Conquest of the Skies

Explore the astonishing 300-million-year dynasty of flight

Today, over 100 billion creatures fly through the air: from nectar-drinking hummingbirds to bizarre, winged lizards. Human beings have always been fascinated by the act of flight, and it is only now in the 21st century that we can truly observe the cumulation of over 300 million years of evolution.

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Thanks to cutting-edge image capture methods, scientists are able to document and study the aerodynamics and engineering of wings and feathers in unprecedented detail.

Our mission is to share these findings in the most innovative ways with the widest audience possible. Following on from our previous productions which were nominated for no fewer than 5 Emmys – ‘Micro Monsters’, ‘First Life’, and ‘Kingdom Of Plants’ – we launched our most ambitious co-production yet with David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies.

In this three-part Immersive series, David Attenborough to explores the astonishing 300-million-year dynasty of flight in exceptional 3D 8k 180 Virtual Reality at 60fps with ambisonic audio.

We  believe that VR is revolutionising the ways in which viewers can experience the natural world.

Each of these three episodes was developed from the ground up, to utilise immersive tech to its fullest potential. The combination of technology and storytelling creates an experience that is incomparable to anything seen prior; an opportunity for viewers to explore the evolution of flight from a brand new perspective.

But fundamentally, it’s an immersive journey designed not only to stimulate the senses but to educate, inform and enlighten. In continuation of Atlantic Production's landmark 3D TV series, this immersive series was nine months in-the-making, with the ambition of showcasing nature's habit of innovating in the evolutionary development of flight.

After examining hours and hours of the archived stereoscopic material captured in the cloud forests of Ecuador and the rainforests of Borneo, key creatures and stories which best encapsulated the most significant moments in the progression of natural aviation were story-boarded.

Each and every single shot was selected with an immersive presentation in mind, only making the final cut when we were certain it could be enhanced and presented in a fashion that would do the immersive format justice. This cinematic 3D stereoscopic footage showcases the remarkable first feats of natural wing engineering in astounding detail, revealing how insects, the ancient pioneers of the skies, are still prevalent and crucial members of our ecosystems today. In addition to this archive material, the team built brand new CGI scenes that would put viewers right into the heart of the prehistoric forest and canyons where dinosaurs soared. Bringing these flying dinosaurs to life in epic detail was only possible thanks to the collaboration of in-house Animation & VFX team. We also revisited some of the original locations in order to capture 3D 180 stereoscopic video that allowed the team to place CG creatures in real-world environments.