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By Matthew Wright, Series Producer

The crews working on the Arid Heart episode of the Asia series had to contend with some of the toughest conditions on the planet, as they filmed in the deserts and dry grasslands of Central Asia. Extreme heat was obviously a problem, but also bitter cold, high winds and remote locations. Their efforts were rewarded with some of the most memorable footage, which they had the privilege of gathering in landscapes few people ever get to visit.

Extreme heat

Our crews spend hours exposed to the elements – they can’t pack up and seek shelter whilst animals are active. So for filming in hot conditions, they need to be ready to get sweaty. Kit bags are stocked with endless tubes of suncream, shade material, drinking bottles, and rehydration sachets. Fashion goes out of the window on these shoots – gigantic floppy hats and loose shirts are the order of the day – getting sunburnt is bad enough on holiday, but even worse on location, where nobody wants to miss a day in the field.

Extreme cold

Not all deserts are baking hot – anywhere dry enough qualifies as a desert, regardless of temperature.

Mongolia’s Gobi Desert is frozen in the winter – crews filming Mongolian gazelles had to contend with temperatures below minus forty degrees Celsius. Yet, with the right clothing and a decent stock of chemical hand-warming packs, working in cold conditions can be manageable. This is especially the case when local expertise is available – some of our teams in Mongolia borrowed traditional clothing to better withstand the cold, and the conventional circular tents proved remarkably good at keeping the chill night air at bay.

In cold conditions, there are real hazards to contend with – ice and snow can make travel extremely dangerous. And our metal cameras and tripods get so cold that skin can instantly freeze to their surfaces if inadvertently touched. Not something you might consider when you sign up to work on a film about deserts.

Nocturnal animals

Many desert creatures are only active at night, when conditions are less harsh. Operating in near-total darkness is a real challenge for us. Not only does it make moving about difficult, it makes crews prone to fatigue. And then of course there’s the biggest challenge: how do you film animals when there’s no light to see with?

To film Mongolian wolves hunting wild horse foals at night, we had to ship a military-spec low-light camera to the other side of the planet. The camera was equipped with a telephoto lens which enabled the crew to film the animals from a distance, without disturbing them. This high-tech piece of equipment has only been around for the past decade or so, and it’s a real game-changer.

To film a small nocturnal rodent called a long-eared jerboa, the team needed a tailor-made filming approach whilst on location in the Gobi Desert. Wide shots could be filmed on the rocky dunes. But to capture close-up images, they enlisted the help of local scientists to introduce the jerboa to a large pen, constructed in one of the most isolated corners of the Gobi. The jerboa soon became accustomed to the low-level lights that illuminated the area, and this bespoke approach helped the crew record the behaviour of this remarkable little hunter. At the end of filming, and under the supervision of the scientists, the jerboas were carefully released back exactly where they were found – in the wilds of the Gobi Desert.

Vast landscapes

Many of the habitats in the arid parts of Asia are vast – Mongolia’s Gobi Desert is over half a million square miles, the Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter is around a quarter of a million square miles. Finding animals in these colossal landscapes isn’t easy, and that’s where local knowledge proved to be essential. The crew visited Mongolia several times, and it was only through the dedication of scientists and conservationists that we were able to film several of this episode’s standout species: Gobi bears, Mongolian wolves and Pallas’s cats. You can read more in-depth articles about these expeditions elsewhere in the “Asia on location” section.