TED2012
Karen Bass: Unseen footage, untamed nature
Karen Bass: Imágenes inéditas, naturaleza indómita
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En TED2012, la cineasta Karen Bass comparte asombrosas imágenes de la naturaleza que ha filmado para la BBC y National Geographic, incluidas imágenes nunca antes vistas del murciélago nectarívoro trompudo, que se alimenta de una forma bastante peculiar…
Karen Bass - Natural history filmmaker
Karen Bass has traveled the world to explore and capture footage from every environment across the Earth. Full bio
Karen Bass has traveled the world to explore and capture footage from every environment across the Earth. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
I'm a very lucky person.
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Soy muy afortunada.
00:19
I've been privileged to see so much of our beautiful Earth
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He tenido el privilegio de ver mucho de nuestro hermoso planeta
00:24
and the people and creatures that live on it.
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y de las personas y criaturas que habitan en él.
00:26
And my passion was inspired at the age of seven,
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Mi pasión surgió a los siete años
00:30
when my parents first took me to Morocco,
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cuando mis padres me llevaron por primera vez a Marruecos,
00:32
at the edge of the Sahara Desert.
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al borde del Sahara.
00:34
Now imagine a little Brit
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Ahora, imaginen a una niña británica
00:37
somewhere that wasn't cold and damp like home.
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en un lugar donde no hace frío ni es húmedo como en casa.
00:40
What an amazing experience.
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Qué asombrosa experiencia.
00:42
And it made me want to explore more.
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Y esto me motivó a explorar más.
00:45
So as a filmmaker,
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Así que como cineasta,
00:47
I've been from one end of the Earth to the other
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he ido de un extremo de la Tierra al otro
00:50
trying to get the perfect shot
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tratando de obtener la toma perfecta
00:53
and to capture animal behavior never seen before.
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y de captar comportamiento animal nunca antes visto.
00:57
And what's more, I'm really lucky,
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Soy aún más afortunada
00:59
because I get to share that with millions of people worldwide.
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porque puedo compartirlo con millones de personas del mundo.
01:02
Now the idea of having new perspectives of our planet
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La idea de ver el planeta desde nuevas perspectivas
01:08
and actually being able to get that message out
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y compartirlas
01:11
gets me out of bed every day with a spring in my step.
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es lo que me empuja a salir de la cama todos los días.
01:14
You might think that it's quite hard
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Quizá piensen que es difícil
01:17
to find new stories and new subjects,
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encontrar temas e historias originales,
01:20
but new technology is changing the way we can film.
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pero la nueva tecnología está cambiando las formas de filmar.
01:24
It's enabling us to get fresh, new images
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Nos está permitiendo obtener imágenes novedosas
01:28
and tell brand new stories.
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y contar historias inéditas.
01:30
In Nature's Great Events,
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En “Grandes Acontecimientos de la Naturaleza”,
01:33
a series for the BBC that I did with David Attenborough,
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una serie para la BBC que realicé con David Attenborough,
01:36
we wanted to do just that.
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queríamos hacer eso.
01:39
Images of grizzly bears are pretty familiar.
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Las imágenes de osos grizzly son comunes.
01:42
You see them all the time, you think.
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Pensarán que las ven todo el tiempo.
01:45
But there's a whole side to their lives that we hardly ever see
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Pero hay gran parte de sus vidas que difícilmente vemos
01:49
and had never been filmed.
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y que nunca se había filmado.
01:51
So what we did, we went to Alaska,
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Así que fuimos a Alaska,
01:55
which is where the grizzlies rely
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donde los grizzlies dependen
01:57
on really high, almost inaccessible, mountain slopes
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de altas pendientes montañosas, casi inaccesibles,
02:00
for their denning.
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para hibernar.
02:02
And the only way to film that is a shoot from the air.
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La única manera de filmarlo es con una toma aérea.
02:10
(Video) David Attenborough: Throughout Alaska and British Columbia,
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(Video) David Attenborough: En Alaska y en la Columbia Británica,
02:14
thousands of bear families are emerging from their winter sleep.
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miles de familias de osos emergen de su letargo invernal.
02:20
There is nothing to eat up here,
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Aquí arriba no hay qué comer,
02:23
but the conditions were ideal for hibernation.
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pero las condiciones eran ideales para la hibernación.
02:27
Lots of snow in which to dig a den.
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Hay suficiente nieve donde cavar una madriguera.
02:35
To find food, mothers must lead their cubs down to the coast,
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Para encontrar alimento, las madres deben guiar a sus oseznos hacia la costa,
02:41
where the snow will already be melting.
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donde la nieve ya se estará derritiendo.
02:48
But getting down can be a challenge for small cubs.
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Pero descender puede ser un reto para los cachorros.
03:21
These mountains are dangerous places,
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Aunque las montañas son peligrosas,
03:25
but ultimately the fate of these bear families,
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al final el destino de estas familias
03:28
and indeed that of all bears around the North Pacific,
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y el de todos los osos del Pacífico Norte,
03:32
depends on the salmon.
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depende del salmón.
03:36
KB: I love that shot.
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KB: Me encanta esa escena.
03:39
I always get goosebumps every time I see it.
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Me da escalofríos cuando la veo.
03:41
That was filmed from a helicopter
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Fue filmada desde un helicóptero
03:43
using a gyro-stabilized camera.
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usando una cámara giroestabilizada.
03:46
And it's a wonderful bit of gear,
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Es una herramienta maravillosa,
03:49
because it's like having a flying tripod, crane and dolly all rolled into one.
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porque es como tener un trípode volador, con grúa y plataforma incluidas.
03:53
But technology alone isn't enough.
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Pero la tecnología por sí misma no es suficiente.
03:56
To really get the money shots,
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Para conseguir las tomas más valiosas
03:58
it's down to being in the right place at the right time.
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hay que estar en el lugar y el momento indicado.
04:01
And that sequence was especially difficult.
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Esa secuencia fue especialmente difícil.
04:04
The first year we got nothing.
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El primer año no conseguimos nada.
04:08
We had to go back the following year,
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Tuvimos que volver al siguiente,
04:11
all the way back to the remote parts of Alaska.
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a las zonas remotas de Alaska .
04:14
And we hung around with a helicopter for two whole weeks.
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Y aguardamos dos semanas completas con un helicóptero.
04:17
And eventually we got lucky.
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Al fin tuvimos suerte.
04:20
The cloud lifted, the wind was still,
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El cielo se despejó, el viento se calmó,
04:24
and even the bear showed up.
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incluso los osos aparecieron.
04:26
And we managed to get that magic moment.
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Y logramos captar ese momento mágico.
04:29
For a filmmaker,
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Para un cineasta,
04:31
new technology is an amazing tool,
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la nueva tecnología es una herramienta increíble,
04:35
but the other thing that really, really excites me
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pero lo que también me emociona mucho
04:38
is when new species are discovered.
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es el descubrimiento de nuevas especies.
04:41
Now, when I heard about one animal,
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Cuando escuché de este animal
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I knew we had to get it for my next series,
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supe que debíamos captarlo en mi próxima serie,
04:46
Untamed Americas, for National Geographic.
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“América Indómita”, para National Geographic.
04:49
In 2005, a new species of bat was discovered
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En 2005 se descubrió una especie de murciélago
04:55
in the cloud forests of Ecuador.
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en los bosques nubosos de Ecuador.
04:57
And what was amazing about that discovery
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Lo asombroso del descubrimiento
05:00
is that it also solved the mystery
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es que también aclaró el misterio
05:02
of what pollinated a unique flower.
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de qué polinizaba una especie peculiar de flor.
05:05
It depends solely on the bat.
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Dependía solamente de ese murciélago.
05:07
Now, the series hasn't even aired yet,
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La serie aún no se estrena,
05:10
so you're the very first to see this.
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así que son los primeros en verlo.
05:12
See what you think.
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A ver qué piensan.
05:17
(Video) Narrator: The tube-lipped nectar bat.
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(Video) Narrador: El murciélago nectarívoro trompudo.
05:26
A pool of delicious nectar
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Una reserva de delicioso néctar
05:28
lies at the bottom of each flower's long flute.
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yace al fondo de la flor.
05:30
But how to reach it?
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Pero, ¿cómo alcanzarla?
05:35
Necessity is the mother of evolution.
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La necesidad es la madre de la evolución.
05:40
(Music)
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(Música)
06:04
This two-and-a-half-inch bat
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Este murciélago de 6 centímetros
06:07
has a three-and-a-half-inch tongue,
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tiene una lengua de 8,5 centímetros,
06:14
the longest relative to body length
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la más larga en relación al tamaño corporal
06:18
of any mammal in the world.
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de cualquier mamífero en el mundo.
06:20
If human, he'd have a nine-foot tongue.
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Si fuera humano, su lengua mediría 2,7 metros.
06:32
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
06:34
KB: What a tongue.
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KB: ¡Qué lengua!
06:36
We filmed it by cutting a tiny little hole in the base of the flower
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La filmamos cortando un pequeño agujero en la base de la flor
06:41
and using a camera that could slow the action by 40 times.
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y con una cámara que ralentiza la acción 40 veces.
06:46
So imagine how quick that thing is in real life.
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Imaginen cuán rápido es en realidad.
06:49
Now people often ask me, "Where's your favorite place on the planet?"
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Ahora, me preguntan seguido cuál es mi lugar favorito del planeta.
06:54
And the truth is I just don't have one.
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La verdad no tengo uno.
06:56
There are so many wonderful places.
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Hay tantos lugares maravillosos.
06:59
But some locations draw you back time and time again.
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Pero algunos te atraen una y otra vez.
07:02
And one remote location --
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Y un sitio remoto
07:05
I first went there as a backpacker;
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que visité primero como mochilera
07:07
I've been back several times for filming,
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y al que he regresado varias veces a filmar,
07:10
most recently for Untamed Americas --
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recientemente para “América Indómita”,
07:11
it's the Altiplano in the high Andes of South America,
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es el Altiplano en los Andes de Sudamérica,
07:16
and it's the most otherworldly place I know.
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el lugar más extraño que conozco.
07:21
But at 15,000 feet, it's tough.
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Pero a 4500 metros se vuelve difícil.
07:24
It's freezing cold,
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Hace un frío terrible
07:26
and that thin air really gets you.
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y la escasez de aire realmente te afecta.
07:30
Sometimes it's hard to breathe,
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A veces es difícil respirar,
07:33
especially carrying all the heavy filming equipment.
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en especial cuando cargas con el equipo de filmación pesado.
07:36
And that pounding head just feels like a constant hangover.
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Y esa cabeza punzante se siente como una resaca permanente.
07:40
But the advantage of that wonderful thin atmosphere
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Pero la ventaja de una atmósfera tan liviana
07:45
is that it enables you to see the stars in the heavens
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es que deja ver las estrellas del firmamento
07:49
with amazing clarity.
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con asombrosa claridad.
07:51
Have a look.
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Observen.
07:55
(Video) Narrator: Some 1,500 miles south of the tropics,
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(Video) Narrador: Unos 2400 kilómetros al sur del trópico,
07:59
between Chile and Bolivia,
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entre Chile y Bolivia,
08:01
the Andes completely change.
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los Andes cambian por completo.
08:06
It's called the Altiplano, or "high plains" --
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Se conoce como el Altiplano o las altas planicies,
08:10
a place of extremes
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un lugar de extremos
08:14
and extreme contrasts.
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y contrastes descomunales.
08:18
Where deserts freeze
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Donde los desiertos hielan
08:23
and waters boil.
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y las aguas hierven.
08:26
More like Mars than Earth,
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Más semejante a Marte que a la Tierra,
08:30
it seems just as hostile to life.
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parece tan hostil hacia la vida.
08:41
The stars themselves --
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Las estrellas mismas...
08:50
at 12,000 feet, the dry, thin air
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a 3600 metros, el aire seco y tenue
08:54
makes for perfect stargazing.
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permite contemplarlas perfectamente.
09:02
Some of the world's astronomers have telescopes nearby.
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Algunos astrónomos del mundo tienen telescopios cerca.
09:08
But just looking up with the naked eye,
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Pero con mirar al cielo a simple vista,
09:12
you really don't need one.
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en realidad no se necesita uno.
09:16
(Music)
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(Música)
10:03
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
10:09
KB: Thank you so much
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KB: Muchas gracias
10:12
for letting me share some images
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por dejarme compartir algunas imágenes
10:14
of our magnificent, wonderful Earth.
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de nuestro magnífico y maravilloso planeta Tierra.
10:17
Thank you for letting me share that with you.
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Gracias por dejarme compartirlo con Uds.
10:19
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Karen Bass - Natural history filmmakerKaren Bass has traveled the world to explore and capture footage from every environment across the Earth.
Why you should listen
Karen Bass is a director and producer with a passion for travel and natural history. In 20 years at the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Bass made wildlife films in almost every environment across the Earth, from the rainforests of the Congo (where she produced the first-ever film of our closest relative, the bonobo), to the deserts of Libya, Syria and Jordan, from the icy peaks of the Andes to the swamps of the Amazon, from erupting volcanoes in the Caribbean to the nocturnal world of raccoons in downtown Manhattan. Her series include Andes to Amazon, exploring the wildlife and extreme landscapes of South America; Jungle, an investigation of the world’s rainforests; Wild Caribbean, about the varied nature, weather and landscapes of the Caribbean; and Nature’s Great Events, a dramatic portrayal of six of the planet’s most spectacular wildlife events.
Bass is now producing Untamed Americas, an epic series on the natural history of North, South and Central America, for National Geographic Television. The series is set to premiere in June 2012.
Her passion for travel and natural history were evident from an early age, and she has travelled widely on all the continents -- on scientific expeditions, for pleasure and to make films. In recent years she has sought out dragons on Komodo, dived the remote coral reefs of New Guinea, hang-glided over the cliffs of Byron Bay in Australia, climbed active volcanoes in Ethiopia, rafted the length of the Grand Canyon, sailed a traditional dhow in the Indian Ocean and trekked with camels through the Sahara.
Karen Bass | Speaker | TED.com