MicroPlanet

The incredible creeping, crawling world under our feet

MicroPlanet Across the stone plain the multi-coloured snouted snail creeps slowly, sucking up minute algae particles it passes over. Microscopic insect photography brings to life a ghost shrimp, tiny but you can see its heart beating through its translucent skin. It's another world within our own world, just as vibrant and busy as our own, teaming with diversity, all around us but never seen. How the little things live, beautifully depicted.

As seasons change on a North American lake, a thriving community hidden within its shadowy waters ply their trade. They are thieves, assassins, trash collectors and gentle souls, each playing their role within this aquatic, secret world. Their bodies might be small, but their stories filled with wonder. From crayfish battling for its lake-bottom territory, nymphs hiding in the tangled forest of algae, to lovelorn toads in search of a mate, the heroes of this magical realm face no miniature struggles.

But while their world might seem separate from ours, both produce deadly enemies for one another. Just beneath the water surface feed mosquito larvae - children of the most prolific killer that has ever lived. Far beneath them, on the sandy lake bottom, the humble clam filters water, absorbing man-made toxins like pesticides. These can build up in their tissues, eventually killing them.

With voiceover read by a child-narrator and beautifully selected music score, this stunningly shot documentary using macro filmmaking techniques offers an informative and endearing glimpse into a fragile but persevering ecosystem.

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FULL SYNOPSIS

Making The Film


Michael Watchulonis
We took the macro 3D filming techniques honed on Fire Ants and applied them to a new film called “MicroPlanet”. In that film, we take the viewer on a fun ride from the bottom of a lake onto land and into the forest. We were able to capture unique 3D footage of flat worms no larger than the head of a pin, mosquito larva feeding and diving, toads courting and mating in the moonlight, crayfish battling over food and digging their homes, and endangered tortoises. Even the secretive Ant Lion digging a trap and ambushing ants, dragging them to a rather disturbing demise under that sand.

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