How The Americas Filmed All Those Seemingly Impossible Shots: No, It's Not AI
NBC's The Americas takes viewers to place that seem truly unbelievable.
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. For example, in the upcoming episode on The Amazon (airing Sunday, March 2, 2025), viewers will get up close and personal with a column of army ants as they patrol a leaf litter for prey. The BBC notes they even “skirted around their bivouac” which is one of the most closely guarded places in the insect world. To do this, they utilized a lightweight and quick-deploy MOCO tracking rig that allowed them to keep pace with the miniature animals in high definition.
In the upcoming episode on The Wild West (also airing March 2, 2025), a 360-degree probe scope was used to bend light to create underground angles like never before. With 27 elements, this tiny lens allows viewers to see a honeypot worker ant as though it were a lifesize giant. These are just some of the examples of innovative shooting that can be found in every episode of the show.
The list of seemingly impossible places to film goes on and on. If you want to see the new natural wonders captured by The Americas, simply tune in each week.
Watch The Americas Sundays on NBC and stream the episodes the next day on Peacock.
