The Antarctica Series
A four-part virtual reality series exploring life and science in Antarctica, filmed across extreme environments on, above, and below the ice.
Collaborators: NYT Graphics, Columbia University, NSF
Role: Cinematographer & Producer
McMurdo Station, the largest outpost in Antarctica, is operated by the National Science Foundation. The team traveled there on a media grant supporting science reporting in polar environments, working in collaboration with the Rosetta Project, a Columbia University-led initiative to map the subsurface structure of the Ross Ice Shelf. The reporting trip resulted in four stand-alone virtual reality films.
Under the Ross Ice Shelf.
Working with emerging technology meant relying on an experimental virtual reality camera rig, prototypes untested in extreme conditions, to capture the first virtual reality stereo footage ever recorded on the continent. Subzero temperatures, high winds, volcanic dust, and the presence of military aircraft posed constant operational challenges.
Transantarctic Mountains.
The primary rig was a ring of sixteen GoPro cameras powered by a shared 25-pound lithium battery pack, which had to be carried across ice and up mountainous terrain. Hand warmers were used to prolong battery life. The cameras did not share memory, requiring manual tracking and rotation of sixteen individual microSD cards. Failures were frequent. Card changes had to be performed by hand in subfreezing conditions.
Data visualizations of the shifting ice shelf were produced in-house. One of the four films would go on to win a World Press Photo Award.
Moving ice.