Hacker Cinema
Blue Planet II
2017 · TV series · documentary · 60 min episodes · 1 season
There is nowhere more powerful and unforgiving yet more beautiful and compelling than the ocean. Join us and explore the greatest yet least known parts of our planet.
4 positive7 neutralfrom 11 commenters
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11 comments on Hacker News
Regarding your last reference on jellyfish, the author is "[a] Journalist passionate about cutting edge technology, space and fighting climate change."
A quote:
For a long time the scientific consensus was that we are causing a jelly Armageddon and that we need to stop it before our oceans’ ecosystems collapse. Scientists have suggested we change our eating habits and start fishing and eating jellies. Some even thought we should geoengineer the ocean to have more nutrients and oxygen so that the jelly’s predators could grow in number to fight off the hordes of these squishy devils. In his incredible documentary ‘Blue Planet II’, David Attenborough suggested that we should set aside a third of the world’s oceans as marine reserves, where human activity is banned, to help fish stocks recover and to rebalance the ecosystems.
So, an interesting article, but obviously alarmist.
David Attenborough's documentaries. Each of them are great. A few especially phenomenal ones: 1. Life on Earth (1979) 2. Blue Planet II (2017) 3. Planet Earth II (2016) 4. Our Planet (2019) [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135095/ [2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6769208 [3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5491994/ [4] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9253866/
"The Social Dilemma", what a great documentary showing how ad business, recommendations, attention grabbing works in social networks and how it impacts society, it basically shows "how sausage is made" and how it impacts the whole world and the risks associated with it https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
"Planet Earth II", breathtaking documentary about animal life on earth with extraordinary scenes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5491994/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Inside Job", documentary about 2008 crisis, masterpiece, narrated by Matt Damon. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645089/
"The Last Dance", I'm not a fan of basketball, it's a doc about Michael Jordan, one of the best docs I've seen, sounds boring but you can't wait to watch the next episode, recommended even if you don't watch sports like me, it's about extraordinary person/athlete and what it takes to be GOAT https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420184/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Zero Days", great doc about stuxnet exploit https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5446858/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Human", what it is to be a human from different perspectives https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3327994/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Over the Limit", documentary about olympic gymnastic and shows the price of winning at any cost. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8184202/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Life Story", beautiful doc about animals, great scenes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4150884/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Planet Earth", extraordinary scenes of animals lives https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795176/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Blue Planet II", like Planet Earth but in water https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6769208/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Cosmos", doc about cosmos, nature of the world etc, very good https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395695/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"The Tinder Swindler", "Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, he wooed women online, then conned them out of millions of dollars." Surprisingly good https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14992922/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"The Farthest", about first human made object leaving our Solar system https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6223974/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Our Planet", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9253866/?ref_=rt_li_tt
"Cartel land" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4126304/?ref_=rt_li_tt
This puzzled me until I realized you're talking about mainstream news-type sites. I agree on that, but these barely qualify as writing in the first place, since none of the traditional goals apply. It's like if the only kind of video you've seen are ads and you then proceed to complain about the info density of video as a whole. Though most video on YouTube also sucks, some things are very well expressed in video, like the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth or Blue Planet II.
For me "long-form writing" brings to mind textbooks, LWN, some bug report emails, some HN comments. These are a different category of writing. I don't think you should sit around to wait for someone else to summarize these for you -- that attitude must be terrible for you in the long run.
Blue Planet II depicts a group of Dolphins visiting a certain kind of coral that emits a substance that allegedly helps them fight off parasites.
Earlier BBC documentaries show animals (birds and fish) seek the "service" of certain types of fish to clean them from parasites.
So the idea of animals using medicine is kind of presenting itself. It's not totally in your face, but it's no more out there than prehistoric humans discovering the medicinal properties of certain plants.
I enjoyed reading this interview a lot. I appreciate the perspective and knowledge that Craig Foster offers into the ecosystem he is so familiar with.
But with the documentary, it was the opposite. The cinematography is gorgeous and many of the scenes that were captured were truly remarkable because he spent so much time in the water. The footage of the octopus and the sharks was just extraordinary. However, I really found the way Craig injected his own life story into documentary to be a real distraction and wished it had been more like a Sir David Attenborough documentary. (Actually, some of the footage made it into Blue Planet II, episode 5.)
If he had conducted the documentary more like this interview, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it even more.
> Octopuses don’t have tentacles as such.
Huh, TIL.
> The frustrating thing about a film is that you’ve only got 85 minutes. What you don’t see is that I have watched those pyjama sharks for years. [...] But what you don’t see is that I’m close to many different animals. All the different types of fish I got to know extremely well, otters, even some of the mollusks. Whales. There’re so many different animals. There’s no time to show all of that.
I wonder how much unedited footage he has? Seems like he could make an entire season about it all, especially now that he has a relationship with Netflix.
Also from the BBC/Attenborough, there’s an episode of Blue Planet II which shows a whale fall and the subsequent process of consumption by different species that follows.
I agree, it’s fascinating!
Scientists consulted when creating the tv show Blue Planet II seems to disagree. According to them we are in fact in the midst of an extinction.
Wondering this also. Could be that the modes we see are all that's currently available.
Looks like the 4K streams won't be available for another 24+ hours:
> The BBC plans to release the special edition of Blue Planet II immediately after the final episode is broadcast on BBC One on Sunday.
The 2.2GB download is a 1280x720 50FPS MP4, definitely a long way from 4K HDR.
Testing with the --list formats option does not identify any higher resolution. Here is an example for the most recent episode:
tom@desktop:~$ youtube-dl --list-formats https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09hs07h/blue-planet-ii-series-1-6-coasts [bbc.co.uk] b09hs07h: Downloading video page [bbc.co.uk] b09hs07h: Downloading playlist JSON [bbc.co.uk] b09hs074: Downloading media selection XML [bbc.co.uk] b09hs074: Downloading m3u8 information [info] Available formats for b09hs074: format code extension resolution note stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash-audio_eng=128000 m4a audio only [en] DASH audio 128k , mp4a.40.2 (48000Hz) stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash_https-audio_eng=128000 m4a audio only [en] DASH audio 128k , mp4a.40.2 (48000Hz) stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash-audio_eng=128000 m4a audio only [en] DASH audio 128k , mp4a.40.2 (48000Hz) stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash_https-audio_eng=128000 m4a audio only [en] DASH audio 128k , mp4a.40.2 (48000Hz) stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash-video=827000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 827k , avc3.4D401E, 25fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash_https-video=827000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 827k , avc3.4D401E, 25fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash-video=827000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 827k , avc3.4D401E, 25fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash_https-video=827000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 827k , avc3.4D401E, 25fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash-video=1570000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 1570k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash_https-video=1570000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 1570k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash-video=1570000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 1570k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash_https-video=1570000 mp4 704x396 DASH video 1570k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash-video=2812000 mp4 960x540 DASH video 2812k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash_https-video=2812000 mp4 960x540 DASH video 2812k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash-video=2812000 mp4 960x540 DASH video 2812k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash_https-video=2812000 mp4 960x540 DASH video 2812k , avc3.64001F, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash-video=5070000 mp4 1280x720 DASH video 5070k , avc3.640020, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_dash_https-video=5070000 mp4 1280x720 DASH video 5070k , avc3.640020, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash-video=5070000 mp4 1280x720 DASH video 5070k , avc3.640020, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_dash_https-video=5070000 mp4 1280x720 DASH video 5070k , avc3.640020, 50fps, video only stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls-1013 mp4 704x396 1013k , avc1.4D401E@ 827k, 25.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls_https-1013 mp4 704x396 1013k , avc1.4D401E@ 827k, 25.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls-1013 mp4 704x396 1013k , avc1.4D401E@ 827k, 25.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls_https-1013 mp4 704x396 1013k , avc1.4D401E@ 827k, 25.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls-1013 mp4 704x396 1013k , avc1.4D401E@ 827k, 25.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls_https-1013 mp4 704x396 1013k , avc1.4D401E@ 827k, 25.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k iptv_streaming_1500_akamai_hls_open-1496 mp4 832x468 1496k , avc1.77.30, mp4a.40.2 iptv_streaming_1500_akamai_hls_open_https-1496 mp4 832x468 1496k , avc1.77.30, mp4a.40.2 stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls-1800 mp4 704x396 1800k , avc1.64001F@1570k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls_https-1800 mp4 704x396 1800k , avc1.64001F@1570k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls-1800 mp4 704x396 1800k , avc1.64001F@1570k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls_https-1800 mp4 704x396 1800k , avc1.64001F@1570k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls-1800 mp4 704x396 1800k , avc1.64001F@1570k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls_https-1800 mp4 704x396 1800k , avc1.64001F@1570k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k iptv_streaming_1500_akamai_hls_open-2413 mp4 1280x720 2413k , avc1.640029, mp4a.40.2 iptv_streaming_1500_akamai_hls_open_https-2413 mp4 1280x720 2413k , avc1.640029, mp4a.40.2 stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls-3117 mp4 960x540 3117k , avc1.64001F@2812k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls_https-3117 mp4 960x540 3117k , avc1.64001F@2812k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls-3117 mp4 960x540 3117k , avc1.64001F@2812k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls_https-3117 mp4 960x540 3117k , avc1.64001F@2812k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls-3117 mp4 960x540 3117k , avc1.64001F@2812k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls_https-3117 mp4 960x540 3117k , avc1.64001F@2812k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls-5510 mp4 1280x720 5510k , avc1.640020@5070k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_akamai_uk_hls_https-5510 mp4 1280x720 5510k , avc1.640020@5070k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls-5510 mp4 1280x720 5510k , avc1.640020@5070k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_bidi_uk_hls_https-5510 mp4 1280x720 5510k , avc1.640020@5070k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls-5510 mp4 1280x720 5510k , avc1.640020@5070k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k stream-uk-iptv_streaming_concrete_combined_hd_mf_limelight_uk_hls_https-5510 mp4 1280x720 5510k , avc1.640020@5070k, 50.0fps, mp4a.40.2@128k (best)
I’ve watched lots of films on AppleTV using iTunes and Netflix, I’ve not noticed any jarring artefacts.
The BBC iPlayer though has banding and images of light glistening on sea waves are horribly blocky.
I had assumed this was done to save money. A programme like Blue Planet II being a flag ship show, no doubt showing how good things can get.
Sounds like the ideal demo to show off UHD TVs in shops.