Wired 15.03: A View to a Kill

For decades, wildlife filmmakers have been cutting and pasting multiple attacks into a single stalk-and-pounce. In fact, any particular scene might be made up of shots of three or four different predators taken on different days. Until now, the false advertising has been a regrettable necessity: If filmmakers try to follow a high-speed chase by air, the blare of the helicopter blades scares off the action.

But in March, when the BBC series Planet Earth premieres on the Discovery Channel, viewers will see a single wolf hunt from start to finish. There's also a bioluminescent light show of a vampire squid deep in the Pacific, a blue bird of paradise dancing in the New Guinea rain forest, and lions attacking elephants at a watering hole in the Botswana desert all brought to you by the humble hi-def digital camera.