The Americas

This series is amazing. The photography is sensational. I hope there is a sequel showing how it was produced. The production values are amazing. Was all the photography done from a helicopter? Did they scout the locations a long time before the producers and director put it together? I am amazed by the quality of the film, the graphics and the narration. Over how many years was it produced? How did they find that snowshoe rabbit or the dead polar bear? How did they get such marvelous closeups? It looks like it took a long time to put this together. When did they start filming? It is certainly worth watching. Give us more.

The stunning visuals for this series are exemplary. This is a mind-blowing, informative experience. As with most nature programs, this puts our humanity into perspective. The script takes a traditional approach: it's a blend of intriguing facts, anthropomorphism, and humorous quips to keep the viewers coming back.

Here's my main disappointment: the audio mix is frequently imbalanced. As others have mentioned, there are moments when the narration is gobbled up by the heavy-handed music. This is a common occurrence nowadays. They want the viewers to feel a certain way, so they attempt to sway us by either increasing the volume or using songs which trigger heightened emotions. It's an old trick that doesn't work for some of us.

Aside from the above, I still recommend this series. Here's a workaround which I prefer. I turn the volume off and tweak the Caption settings to my liking. When an animal sound comes on, I temporarily turn up the volume.

I genuinely enjoyed this series and looked forward to watching it every week. It captured so many beautiful places and creatures in the wild spaces of North and South America, from the largest to the smallest. It was also very well narrated by Tom Hanks.

I highly recommend the last episode, which highlights how the series was made. The camera crew seem to be well suited to the kind of work required to produce the series, which was very complicated and adventurous. They needed to work in many different types of environments and climates and operate their equipment in all sorts of weather conditions. They also had close encounters with wild animals, often unintentionally when they were unexpectedly approached.

If there is a DVD version of this series, I would definitely be interested in purchasing it and gifting it to my grandchildren.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here but the narration from Tom Hank's is just not right for this kind of programme, maybe I've been spoilt with the Goat Mr Attenborough for too long but this is so disconnected and clunky its really put me off watching it. Shame. It's so scripted which I know is how it works but the trick is to make it sound like it isn't scripted. You want the narrator to say things from an experts POV and that they are telling you things from knowledge not a rigid script. I love Toms acting work and rarely see a bad performance in anything he does but I think he needs to stick to the big screen sorry.

NBC's website addresses the question of whether or not AI was used in the show. The following text is from NBC's website:

"Anyone who tuned into the first two episodes of NBC's The Americas may have questions like "Is this real?" or "Am I just seeing AI or CGI?" While it's a testament to how incredible and unbelievable the footage is, the truth is the fantastic nature footage is just the result of innovative filming techniques and clever, dedicated camera operators.

Is The Americas show AI? No. While AI imagery can produce some pretty surreal-looking things, the footage found in The Americas comes straight from real life, which makes it all the more impressive. Artificial Intelligence still can't create some of the wonders that are found right in our continent's backyards.

The footage captured by The Americas crew is not the generated by AI or CGI. Instead, it's the fruit of more than 180 expeditions to some of the most hostile and gorgeous places on Earth, according to the BBC. The team behind the show was dedicated to capturing some of these natural wonders in unrivaled detail in ways never seen before. So, if it looks like something totally unreal, it's probably because no one has ever shot nature quite like this before.

How was The Americas filmed?

The BBC, which co-produced The Americas, notes it wanted to create an immersive viewing experience with the series, which meant going to faraway places and getting a look at some of the more difficult-to-see spots within them. The Americas will take viewers up into the sky with helicopters and drones, under the sea with rafts and rebreathers and even underground with computer-controlled camera rigs and 360-degree probe scopes.

In total, roughly 35 camera models were used for specific applications that brought nature to life in The Americas to help tell the story of wildlife in never-before-seen and visually stunning ways."