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Behind the scenes

Each project has its own unique set of challenges. Sometimes preparations may take years and then once in the field the real fun starts. In the filming of ‘Sulawesi: An Island Bewitched’ cameraman Jim Clare stayed for a year with two biologists, Dr Tim O’Brien and Dr Margaret Kinnaird at a small research station in the Tangkoko Dua Sudara Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi. To capture remarkable footage of a hornbill hatchling inside a tree, Clare and the biologists chose a possible nesting site just after the rainy season ended, right before the birds began nesting. Clare climbed 80 foot up the giant rainforest tree, cut a window into the nest cavity, and boarded it up, leaving space for his camera lens. He then built scaffolding up to the window so he could film without disturbing the birds. He then waited, fingers crossed, hoping that the spectacular hornbills would actually nest in the cavity this year. He was lucky, they did. “The chick that he ended up filming was certainly not bothered by the setup,” says Kinnaird. “It even liked to peck at and play with his lens and light.”