Frozen Planet interview with director Liz White
NG Kids Hi Liz! Working on the show, did you get to go to the Antarctic or the Arctic?
Liz White I was lucky enough to do both – north and south! I worked more in the Arctic than the Antarctic, but on the two trips I made to the Antarctic, one was to watch groups of young Adélie penguins learning to swim. The second was to film killer whales.
NGK What was the biggest challenge in filming in those regions?
Liz It’s so remote. It can actually take days to reach the filming location. To reach Antarctica, you take 24 hours of flights, then get on a boat for 5 or 6 days. You can’t get off, and it’s a really rough ride.
Liz Yes, a couple of times! On the journey, you’re stuck in the middle of the massive ocean thinking, “Gosh, how can a small boat deal with these huge waves?” One day an enormous ship just appeared out of the mist ahead of us. It was like a disaster movie! But we got out of the way in time!
Liz A bit of both. At the beginning we plan a lot, reading about animals, talking to experts and local people, and we know what we want to shoot. But you try to be flexible, and it’s amazing when you catch something unexpected on film.
Liz Yes, lots! You have to, because you need to be patient and quiet until the animals forget you’re there. With the Adélie penguins, we had to have a camera underwater for ages because we wanted to catch the first time the young birds ever got into the water. Even they don’t know exactly when that will be!
NGK Is there good team spirit among the crew?
Liz Completely! In a place like that you have to get on, and we all looked out for each other. Everybody joins in with the cooking, it makes a proper team of you!
Find out more about Liz’s Antarctic Adélie adventures HERE !