Apple TV’s Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — the third outing for the epic Prehistoric Planet docuseries — steps away from dinosaurs to focus on the Pleistocene age’s long-extinct species with names like Megalonyx jeffersonii, which is really just a fancy way of saying a snow sloth. The detailed episodes, narrated by Tom Hiddleston and executive produced by Jon Favreau, are a marvel (pun-intended), using high-resolution photogrammetry and drone-mapping to display the landscapes of the incredible locations visited by the production (over 15 countries!). But arguably the most impressive feature is one you’ll never see onscreen: the use of technical reference puppetry.
Puppeteer Brian Fisher explains technical reference puppetry in layman’s terms to us as something that “provides a physical asset that you can frame up on,” he says. “It’s incredibly useful for sizing, for scale, and for scope.”
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