11月11日，BBC获奖纪录片《地球脉动》第二季播出。
Ten years ago, the BBC’s Emmy Award-winning wildlife documentary, Planet Earth, took us on a journey described as “the ultimate *portrait of life on Earth”. From the deepest caves, to the most-*luscious rainforests, from the bottom of the ocean, to the North Pole, it was a window into previously unseen parts of our world.
十年前，荣获艾美奖的BBC野生动物纪录片《地球脉动》带领我们开启了一次被誉为是 “地球生命终极写照”的旅程。从最深的洞穴，到最丰饶的热带雨林，从海洋深处，到地球南极，这部影片成了一扇窗户，让我们得以窥探那前所未见的世界。
But a decade later, the BBC can boast of something even more impressive. The series sequel, Planet Earth II, has been met with *rapturous applause. Released to British audiences in November, it’s the first BBC show produced in 4K resolution, as well as the broadcaster’s most high-tech endeavour ever. The opening episode was the most watched natural history program in the UK for more than 15 years, drawing in 9.2 million viewers.
但十年之后，BBC却做出了更为惊艳的作品，让他们引以为傲。该系列的续集，《地球脉动》第二季已赢得了阵阵喝彩。该片于11月与英国观众见面，它是BBC首部使用4k超高清摄影机拍摄的节目，也是BBC一次最高科技的尝试。该纪录片的第一集是英国十五年来收视率最高的自然历史类节目，共吸引了920万名观众观看。
Filmed over three years, it’s expected to “uncover stories
这部纪录片的拍摄耗时超过三年，希望能够“揭露我们从未得以一见的自然世界”，BBC1台主管夏洛特•摩尔说道。4K高清摄像机能够捕捉到比先前更为清晰的影像，而无人机则能对那些先前难以拍到的瞬间进行记录，这些镜头令观众们深深着迷。
Drones are more flexible and stealthy than helicopters, which were used in the filming of the 2006 Planet Earth, and can take cameras to places where helicopters cannot fly, like thick jungles or narrow *slits between rock. And they do so in such a manner that the animals are not disturbed or distracted. Something called “camera traps”–cameras that switch on only when animals trigger their sensors–also helped get close-up shots of *elusive creatures such as snow leopards.
和2006年纪录片拍摄过程中所使用的直升机相比，无人机具有更强的灵活性和隐蔽性。它能将摄像机带到茂密的丛林、岩石之间狭窄的缝隙等直升机无法飞到的地方进行拍摄，并且还不会打扰到动物们。而所谓的“摄像机陷阱”———只有动物触发传感器才会启动的摄像机——则能拍到雪豹等行踪不定的动物的近距离镜头。
“Visually, Planet Earth took an almost God-like perspective and said ‘Let’s look down on the Earth and see the scale of the planet’. What Planet Earth II is doing is saying ‘Let’s get ourselves into the lives of the animals, and see it from their perspective,”’ the series producer Mike Gunton told BBC.
“从视觉上来说，《地球脉动》几乎采用了一种上帝视角，说着‘让我们往下看看地球，感受这个行星之宏大’。而《地球脉动》第二季则会这么说：‘让我们走进这些动物的生命，从它们的视角来感受这一切，’”《地球脉动》系列制片人迈克•冈顿在接受BBC采访时表示。
The visual signature of the series is that you feel like the camera is with the animals. “It’s very *fluid, very active. For example, you might see this wonderful lemur leaping through the forest,” Gunton said.
你会觉得片中的摄像机和动物是一体的，而这也是该系列的视觉特征。“镜头十分流畅、十分活跃。打个比方，你或许还能目睹这只美妙的狐猴在丛林间跳跃穿梭，”冈顿说道。
“Normally when we’d film that, we’d be standing back observing it, but here the *lemur almost jumps over your shoulder and as it’s jumping over your shoulder, you’re with it – the camera is running with it.”
“通常来说，当我们摄像时，我们会站在拍摄物身后观察它，但在这部影片中，这只狐猴就像是要真的飞越你的肩膀一般，你就和它在一起 —— 摄像机就在它身旁运作着。
In fact, some of the scenes leaked in the show’s promotional period were so breathtaking that they drew *accusations of being fake.
事实上，该节目宣传期间所释出的一些片段十分惊艳，甚至还有人认为这些镜头在造假。
An incredible sequence showing hundreds of snakes on the Galapagos Islands in pursuit of an *iguana that amazingly avoids their *clutches was uploaded to social media to promote the show. The short clip instantly went viral and soon became referred to as “the best scene in documentary history”.
在一组精彩绝伦的镜头中，数百条加拉巴哥群岛上的蛇正在追捕一条鬣蜥，而这条鬣蜥却巧妙地逃过了它们一次次的围捕。这段视频被上传至社交媒体，用以进行节目宣传。而这条小短片立刻就火了，很快还被称为“纪录片历史上的最佳镜头“。
“A few viewers think such detail must be computer-generated, but the reality is that Mother Nature is much better at making animals than any CGI artist–we just haven’t had the ability to show this level of detail until now,” a BBC spokesperson told Gizmodo.
“一部分观众认为这样的细节一定是电脑合成的，但事实上，大自然比任何一位电脑合成图像设计师都更擅长塑造动物 —— 目前为止，我们还没有这样的技术能够展现出这种程度的细节，”一位BBC发言人在接受科技博客Gizmodo采访时表示。
But it’s not just the filming technology that has advanced–our understanding of nature has too. This is why the new installment is not only
除了拍摄技术有所进步之外，我们对大自然的了解也在不断加深。而这也是新一季并不仅仅局限于自然栖息地，还带领我们来到城市的原因，并向我们呈现了人类活动如何影响自然，以及动物如何适应并生存下来的情境。剧组共在40个国家117个地区开展拍摄，前后共耗时2089天。
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