this rate, many bugs
could vanish within a century.

[Michael Carr] There are
some really big concerns

with insect conservation
moving forward.

Habitat loss, light pollution,
urbanization,

destruction of soils.

Even just removing wood
from forests like this one

can be the one thing
some insects need

to keep their
reproductive cycle going,

so there's a lot
of work to be done.

What we're doing tonight:
trying to find the stag beetles.

Figuring out where they are
and what they really like to do

and where they like to be.

♪ ♪

Look at this guy!

Oh, my god!

He's a really fun beetle
to have.

It's almost incomprehensible

just how diverse
the insect world is.

Right along the back is probably
one of the prettiest moths

we'll actually get tonight,

in my own personal opinion.

A giant leopard moth.

I know a lot of people
see insects

as these are small,
insignificant pests,

but they don't see
the really beneficial things.

Getting people more exposed
to some of the more beautiful

and inspiring insects
of the world

is a good way to kinda step
their perceptions away from,

"Ew, c*ck," to "Wow."

Sometimes the fantastical
is right under your nose.

You just gotta look for it.

[Narrator]
But don't get too close.

[Michael] I don't think
I ever walk out of this

without swallowing
a couple of bugs.

[laughs]
Extra protein!

[Narrator] We hope that
by revealing the stories

of these incredible creatures,

we can help inspire
a new generation of bug fans.

[Carlos] Bye-bye.

[Narrator] Because bugs
aren't just awesome;

for sustaining life
on this planet,

they are essential.

♪ ♪

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