4/1/10: Artistic Reference-BBC Planet Earth Series

Please use this blog as a catalog of different creative springboard resources and ideas. I'll try each day to review a source that I often use when I have my artist's block or when I'm looking for a very specific reference. I'm also open to suggestions if anyone would like me to cover a reference that I: a) haven't heard of or used or b) have yet to cover that you are impatiently awaiting (even though it may already be on my "I will review this" list).

BBC: Planet Earth Series

5 years of footage. 2000 days. 40 cameramen. 200 locations. Other impressive number facts. Yes, given to me as a Christmas present, it is a 5 disc set covering the different climates and landscapes found all over Earth. Some places I still don't believe could exist on this planet, while some events (like the penguins of Antarctica huddling in a blizzard with -60degrees temperature) I can't stop watching. Over 9 hours of footage covering the seasons, mating seasons and the survival of life on this planet. And it's very beautiful.



What you can get out of it:

Amazing HD screen captures of beautiful landscapes: tundras, shallow seas, desert and a lot of greenery. A great resource for matte paintings, perspective reference or other landscape based setting material for your idea. You want reference for your next evil scientist's lab set in the bowels of a frozen iceberg? Check out the "Ice Worlds" episode with whole mountains frozen in ice except for their exposed peaks (that didn't sound right) or glacial-water-carved ice walls surrounding Antarctica. It's AMAZING and JAW-DROPPINGLY GORGEOUS--and that's my reaction having just watched it on my 20" iMac screen!
Also there's great animal anatomy and behavior reference (my favorite is to use some of the exotic birds and cave-dwelling animals to create a new mutated creature. Hmmm, colorful plummage on a mudkip-like water creature? What would that look like?). And seriously, "Creatures of the Deep" episode--what more do you need for alien reference? Fish with bugged out eyes but no pupils, with psychedelic-colored skin radiating more colors than a tie-dyed t shirt vendor.

How often to I revisit this resource:

You can only watch cockroaches climb around a mile-high guano hill so many times. A bit of the footage is repeated in the episodes as well-making this a "once in a while" source for me.

Similar Sources

I admit that I'm squealing over the BBC's: Life production now Showing every Sunday on the Discovery Channel. I'm just a sucker for some tropical landscape shots taken from a helicopter, zooming over the Pacific. Though the photography's great (and yes there was a preview clip with some horribly composited footage), this series will focus more on cute critters than the vast rain forest scenery. Also, Netflix Instant Play has some great "ooh let's take a camera into nature" documentaries (like the earlier Blue Planet Series)just don't expect a nice quality screen capture.