NATURAL HISTORY FILM
Orcas on the Hunt
Editing a marine predation sequence
ROLE: EDITOR / PRODUCER
Every so often, orcas migrate north from Mexico to hunt off San Diego’s coast. In 2024, they went on an unprecedented killing spree, pursuing everything from common dolphins to a blue whale.
At Day’s Edge, we saw this as a must-include moment for America’s Wildest City, our natural history film about San Diego. The director gathered footage from whale-watchers and drone operators who had witnessed their hunts. My role was to transform this mosaic of images into a cohesive scene.
With footage from four shooters and six cameras, it was like building a puzzle without the box.
Image by Domenic Biagini
Challenges
An ocean of footage: Staying organized was critical.
Multiple prey species: The orcas hunted common and bottlenose dolphins. How could we include both without breaking continuity or confusing the audience?
Incomplete coverage: A compelling predation sequence requires distinct story beats. While we had plenty of chase footage, other key moments—like orcas entering the scene or stalking their prey—were missing.
Unpredictable behavior: Marine mammals are hard to film. Many of the best moments were shaky.
No field sound: We had to build a soundscape with SFX libraries.
Exploration and Solutions
Organize Footage
I created an inventory, grouping shots by species and story beat to identify strengths and weaknesses in our coverage.
We had excellent footage of orcas pursuing bottlenose dolphins, including kills and escapes captured by both drone and boat. We also had stunning aerial footage of orcas hunting, killing, and eating individual common dolphins, as well as a large pod of common dolphins at play.
However, we had no underwater shots and no footage of bottlenose dolphins in moments of safety.
To fill these gaps, I licensed additional footage, including underwater shots of orcas and dolphins and aerials of bottlenose dolphins playing in the surf.
Image by Kyle McBurnie
Find the Structure
Using the most compelling moments, I created a narrative structure:
Introduction: We arrive in the Pacific and meet iconic species like gray whales and sea lions.
Common Dolphins: We observe a massive pod jumping and playing.
The Orcas Arrive:
An orca appears and kills a common dolphin.
The pod eats the carcass but needs more food.
Bottlenose Dolphins:
Orcas stalk bottlenose dolphins and separate one from its family.
A bottlenose leaps out of the water to escape.
Orcas adapt and intercept the dolphin mid-air.
Orcas eat the bottlenose.
This structure showcased the size of the common dolphin pod, introduced the orcas as formidable predators, and climaxed with the bottlenose dolphin’s acrobatic (yet unsuccessful) escape attempt.
Pace for Tension
Once the shots and narration were roughed in, I focused on timing to ensure the scene felt dynamic and gripping.
I let the visuals dictate pacing, using ambient sounds, vocalizations, and non-diegetic sound effects like risers to help with punctuation instead of temp music in the first pass.
I tested the flow by watching the scene with muted audio, refining it until the tempo felt natural.
Then, I incorporated temp music to enhance the emotional highs and lows, remixing stems to align with the action.
Sweeten with Sound
When editing natural history, I like to do sound passes both before and after music placement. In my second pass, I added splashes, whooshes, and impacts to accentuate animal movements.
These details brought energy and realism to the scene, providing a strong foundation for the professional sound mix.
Steady, boy…
Once the final shot selections were approved, I performed a stabilization pass, roundtripping shaky clips into After Effects, where I applied multipoint motion tracking for smooth visuals.
Collaboration
This sequence was a team effort, with many contributors bringing their skills to the table.
The team at Gone Whale Watching provided the majority of the cinematography, with additional footage from Kyle McBurnie and Jeff Hester.
Neil Losin wrote the script, and Nate Dappen directed the scene. We worked together through multiple iterations to reach the final version.
Angel Morris and Andy Laub assisted in logging and vetting footage, with Andy creating two rough cuts that provided valuable insight, even as we took the sequence in a different direction.
The wizards over at Cleod9 blended surf rock with spaghetti western in a delightful original score.
The sound team at Ott House Audio refined my provisional effects and delivered a flawless mix.
DC Color unified the varied camera sources into a consistent and stylish grade.
Image by Domenic Biagini
Results
San Diego: America’s Wildest City premiered on PBS Nature on November 7, 2024, and cleared 200,000 views within three weeks.
A 40-minute version, Wild San Diego, began a residency at the San Diego Natural History Museum on November 22, 2024, where it will play daily in the museum’s giant screen theater for years to come.
This BTS featurette includes more information about our filming process.