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Lighting and Filming the Chandelier Ballroom

The Planet Earth team spent ten days underground lighting and filming the magnificent Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, USA. Part of it is known as the ‘Chandelier Ballroom’, because of its amazing crystals. This is where the crew chose to do most of their shoot, even though it took nine hours to get there from the cave’s entrance and there was a lot of dangerous terrain to cover along the way. It had taken two years to get permission to film and, although five days underground was the recommended timeframe, the Planet Earth crew stayed much longer. It was the first time a crew had been allowed to take a crane into the cave and important to make the most of it. It took three hours to set up the crane, mainly because the operators had to be careful not to touch any of the crystals, but it enabled the camera to get smooth moving shots, which brought the location to life. The featured producer is Huw Cordy. The narrator is David Attenborough.

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4 minutes

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