SHOOTING AT NIGHT
Video excerpt
1’25”
Fang and Claw / Kenya
In the 1970s, François Bel took on a new challenge: developing equipment that would enable him to shoot at night, when predators hunt…
With the help of the army and American engineers, he developed powerful new projectors that were considered a true technological innovation at the time.
This type of projector is still used in film lighting.
New equipment had to be devised…
‘It was difficult to coordinate the camera and the lighting on our two trucks as we followed the animals.’
François Bel
Up until then, the spectator could not see what happened at nighttime, when big cats go looking for food…
The Fang and Claw crew decided to film animals in the wilderness, developing marvels of technical ingenuity to follow, stealthily approach and witness these hunts and bloody feasts with a view to accepting them as a normal part of life.
1200W HMI projector
2500W HMI projector with power generator in tow
‘Past experience has taught us that, if we were to approach them in a specific way, if we were patient and cautious, the animals would get used to the light of our projectors and continue behaving normally. Fang and Claw proved that we had no idea how right we really were.’
François Bel
CARNIVORES AT NIGHT
Cheetah / Gazelle
Lionesses / Wildebeest
