"(Narrator) A Supernatural Superstar is born." "Buff, a greylag goose, is joined by brothers and sisters." "The mother is called..." "Nigel." "Goose hatchlings imprint on the first moving thing they see." "An early outing strengthens not only legs but also the bond with their foster-parent." "(Nigel) Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz... (Narrator) Supernatural used many new techniques to enter the animal world." "0ne dream was for a bird to carry a camera into the heart of a flying flock." "Buff was to be director of photography." "Plunging a camera into the hippo's world presents a different challenge." "The solution?" "A remote-control submersible with an umbilical cable that relays pictures to the surface." "The film crew have an audience - a troupe of vervet monkeys." "The clarity of Kenya's Mzima Springs reveals the subaquatic grace of hippos and the intimacy of their lives." "But in the shallows, the mini-sub breaks the surface and disturbs the peace." "The solution is child's play, literally." "Using local materials, and a live model, a replica is designed." "The limited range of available colours makes a perfect match difficult." "A dust bath helps." "(Hippo grunts rhythmically)" "But the impostor arouses suspicion." "Nevertheless, curiosity triumphs." "It's a rough ride for the mini-sub, but the resulting footage will be spectacular, once the hippos relax." "Meanwhile, the vervets have become alarmingly addicted to television." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Back at the Bristol HQ, the goose chicks strengthen bonds with the rest of the team." "(Chirping)" "They have a rival." "An abandoned baby jackdaw has joined the growing menagerie." "(Squeals)" "In the clamour for attention, Jack wins on decibels." "(Squawks loudly)" "And he has other ways of making his presence felt." "(Trumpets)" "In Africa, there's another challenge..." "How to represent the tremors radiating from a stomping elephant." "A remote-control camera flying down a guide wire simulates a seismic warning that travels for 30 miles." "Wire-cam soon finds other uses." "Shielded with heat-resistant foil, it flies into the heart of a Florida forest blaze." "It depicts the viewpoint of beetles that can sense fire from 30 miles away." "Fire beetles mate here and lay their eggs in the charred wood." "This blaze was started deliberately." "Within minutes the first beetles arrive." "So does the Fire Department." "They arrange controlled burns as a measure against accidental fires." "It's a perfect opportunity for fire beetles and filmmakers." "But fires, once started, need to be extinguished." "In a de-chlorinated swimming pool, the goslings experience their first dabble in water, and discover some inborn skills." "The bond between chicks and foster- parent is complete." "At this stage they're still wary of water and soon seek dry land." "Relatively dry, anyway." "Their waterproofing relies on oil from preen glands." "Buff has learned to preen but the younger chicks still need help to keep dry." "(Squeaking)" "The goslings and Nigel are now inseparable." "In Manitoba, Canada, garter snakes, recently emerged from hibernation, outnumber the cameraman 10,000 to 1." "In this natural snake pit, males search for females." "In their fervour, they ignore the crew." "Time-lapse cameras, taking one frame each second, speed up the snakes as they race back to their dens to beat the cold." "In Mexico, brown pelicans provide a close encounter of a different kind." "For these shots, the cameraman has to join the scrum." "Steady nerves are needed." "Pelicans dive at 25 miles an hour." "0w!" "The geese, at six weeks old, are now accomplished swimmers." "Their preening technique has also improved." "But they have more than down to tend, now wing feathers are developing fast." "(Squeaking)" "It's time for flight training." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Familiarisation with a microlight is part of the plan." "A second animal-carer, Nick, has joined the team." "(Squeaking)" "Meanwhile, Jack's confidence grows." "Jackdaws are highly intelligent and insatiably curious." "(Woman) 0bviously I need to rework it but there might be extras." "(Rings)" "(Narrator) Jack is still looking for a role to play." "He's developing some strange interests." "(Squawks)" "(Phone plays tune)" "Investigating a bird's impression of the world takes the team to Australia." "A model helicopter, controlled by Geoff, the team's techno-buff, simulates a parrot's-eye view of Sydney 0pera House." "The heli-cam can safely reach parts real helicopters can't." "It can even surf the city streets." "With precision handling, the closest of close shaves is possible." "(Horn tooting)" "The parrots have been imprinted in a similar way to the geese." "To the parrot, the crew are family." "This relationship made camera-to-wing- tip filming like this possible." "Flying with a microlight is a more daunting assignment." "The geese have still to rise to the challenge." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Their wings are fully developed but they seem reluctant to use them." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Some direct encouragement..." "(Honking and squawking)" "Perhaps not quite what was planned, but it's a start." "It's huge!" "Yeah, it's a big lump." "(Narrator) A demolition site offers the chance to investigate nature's time-warps." "We've designed the collapse mechanism on this one to blow it at the top first... to initiate the barrel of the chimney to come over towards us." "And what will happen when the end of the chimney hits the ground?" "It'll start to break up from the front." "Probably a bit of splatter round here like a cannon shot out of the end." "Would you advise us putting a camera there?" "I think it's a bit close, to tell you the truth." "(Narrator) The cameras are in position." "The sequence begins." "But will the equipment survive?" "The heli-cam is the most vulnerable." "It's destined to fly directly at the 180-foot chimney as it falls." "(Woman) Forty, thirty... (Man) And... (Woman) Ten... (Man)... nine, eight, seven, six, five... four, three... one... fire!" "As the heli-cam approaches, the chimney passes far closer than anyone had imagined." "The cameras at ground level capture more hair-raising views." "Here's a couple." "Hey, there's a lot of dust gone through here." "It's smashed." "The culprit." "Yeah." "That might be a nice shot." "That must have just gone straight into it." "(Narrator) This is Time-Slice, a process that freezes a moment in time then moves around it." "These pelicans were time-frozen in a Mexican fishing port." "The Time-Slice camera has an arc of 120 lenses." "Each lens captures a slightly different view." "Tim loads the special large-format film that records the images." "Pelicans hoping for a share in the spoils follow fishing boats entering the harbour." "This brings them within Time-Slice range." "At the same moment, a movie camera also records the action." "Transported around the world, the Time-Slice was used to freeze moments from the lives of many animals." "Led by Buff, the geese have reached a critical point." "Taxiing down the runway, they still seem reluctant." "(Honking)" "With lift-off accomplished, the rest is easy." "The microlight simply takes over from Buff as flock leader." "(Honking)" "For all concerned, this is a sweet moment." "Five months after hatching, they're flying at altitude for the first time." "But then a setback." "Unable to keep formation on the sharp turn, the geese veer away." "Tired, Buff lands the flock in the nearest field." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Guzz-guzz-guzz... (Narrator) It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, with no harvest in sight." "Jack is not so easy to lose." "He's living wild now but still greets the crew every morning." "He hates being left out." "You can't stay there, Jack." "Go on, get off!" "Come on, Jack, get off." "(Narrator) Each day he enjoys riding shotgun as the crew set off to work." "His chance of stardom comes with a story about corn circles." "In the Middle Ages, jackdaws were regarded as harbingers of doom." "The perfect symbol for the strange winds that are thought to cut out some of these circles." "This cornfield still holds its secrets." "But the geese have heard their master's voice." "(Honking)" "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz..." "Hello, guzzies." "Hello!" "0ne, two, three, four, five guzzies." "Here's five more guzzies." "Come on, follow me." "I'll make you a path." "Guzz-guzz-guzz." "The flock has now flown successfully with a microlight." "Just." "A still greater challenge lies ahead." "It's the ultimate in aerial photography." "Stunning views over the Italian Alps filmed quite literally on eagles' wings." "A 12-year-old golden eagle called Kintyre was trained for a BBC documentary to carry a camera and a transmitter as it soared over the Matterhorn." "The result is some of the most remarkable wildlife footage ever taken." "(TV) A camera is strapped to the bird's back to record footage from an angle never seen before." "From his base in the West Country, the producer, John Downer, renowned for his pioneering film techniques, adapted a light-weight video camera." "(Narrator) The camera is harnessed to the eagle's back." "Geese fly differently." "They flap, rather than soar." "The gear needs a redesign if the news report is to be proved accurate." "(TV) The filmmakers now hope to develop the technique by using the camera with a flock of birds, by strapping the lens on to one, who would then film the others." "(Narrator) While the geese prepare for their challenge, Jack has developed tricks of his own." "By hitting the programmed number buttons, he's become hooked on making calls." "(Dialling tones)" "Sylvia speaking, how may I help?" "Hello, can I help you?" "Hello." "Hello, hello." "(Phone ringing)" "It is, however, a less innocent addiction that secures his second role in the series." "Jackdaws are fascinated by shiny or sparkling objects." "Birds used to carry glowing embers to their nests." "A habit that in the Middle Ages gave them their reputation as fire birds." "Today's jackdaws have moved with the times." "Jack's talent lights up the screen." "(Honking)" "Buff and her team have yet to perform." "They love travelling and this journey is taking them to their natural homeland for filming." "In Scotland, a ferry takes them to the Isle of Lewis." "A 600-mile journey from Bristol." "Nothing to a bird that normally migrates 1,000 miles in just 12 hours." "Now it's their chance to star." "(Honking)" "When the winds are too strong for the microlight, the team swap to a tracking vehicle, a good way to film close to ground." "But the strong wind that grounded the microlight also affected the geese." "Blown off course, they're now lost in the Scottish wilderness." "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz." "Come on, Nick, let's go." "Northern Canada, and a far larger wilderness." "Several days of exploration and another star is born." "A thermal image camera piggy-backed to a film camera shows how little heat escapes from a polar bear." "Most of the bear vanishes against the cold blue background." "What we'll go for first is a shot of the bear, background, and buggy going through foreground." "So it'll be near us." "The bear will be behind you, we'll be going right to left through frame." "(Narrator) He may look harmless, but he's not." "It's wise to be cautious." "(Filmmaker) Close the windows!" "Close the door, quickly!" "He's big!" "(Narrator) Apart from problems, a fearless predator may also create opportunities." "A reinforced mini-camera on a pole goes where no man dares." "In South Africa, another deadly animal is recorded in a similar way." "As well as filming from inside a cage, a supplementary pole camera gives extra insights." "(Filmmaker) Steady!" "Steady!" "(Narrator) You can't get much closer than this." "In Scotland, after hours of searching, an unexpected sighting." " Where are they?" " Just on your right." "They're landing." "I've just seen them flying down here, down the loch." " 0h, great!" " I'm going to try to stop them." "I can see them." "They're just coming towards us." "(Narrator) The geese have entered a sea inlet." "Towards the Land Rover. 0ver." "(Narrator) But will they stop?" "Guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz-guzz!" "(Narrator) Touchdown." "They've homed in on James, a crew member working far from the goose filming site." "Well done, gozzies!" "(Honking)" "(Narrator) The dream of Buff flying with a mounted camera seems possible once again." "In the Bahamas, the opening to the series is being filmed." "A Piper Aztec plane has been deliberately sunk, at a site popular with another species of shark, the Caribbean reef shark." "Each day, buoyancy bags airlift the plane so that the scenes at the surface can be filmed." "These aren't actors." "They're experts in shark behaviour." "They know how to minimise risks." "Supernatural frequently relied on experts such as these for many dramatic scenes." "It's at last time for Buff's launch into stardom." "The harness has been tailored to the bird like a snug jacket." "(Nigel) Make it more comfortable for you." "(Narrator) Eight months of work culminate at this moment." "(Filmmaker) Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go, guzzy!" "Go, guzzy!" "(Narrator) The goose-cam sequence lasts 30 seconds." "The total goose footage fills just two and a half minutes of airtime." "0ver 120 species of animal were filmed for the series." "All of them are Supernatural Superstars."