yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Before MARS: Behind the Scenes | MARS


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

Oh my God, back in action! I'm Andy Baker from the National Geographic Channel, and we are here in Ellenville, New York. We're shooting a short film called "Before Mars," which is essentially the prequel story to the global event series coming called "Mars" on the National Geographic Channel in November.

We're telling the story of two of our main characters from the show "Mars" when they were teenagers and first began to be inspired to want to someday take a great journey to the red planet. This is really exciting for us, for the channel, because it is such a different way to tell the story. To take these characters that have been established in the show "Mars" and tell their backstory.

So, in this story, the basic idea is they move into a new home, and in that home, they find this old ham radio. "Hello, Mission Control!" Through a process of discoveries and adventures, they realize this ham radio can actually contact the International Space Station.

So yesterday, we filmed the most important scene, probably the entire film, which is the final scene where Hana goes on this adventure, this quest, to get a better signal so that she can talk to an astronaut in the International Space Station. It was really challenging because the script we have written includes this big rainstorm that stops Hana, and she has to go into a cave. Then her radio breaks down, but she still climbs to the top, and then she finally reaches and makes a connection with this astronaut.

But, of course, we had a perfectly beautiful blue sky day, so we had to figure out how we can still tell this story. We had some rain machines, and we had some big trucks with lots of water on them to create this big rainstorm. You know, then she hikes up to the top. It's very challenging because our crew is hiking up and down these mountains; we're moving to this really remote location.

But in the end, as she's on the mountaintop and the storm has cleared, we got this perfect evening, perfect skies, nice little wind coming through. As we were filming it, I was getting goosebumps as she was talking to the International Space Station. It was a really powerful moment, and it was exciting to see how all these different variables and so many different things come together to make a scene like that happen. When it all clicks, it's a pretty magical thing.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What does the Earth look like from way up there?"

"It's bright and colorful, hopeful. It looks like home."

More Articles

View All
How To Be Alone | 4 Healthy Ways
He who sits alone, sleeps alone, and walks alone, who is strenuous and subdues himself alone, will find delight in the solitude of the forest. - The Buddha. Some people avoid solitude like the plague. Others love being alone and thrive best in solitude w…
Trapped in Prostitution | Underworld, Inc.
Just a mile away, one prostitute works the internet from the comfort of her bedroom. The website is really helpful because I don’t always have to leave home, and it helps get my face out there. [Music] Annabella earns her living as an independent prosti…
How to Get Your First Customers | Startup School
Foreign [Music] School. My name is Gustav, and I’m a group partner here at Y Combinator. Today, I’m going to talk about how to go from talking to users to getting your first customers. Here’s what I plan to cover today: What does it mean to do things t…
Sal Khan and Francis Ford Coppola fireside chat
All right, so very exciting, uh, we’re here at Khan Academy with the team, and we have some students from Khan Lab School as well, uh, with, uh, the I’d say legendary Francis Ford Coppola, uh, most known for film making. Uh, I, you know, obviously The Go…
Khan for Educators: Welcome to Khan for Educators
Hello teachers, I’m Megan. Welcome to Con for Educators, initial course for teachers on Khan Academy. You are about to begin an exciting learning journey, but first let’s look together at the path that lies ahead. To get started, click the start training…
A Conversation with Paul Graham - Moderated by Geoff Ralston
Well, thank you for coming this morning. We are trying something a little bit different this startup school year. We are not just having our weekly two lectures, but we are having some conversations with notable people, and I couldn’t be happier to have o…