OUR UNIVERSE

Episode 1 - Chasing Starlight​

​

I travelled to the Serengeti twice to film Chasing Starlight, with two three-week shoots focused on a cheetah mother and her cubs.

​

The first shoot took place at the height of Covid, and we had the Serengeti almost entirely to ourselves. It was extraordinary — and probably the only time in our lives we’ll ever experience that landscape with so few people around. The downside was that tracking cheetahs became much harder. There were no other vehicles to help with sightings, so we would leave camp before sunrise each morning and often not return until well into the evening.

​

Finding our cheetah each day was never guaranteed, but once we did, following her hunts was incredibly exciting. I was filming on an URSA Mini Pro G2 mounted on a Ronin 2 and Black Arm, as well as mounted with. CN20, which gave us the freedom to stay mobile and respond quickly as she moved, as well as get those amazing closeups. Over time, she became incredibly relaxed with us, and even her cubs grew used to the vehicle.

​

The second shoot felt very different because the wider team joined us. I worked alongside Alice Jones, Freddie Claire, Zach Levi-Rogers, Rosemary Cafferkey, Charlie Perera, Julius Brighton and Micaela Hamilton, as well as our exceptional guides Tuma, Francis and Richard.

​

It was an outstanding crew, and I learned something from every one of them. The days were long, hot, cold, tiring and often unpredictable, but we were lucky enough to witness several hunts and some remarkable cheetah behaviour.

It remains one of those shoots where the difficulty of finding and following the animals made the moments we captured feel even more rewarding.

​

FILMING SETUP: Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2 · DJI Ronin 2 · Black Arm