Producers behind Sir David Attenborough’s new audio-focused documentary have revealed sounds of nature are often recorded in the editing suite – not in the wild.
The team who worked on Sky Nature series Secret World of Sound said ‘many of the actual sounds of the animals come from existing sound libraries or recordings’.
They explained there would normally be a ‘guide track’ with general background sounds – but, like other natural history shows, sound is recorded in post-production.
But some fans of Sir David’s shows have said this has left them feeling ‘scammed’, with one claiming: ‘I’m not sure I can even fully lose myself in an episode again.’
It follows a series of TV fakery rows in nature shows over the years – with the most famous in 2011 when it emerged scenes in the BBC’s Frozen Planet which apparently showed a polar bear giving birth in the wild were actually shot in a Dutch zoo.
Other nature documentaries are also known to have recreated sound effects in a studio, but this industry-wide practice is said to be because animal sounds would otherwise be difficult for viewers to hear above other noises in an environment.
Speaking about Secret World of Sound, which premiered yesterday, Sky’s director of documentaries and factual Poppy Dixon explained how the audio production works.
Sir David Attenborough in a publicity photo for new Sky Nature series Secret World of Sound
She told Metro last week: ‘Not a lot of people know that many natural history programmes don’t actually record sound on location. It’s all done in post.’
Series producer Sharmila Choudhury added: ‘There is always some element of sound – like we’d always have a guide track the environment sounds that we’re filming in, but many of the actual sounds of the animals come from existing sound libraries or recordings.
‘Most of the sound is traditionally added by a very talented sound team who know exactly what each animal sounds like.’
The show uses the latest in audio technology including tiny microphones, specially adapted cameras and laser vibrometers.
Some of the audio includes earthworms moving through soil, baby caiman communicating from within eggs, and lions and hyaenas fighting in the dark.
Ms Choudhury added that music was used ‘very sparingly’ in the series, which is narrated by Sir David.
She also told the Daily Telegraph earlier this month: ‘Natural history films are known for their stunning visuals, but sounds have received very little attention in the past.
One review described attempts to show echo location emanating from a dolphin’s head in the programme (pictured) as looking ‘like something from a 1960s episode of Doctor Who’
Some of the audio in the programme (pictured) features lions and hyaenas fighting in the dark
‘They often play only a supporting role, overshadowed by dramatic orchestral music. In this series, we wanted to place the natural sound centre stage.
‘We relied quite heavily on new camera technologies and recording equipment, which allow us to listen for the first time to sounds that our ears can’t normally pick up. It meant that we could tell stories that have never been told before.’
In the Daily Telegraph today, TV writer Benji Wilson said: ‘Secret World of Sound claims ‘to use advanced audio technology to reveal sounds that we can’t even hear’.
‘See if you can spot the problem in that claim. What does a sound you can’t hear sound like? It means that the producers have to come up with ways of visualising or recreating sounds so that we can hear them. Or see them.’
He praised the sequence showing how a ‘bee’s wings make the whole insect buzz at just the right frequency to shake loose pollen’, but described attempts to show echo location emanating from a dolphin’s head as looking ‘like something from a 1960s episode of Doctor Who’.
And Huffington Post entertainment journalist Amy Glover wrote an article under the headline: ‘Here’s how nature sounds actually get into documentaries, and we feel scammed.’
She said was a big fan of nature documentaries fronted by Sir David, but added: ‘Having found out about how nature documentary sounds really work, I’m not sure I can even fully lose myself in an episode again.’
MailOnline has contacted Sky Nature for comment about the series.
The BBC has been in the spotlight many times for making up or doctoring scenes in nature documentaries.
The controversial polar bear scene from 2011 was in episode five of the BBC’s £16million Frozen Planet series which featured tiny polar bears mewling and nuzzling for milk from their mother.
Eight million viewers believed that the scenes were shot by cameramen who had endured sub-zero temperatures in an underground cave in the arctic wilderness.
The scenes, however, had been shot in a mocked up cave made of plaster and wood and in a zoo enclosure in Holland using fake snow.
The footage was defended at the time by presenter Sir David, who compared nature documentaries to ‘making movies’.
But the following year, when the Africa documentary series came out, the BBC made it clearer when footage had not been filmed in the wild with warnings that ‘controlled filming’ had been used.
While the polar bear footage was the most famous incident of its kind, it was far from the first time that BBC shows had been the target of fakery accusations.
In 1997, in the most memorable scene of Polar Bear – Arctic Warrior saw a mother bear was filmed giving birth to and snuggling with her newborn cub.
Viewers were led to believe the scene took place in the Arctic. In fact, it was filmed in a zoo in Frankfurt.
And in 2001, Sir David was accused of using deceptive techniques in Blue Planet when it included a lobster spawning scene that was filmed in a British aquarium.
Viewers were led to believe the scene was taking place off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Dramatic footage of a polar bear tending her newborn cubs in Frozen Planet was filmed in a Dutch zoo using fake snow. The footage in 2011 was filmed in a den made of plaster and wood
Also in 2008, Sir David was accused of staging a confrontation between himself and a cobra in a South African desert for the series, Life in Cold Blood.
More recently in August 2019, the Serengeti series featured a scene showing a baby zebra struggling through crocodile-infested waters – which the Sunday Times revealed was in fact a ‘composite’ of multiple clips edited together.
Shown in episode four, ‘Misfortune’, the young Zebra was seen desperately swimming through a rushing river right next to a large crocodile.
It struggled to keep up with its group and, in a second scene, was swept away by the raging current.
Cameraman Doug Allan revealed at the time that the zebra was real and ‘did really get carried down the stream’.
But he added: ‘Whether the zebra was in that particular bit of water as seen on screen, who knows. They could be in different places at different times.’
Mr Allan also revealed in 2013 that many wildlife scenes in BBC series are faked, saying that species ‘smaller than a baby rabbit’ are put in custom-built sets and filmed under controlled conditions, rather than in the wild.
In October 2017, it was revealed that Blue Planet II viewers would not be told which scenes were filmed in laboratories rather than the wild.
Sir David’s programme included close-up lab footage of corals bleaching, which could only be filmed with lights and specialist cameras.
Footage apparently showing a single volcanic eruption in the 2015 BBC programme Patagonia was in fact made by splicing footage of two different volcanic eruptions together
Producers for the show also recreated a rock pool and the burrow of a zebra mantis shrimp for close-up shots.
And a terrifying-looking fangtooth was filmed in a special chamber on a ship after samples were taken from the deep ocean, according to The Guardian.
But the source of the footage was not made clear to viewers during the show, with executive producer James Honeyborne saying at the time: ‘You can’t just break the spell.’
He also insisted at the time that underwater sound effects – which had been criticised by viewers for being ‘ridiculous’, ‘awful’ and ‘nonsensical’ – were ‘representative’ of nature.
Mr Honeyborne said the production team worked extremely hard on audio quality after facing trouble because sound travels much faster in water than in air.
His comments came after some viewers claimed the BBC was exaggerating sound effects – including a tuskfish hitting a clam against coral – on the programme.
The previous year in November 2016, the BBC revealed that breathtaking Planet Earth II footage that appeared to show a wild golden eagle’s view of a mountainous habitat was actually filmed using a captive bird that lives in a wildlife sanctuary in France.
The tame eagle, known as Slovak, was filmed swooping over the Alps at speeds of up to 200mph – taking viewers with it via a ‘lipstick’ camera strapped to its back.
In a video on its website, the BBC confirmed that Slovak, who lives at the Park les Aigles du Léman, was turned into a cameraman using his professional bird trainer.
Footage of a wild golden eagle’s view of a mountainous habitat for Planet Earth II in 2016 was actually filmed using a captive bird that lives in a wildlife sanctuary in France
In 2015, it emerged that a volcanic eruption scene in another BBC show, Patagonia: Earth’s Secret Paradise, had also been doctored.
Impressive footage claimed to show a ‘dirty thunderstorm’ during the eruption, with lightning strikes flashing through a cloud of volcanic ash.
But it was in fact made by splicing footage of two different volcanic eruptions together, one which happened in 2011 and the other in 2015.
Another BBC documentary, Human Planet: Deserts – Life in the Furnace, aired in August 2014, was also exposed for misleading viewers, when a seemingly savage wolf was revealed to actually be semi-domesticated.
Staff at the corporation were subsequently forced to undergo an ‘anti-fakery’ course.
A scene showing a baby zebra struggling through crocodile-infested waters in the 2019 BBC programme Serengeti was in fact a ‘composite’ of multiple clips edited together
In October last year, BBC cameraman Hamza Yassin – who has been touted as the next Sir David – claimed wildlife TV documentary scenes were often faked to make viewers feel more ’emotional’ about threats to the natural world.
The Strictly Come Dancing winner said dramatic moments are invented and scenes are manipulated to encourage viewers to ‘do something’ about environmental issues.
Mr Yassin said producers often edit footage in way that will ‘make a film that tugs on your heartstrings’.
He told the Cheltenham Literature Festival that documentary makers ‘dramatise what we’re seeing’ and also sometimes pretend parts of the world remain pristine.
Secret World of Sound premiered on Sky Nature yesterday and is available on Now
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