Shot in the dark –how Dolby technologies
helped a production teambring nocturnal nature to life
Natural history television tells stories of a world
without technology, using the most advanced
technology available. From the first hand-held film
cameras through colour TV and high definition,
landmark series have showcased ever more detailed
and revealing natural worlds.
Plimsoll Productions, natural history specialists from Bristol, saw the advent of
low and ultra-low light cameras as a chance to once again push the boundaries– this time with colour photography at night. They sold the idea to Netflix forthe streaming giant’s second original nature series, Night on Earth, which meantusing Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.
We talked to Bill Markham, Plimsoll’s series producer for Night on Earth, anddirector of the series finale episode ‘Dusk Till Dawn’, and Chris Domaille,
dubbing mixer at post-production house Films@59.

“We were going to reveal a whole new world, (…), and thecapabilities of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to make theabsolute maximum use of what we recorded would, wethought, be essential. And they were.”Bill Markham, Plimsoll’s series producer for Night on EarthOn new possibilities: “Dolby Vision HDR let
us get the imagery of those bats lit by a shaftof light from the entrance, then Dolby Atmos
let us build the surround sound of actually
being in the cave. They flocked towards [ourcameraman], he let them go overhead and kept
the cut long. It was breathtaking.”
Bill Markham, Plimsoll’s series producer for Night on EarthWhy do you think Netflix was excited about this project?
Bill Markham: Netflix had done one natural history series and was open toideas for the next. We had realised that the new generation of low and ultra-low
light cameras gave us the opportunity to create a whole new natural history
aesthetic – shooting colour at night by moonlight. We could capture the entire
landscape, with animals behaving totally naturally, things no human had seen.
And the range of dynamics that Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos could give,with all the extra headroom of HDR and precision soundscaping for the audio,
meant we could have huge yet natural contrasts – from night ambience to theclatter of cities, or full sunsets to dark, detailed forest floors to colourful night
long shots of African plains.
Chris Domaille: We got the team in as early as we could, showed them what
Dolby Atmos would bring to the series, and encouraged editorially thosemoments of volume contrast and surround contrast. We discussed timing as
well, so after a surround moment you don’t just cut to the next scene, you canhear things disappearing. Having those editorial inputs early on pushed thesound further, made it more heady.
What were the immediate challenges and excitements of natural
history at night?
BM: We realised straight away that sound was going to be up there with visionin importance. When we started to talk about making Night on Earth and how
we’d be able to see full colour at night, people would pause for a second thensay, ‘Oh, the sound!’, because at night our sense of hearing is heightened.
So we get not only to see through the darkness but to enter this atmosphericworld of sound, which is something special. Of course, some of the animals use
sound much more because once vision’s gone, they rely on their other senses,
so it’s essential for the storytelling.
We were going to reveal a whole new world, one that often even scientists
hadn’t seen, and the capabilities of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to make theabsolute maximum use of what we recorded would, we thought, be essential.
And they were.

“That’s the thing about Netflix. (…) People expect
to see a semi-cinematic experience. So that’s
what we made, allowing things to play longer
with fewer words over the top. It’s night, it’s
atmospheric, there’s natural tension and interest,
and Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos let us realisethat near-cinematic experience.”
Bill Markham, Plimsoll’s series producer for Night on EarthAs for filming, the first thing you have to do is become a moon expert. Even thebest ultra-low light cameras need some light. You’re restricted to four days or
so either side of the full moon, and then only if it’s not obscured by clouds.

Bringing it all together
How did the new technologies contribute to the editorial approach?
BM: There were a lot of different technologies which had to sit together in thecut and grade. For ‘Dusk Till Dawn’, which covered night around the world withlots of different stories, we thought we’d use the different technologies to telleach story differently. The sunset we’d do in glorious HDR, then elephants in
Zimbabwe in very low light colour, then a jungle scene lit with a white light –rare, but we did it – then thermal imaging with bears in a deep glacial valley
where moonlight couldn’t penetrate. It’s an engaging concept, but I worried
that it felt like a magazine instead of a flowing visual style. It turned out people
liked it. They liked the challenge and revelation of thinking more about lightlevels. People watched Night on Earth for the normal natural history storytelling,

the emotional journey, but they also enjoyed the technological breakthroughs
and the magnificence of being able to see stuff you couldn’t see before.
How did you prepare for creating the soundscapes in Dolby Atmos?
Was there a lot to learn?
CD: We kept things as simple as possible, not trying to get sounds precisely
placed in stereo during the recording in the field but capturing as much as
possible on mono with rifle mikes and the like. Then we could position them inthe three-dimensional sound space during post. The Plimsoll teams were really
good about audio, really enthused and thinking in terms of soundscapes andwhat they could provide.
BM: You’re immersed in a magical 3D soundscape. Each episode had its own
aesthetic – underwater, polar ice, a city, African plains and so on – but you’rereally there. It’s completely engaging.

“Underwater is such a joy in Dolby Atmos. You can go from anice shot looking down at the sea surface, all very mono, and assoon as you get immersed you get boom! Every speaker opens
up and that’s a true Dolby Atmos moment.”
Chris Domaille, dubbing mixer at Films@59Breathtaking results
What sort of thing happened in making Night on Earth that just wouldn’t
have been possible before?
BM: We had 20 million bats in Texas that were going to come out of a cave atdusk. The team went into the cave with hazmat suits wading through dead batsand guano. Dolby Vision HDR let us get the imagery of those bats lit by a shaftof light from the entrance, then Dolby Atmos let us build the surround sound of
actually being in the cave. When they swirled out of the cave, we had a cranewith our cameraman in it. They flocked towards him, he let them go overhead
and kept the cut long. It was breathtaking.
One of the challenges of natural history production is that so many stories
have been told. So many animals have been so well documented. What newtechnologies bring us is the chance to tell a new story, because it can capture
details – sometimes whole behaviours – that haven’t been seen.

How much did the new technologies change the balance of
those decisions?
BM: Normally on a shoot you can be there for weeks or months, building up a
lot you can edit together later. Because we could really only shoot for six daysor so around the full moon, we didn’t have that luxury, so much more of Nighton Earth is really just what the camera captured. It worked out very well. And
when it was right for the story to build up a sequence from lots of different
components in post, we had all the tools needed for handling the production
flow without compromising the source quality.

Natural, natural history
How did the experience of using Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision change
your approach to documentary making?
BM: For ‘Jungle Nights’ we went to film jaguars in Brazil and see what they
did at night. For a month, our crew was filming sleeping jaguars. On thesecond to last night they pointed the camera up into the canopy where there

“On headphones, you get the whole experience,
that’s the joy of the downmix algorithm in Dolby
Atmos, the big selling point for us. Whateverpeople are listening to, the mix is tailored fortheir environment, and nothing has really been
thrown away. We check it all, of course, but havegreat faith in it.”
Chris Domaille, dubbing mixer at Films@59

was a glowing thermal dot... it was an ocelot, and it was creeping throughthe treetops stalking a snake bird. What we got was a very long cut with very
few words. We let the audience work out what was happening and it told an
incredible story.

years because of that. And it was also a joy working closely with Edmund Butt,who composed the music. We could take the stems and weave them into thesoundscape in much more expansive and effective ways. He was delighted to
be a part of that, as it heightened the emotional impact and power of his work.

That’s the thing about Netflix. Unlike the broadcast TV many of us grew up
with, it’s only been around in the age of widescreen. People expect to see a
semi-cinematic experience. So that’s what we made, allowing things to play
longer with fewer words over the top. It’s night, it’s atmospheric, there’s naturaltension and interest, and Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos let us realise that nearcinematic experience.

How did Dolby Atmos help differentiate the episodes?

Did Dolby Atmos fit in well with existing audio workflow and resources?
CD: Working with Dolby Atmos meant that we could use a huge library built up
over 30 years including some Ambisonics effects – which have their own spatial
aesthetics – which translate directly into the 3D immersive soundscape without
need for panning. The library has become a huge asset over the past two

CD: Each episode was in a different landscape – jungles, seas, ice – each had
a different soundscape. We gave each sound designer two episodes and thefreedom to build those soundscapes, but they also listened to each others’
shows to maintain some consistency and share discoveries.
For example, underwater is such a joy in Dolby Atmos. You can go from a niceshot looking down at the sea surface, all very mono, and as soon as you get
immersed you get boom! Every speaker opens up and that’s a true Dolby
Atmos moment. The point at which you hear the throb of the boat in ‘Dark Seas’
is one of the high points of the series for me. Compare that with the polar

“It’d feel retrogressive not to use [Dolby Vision andDolby Atmos] in the future. Fortunately, everyone’s expecting
it now for their more prominent projects. (…) It’s a huge newpalette of options. We wouldn’t go back. We couldn’t.”
Bill Markham, Plimsoll’s series producer for Night on Earthbears and the Arctic quietness lifted by winds and storms. It’s a very different
sonic palette, as was ‘Sleeping Cities’.

How was the experience of creating audio in Dolby Atmos and going tothe final mix?

Dolby Atmos is a new tool, all about new palettes, and it scales so well. We’ve
mixed in 5.1 for a long time, making decisions like if there’s a bird tweeting
away, what speaker to put it in. Now I want this bird to carry on moving throughthe soundscape. You can do that in 5.1 but it’s very hard to make the wholesoundscape immersive. With Dolby Atmos, when you’re in the jungle and itstarts to rain, you start off hearing this high frequency noise from far above,
then you hear clatter in the leaves, then it envelops the whole room. That’s justastonishing in a full set-up, but it still has to work on regular televisions without
Dolby Atmos. We’ve found the downmix algorithm works so well at preserving
a much more cinematic experience across devices than we’d been used to.

CD: Delivering on Dolby Atmos was fantastic for us because of the scalability.
We mixed in our lovely big lined up theatre, checking all the time whatdownmixes were like, stereo compatibility and so on. We knew that theaudience would get everything they could. If you’re lucky enough to haveinvested in a home Dolby Atmos sound system, you get to enjoy absolutely
everything we mixed. If you’re on 5.1 surround, it scales beautifully. On
headphones, you get the whole experience, that’s the joy of the downmix
algorithm in Dolby Atmos, the big selling point for us. Whatever people arelistening to, the mix is tailored for their environment, and nothing has reallybeen thrown away. We check it all, of course, but have great faith in it.
This was a big project with a large team. We had a concertinaed delivery, so we
had three dubbing mixers, a Foley recordist & seven sound designers. We all
had our parts to play in this, and were all very delighted with the end results.

No going backNow the show’s delivered, what has the overall experience been ofworking with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision?
BM: We’re fans of the new technologies. It’s another step forward, like colourand HD. It’d feel retrogressive not to use them in the future. Fortunately,
everyone’s expecting it now for their more prominent projects. And we’reso confident in it now. We know that we can deliver the Dolby Vision andDolby Atmos version, and the algorithmic downscaling to different audio andvideo mixes will produce results that are effectively as good as if they’d beenmastered by hand. There’s always a few tweaks, but they’re simple. We know itfits perfectly with our production pipeline. We know we can precisely engineer
our aesthetics to match any content, from mono to hyper-realistic. It’s a huge
new palette of options. We wouldn’t go back. We couldn’t.