Digging the Dirt on Dinos

She worked in six different countries in nine months and reckons she can now hold her own against the best versed eight year old dinosaur fanatic in the world. All in a day’s work for NHNZ field producer Sally Williams who was back home recently before heading away for more filming.

In May she headed off to Spain and Germany for three weeks to field produce Jurassic CSI, a six part series NHNZ is currently producing for NGCI and NGUS. Presented by British Palaeontologist Dr Phil Manning, the programmes will showcase some of the world’s most advanced technologies to project how dinosaurs moved, sensed, lived and died.

From Europe Sally travelled to England then on to China, the USA and Argentina co-coordinating filming and working alongside NHNZ series producer Pip Gilmour to capture experiments, showcase ground breaking new technologies and meet with top scientific experts to shed new light on the lives and times of dinosaurs.

As Sally explains, as a rule engaging TV generally requires plenty of action packed sequences but when you’re making a series about creatures that lived millions of years ago, a considerable degree of creativity is needed to tell their story.

“We came up with sequences with unusual twists to unlock secrets about dinosaurs – from feeding a salt water crocodile in Florida to abseiling down a vertical cliff face in Spain - Phil went to extreme lengths to cleverly illustrate each point.”

And of course while the scientists involved in the series were, without exception, impassioned representatives for their various specialties, the trick for the crew was to help them communicate their knowledge in an audience friendly way.

“Some genuinely exciting discoveries will be relayed through Jurassic CSI and while they are hugely exciting in the world of palaeontology, we needed to portray them in a way that connects with our audiences as well,” she says.

One of the strangest moments for Sally was witnessing a team of 20 Chinese men lowering the vertebrae of a giant dinosaur down a vertical cliff face. As Sally and the crew collectively held their breath, the rope broke and the men, plus Phil, fell over but perseverance and sheer determination eventually ensured safe delivery of the precious find.

While she had previously travelled to China, working there as part of a film crew was a new experience for the dedicated young producer. “It was one of the hardest filming experiences I’ve had but also the most rewarding. I learned that In China anything is possible if you’ve got the right number of people on hand!”

After a hectic schedule last year Sally is returning to England and the USA this year to oversee the remaining Jurassic CSI shoots and is then looking forward to head into the edit suites to post produce an episode of the series.