A bug’s eye-view of the fascinating universe of insects
Magnified up to 250,000 times their normal size in 3D on the giant screen
TO PREMIERE IN NORTH AMERICA AT THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION’S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY MARCH 11TH
AND IN EUROPE AT @BRISTOL IN THE UK ON MARCH 18TH, 2003
LONDON, February 5, 2003 – Dame Judi Dench has just completed the narration for the large format 3D film, Bugs!, whichfocuses on the life cycles of a praying mantis and a butterfly, from their birth to their inevitable encounter in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, where predator meets its prey. Bugs! highlights the extraordinary world of insects, magnified 250,000 times their normal size on the giant screen.
“Narrating Bugs! was a most unusual and intriguing experience,” says Dench (The World is Not Enough, Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare in Love), who was completely captivated by the film. Bugs! Producer Phil Streather said, “It has been a thrill to work with Judi and to witness her masterful touch with the material.” Jonathan Barker, Executive producer and CEO of Toronto-based SK Films Inc., the distributor of Bugs! added, “We are delighted to be able to bring this film to audiences worldwide with the incomparable Judi Dench to guide them on this journey into the tiny world of bugs on the giant screen.”
The 40-minute film, which features at least 40 insects, was shot on location in the jungles of Borneo and in the UK, where a microcosm of a tropical rainforest was replicated in studio for extreme close-ups. Director Mike Slee (IMAX® 2D films Wildfire – Feel the Heat, Legend of Loch Lomond), who co-wrote the script with Abby Aron, shot the film from a bug’s perspective.
Slee surrounded himself with an outstanding team of visual masters including Technical Oscar-winning Specialist Photographer, Peter Parks, who designed and built new systems equipment to shoot insects in extreme close up; and Director of Photography Sean Phillips, one of the world’s leading stereographers and 3D cinematographers.
The participating IMAX theatres are The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, The Audubon Institute in New Orleans; Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas; The Pacific Science Center in Seattle and @Bristol in the UK. Other worldwide large format theatres include City Extreme Screen at Union Station, Kansas City, MO, LG IMAX Theatre Sydney, Sydney, Australia, and IMAX Melbourne, Melbourne Australia.
Terminix, the world’s leading pest control company, is Bugs!Presentation Sponsor.
Bugs! is produced by Phil Streather (IMAX® 2D films Legend of Loch Lomond, Wildfire-Feel the Heat) and Alexandra Ferguson (Legend of Loch Lomond, Wildfire-Feel the Heat), with Jonathan Barker (Into the Deep IMAX® 3D, Straight Up! Helicopters in Action IMAX® 2D), Simon Relph (Hideous Kinky), and UKFTV’s Peter Fudakowski serving as Executive Producers. Tim Wellspring (Legend of Loch Lomond) is the Associate Producer.
Bugs! is produced by Principal Large Format in association with Image Quest 3-D, co-produced by the UK Film and TV Production Company Plc, financed with The Film Consortium in association with the Film Council. The film is presented by Terminix and distributed to the worldwide network of IMAX and other large format theatres by SK Films Inc. of Toronto, Canada.
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UK contact: Phil Streather 44 7771 783603
EM: phil.streather@principalmedia.com
Canada contact: Julie Johnston 416-363-1411
