National Geographic: Wild Passions Page #2

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and fantastic.

Neil's hobby became a career back

in the 1970s,

when he learned of a giant eagle

that had never been photographed.

A complete novice at the time,

Neil shot the first film ever made

about the harpy.

Now a highly-respected old pro,

he's returned.

He's spent six months here,

hoping to capture the first flight

of a young harpy chick.

I think all of us have

a lot of experience sitting

in a blind for weeks at a time,

and not shooting a single inch of film

waiting for something to happen,

and maybe it never will.

The young harpy spent weeks testing

its wings and Neil's patience.

And then one day

he went maybe 60 feet out

into the canopy of the nest tree

and I was ready, you know,

I had my finger on the shutter release

and I was ready

to roll the camera thinking,

"This is it.

We're gonna get this first flight."

And it just took him forever.

He slowly walked down the limb

and he kept walking.

And I go, "Oh, my God,

he's gonna walk all the way back."

But then, finally,

he just suddenly flew.

I was rolling the camera and

I got the first flight.

Some unusual skills are required

for filming birds of prey.

Everybody ready?

Did it go over?

Neil uses a cross bow to rig cable

for tracking shots through

rain forest canopies.

We have a vertical tracking system

where we can lift the camera

from the ground to the top

of a huge tree.

We have a horizontal tracking system.

You get a floating sensation,

tracking through the forest.

All these things take a lot of time

and it's a lot of hard work.

Neil became known as a man

who could film in high places.

For awhile,

every phone call I was getting

from producers had something

to do with climbing.

No climbing was required

when Neil went to film in the Arctic.

A plane put him down on top of

remote Prince Leopold Island.

But the job did call for someone

who wasn't afraid of heights.

It was just incredibly bleak.

I mean the cliff just falls away,

a thousand feet straight down.

The cliffs were bathed

in sun the day Neil arrived.

But things went downhill after that.

We had the worst weather I think

I've ever experienced out on the field.

I mean blowing gales, and sleet,

and freezing rain, and howling wind.

Trapped in their tents

by the harsh weather,

Neil and his soundman were

going stir crazy-Arctic style.

All the eggs have fallen off the cliff

All the eggs have fallen off the cliff

All of them.

When the weather did clear,

Neil had other problems.

He was trying to film

a colony of murres,

nesting in crumbly stone

on the sides of the treacherous cliff.

To get the shot,

Neil had to go right to the edge.

The wind literally would

buffet you and, you know,

it threatened to blow you

right off the cliff.

Of course, you're not going

to survive falling 1,000 feet.

So we're talking about this 200-pound

apparatus that we had to set up right

on the edge of the cliff

with these rocks that are flaking away

And to get the shot, we wanted

to actually sweep the camera out

with a wide angle lens to sort

of give you a birds-eye view

of what it'd look like

to look straight down.

Neil got the shot

and then, a bonus.

There were thousands of nest sites

spread out along this cliff face.

And there was an Arctic fox

that used to raid the nests,

but he never came to the area where...

we were filming,

which was the ideal spot for filming.

One day, the fox came along

and I was just thinking,

"God, wouldn't it be great

if he started raiding these nests right

in front of the camera?"

And sure enough,

he went in front of the camera,

raided the nests, maybe 10 times,

I mean, it was just like

perfect choreography.

And that was probably the most

rewarding sequence

I've ever done in the wild.

It was just luck. It just happened

while I was there,

you know, that's a rarity.

Today, filmmakers like Neil Rettig are

well-established professionals

in what could actually

be called a career.

But it wasn't like that when renowned

African filmmaker Alan Root started out

Wildlife photographer wasn't something

you could find

in any career guide's booklet.

Fortunately, because the whole

business was in its early days,

the standards, I have to say,

were pretty low.

So anything a cut above home movie

footage would get onto television,

because it was all new

and exciting to them.

And I really appreciate that,

because the youngsters today have

a much harder nut to crack to get in.

Actually, just drop me down here.

I think there is more pressure on me

because this is my first film

and I obviously want it

to be a good film.

Go right, Pete, go right, go right.

But as long as I'm learning,

that's the key thing.

Still running, still running.

Matt Aeberhard's here in Tanzania

to make a National Geographic film

about jackals.

Stop!

They're a tough animal

to keep in frame.

Missed it. Missed it.

Despite the frustrations

and challenges,

for Matt,

this is the fulfillment of a dream.

It's taken some real doing to

get this far.

After failing at University,

I was really forced to really go

for something and do my best.

He landed a few menial jobs in film,

including work for a British company

that made wildlife films.

I made teas for people,

worked long hours,

I made sure I was noticed.

And gradually,

one thing led to another.

It led to an invitation to come work

for a wildlife filmmaker

in the Serengeti.

Driving out to the Serengeti was, yeah,

one of the best days of my life.

I believe I cried

when I saw the Serengeti,

because I'd arrived and

it really was the culmination

of a good deal of difficult driving,

boring work, and finally I'm here,

doing what I want to do.

You ready, Peter?

Matt spent five years working

for someone else

before attempting a film of his own.

This is his big chance.

He won't get many more

if he doesn't deliver.

He's chosen a difficult subject.

Jackals are unsympathetic heroes.

People watching the film might

be disgusted

by the fact that these jackals

are preying on little bambis.

But that gives me a good challenge.

I don't have a problem

with the fact that people might hate

the jackals one minute

if I can make them like

the jackals the next minute.

Make them feel something.

If they feel something, that's good.

Jackals can be doting parents.

And Matt wants to show that

by capturing a key scene

the moment when the pups emerge

from the den to greet their mother.

Stop.

No, useless.

Matt's too late.

Half a scene won't do

Well, I missed the beginning.

I should have been earlier, because

I knew exactly where she was going.

Every day bring's a frustration,

but you just have to continue

on and eventually it will work out.

Isn't that right, Pete?

Maybe tomorrow, or day after,

you might get it again.

Absolutely, absolutely.

A couple of hours away,

veteran Dutch cameraman

Anton Van Munster is shooting

a National Geographic film

about a family of cheetah.

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