Mountain Gorilla

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0:00:02 > 0:00:04I'm Steve Backshall and this is Deadly Art.

0:00:07 > 0:00:11I travel the world, tracking deadly animals.

0:00:13 > 0:00:15In this show, I'm picking 25 of my favourites...

0:00:21 > 0:00:25..and challenging my team of Deadly Artists to recreate a killer moment.

0:00:27 > 0:00:29You'll get to make some art yourself

0:00:29 > 0:00:32and in the final show, my team and I will choose

0:00:32 > 0:00:35which animals will make it into my Deadly Art Gallery.

0:00:35 > 0:00:39This is no ordinary art show, this is Deadly Art.

0:00:43 > 0:00:45On today's Deadly Art,

0:00:45 > 0:00:47I have a close encounter of the primate kind...

0:00:48 > 0:00:49Ooh!

0:00:49 > 0:00:51Haha!

0:00:51 > 0:00:54..my team of artists create art of King Kong proportions...

0:00:54 > 0:00:57You can see how big this guy is going to be!

0:00:57 > 0:01:00..and you can make your own gorilla art at home, too.

0:01:03 > 0:01:06Today's deadly animal is one of our closest relatives,

0:01:06 > 0:01:09sharing about 98% of their DNA with us.

0:01:09 > 0:01:12Despite being the strongest primates in the world,

0:01:12 > 0:01:15they're vegetarians and can be total pussy cats...

0:01:15 > 0:01:17unless they're provoked.

0:01:17 > 0:01:19This is the mountain gorilla.

0:01:19 > 0:01:21For an animal that feeds entirely on vegetation,

0:01:21 > 0:01:26gorillas are one of the most heavily-muscled creatures on Earth.

0:01:26 > 0:01:29Why are they built like wrestlers when they only feed on plants?

0:01:29 > 0:01:32Well, gorillas are fiercely loyal

0:01:32 > 0:01:35and they'll fight to the death to defend their families.

0:01:35 > 0:01:37Time to meet today's artists,

0:01:37 > 0:01:41who are waiting in the Deadly Art studio for their mission.

0:01:41 > 0:01:45I'm Jo. I like using gloss paint, human hair, all sorts of materials.

0:01:45 > 0:01:47But most of all, I like making a mess.

0:01:49 > 0:01:51Hey, I'm Mike. I'm a cartoon artist

0:01:51 > 0:01:53and I like turning my drawings into stencils

0:01:53 > 0:01:56and making them deadly!

0:01:58 > 0:02:01And in just a moment, you'll be joining me in Uganda,

0:02:01 > 0:02:05on my mission to track down some very rare mountain gorillas.

0:02:05 > 0:02:08And this is the killer moment I want Mike and Jo to capture.

0:02:10 > 0:02:14Here are the essential elements I'd like my art team to focus on.

0:02:16 > 0:02:19The arms of adult mountain gorillas are 20% longer than their legs.

0:02:19 > 0:02:24A mature male can spread his arms 2.5 metres wide

0:02:24 > 0:02:27and is said to be as strong as six men.

0:02:27 > 0:02:30That's scary if you're standing near one and he's staring at you.

0:02:32 > 0:02:34On the whole, they're peaceful creatures,

0:02:34 > 0:02:39but they can be fiercely protective if someone threatens their family.

0:02:39 > 0:02:41They'll stop at nothing to defend them.

0:02:43 > 0:02:44Gorillas are primates like us

0:02:44 > 0:02:48and they share many spookily similar traits and mannerisms.

0:02:48 > 0:02:51They're highly intelligent and have human-like emotions,

0:02:51 > 0:02:54including love, fear, hate, jealousy.

0:02:54 > 0:02:56They even laugh when they're tickled!

0:02:56 > 0:02:58Mike and Jo, this is going to be quite a challenge.

0:02:58 > 0:03:01Oh, look at that face! It shows their personality.

0:03:01 > 0:03:04They can get really angry when protecting their families,

0:03:04 > 0:03:06so we have to get that in.

0:03:06 > 0:03:08AND capture their sheer power.

0:03:08 > 0:03:11Yep. To me, that means size. Let's go REALLY big on this one.

0:03:11 > 0:03:13I've got just the thing!

0:03:13 > 0:03:16Jo's delving deep into the crypt at the Deadly Art studio.

0:03:16 > 0:03:19Odd place for pillows. Must have had a scary sleepover.

0:03:19 > 0:03:20Hey!

0:03:22 > 0:03:26These could be fantastic for fingers. Just hope they've been washed.

0:03:26 > 0:03:29Me too. This one will be interesting.

0:03:29 > 0:03:31I start my search for the mountain gorilla

0:03:31 > 0:03:342,300 metres above sea level.

0:03:34 > 0:03:38But with five hours of trekking ahead of us, it won't be easy.

0:03:38 > 0:03:42Christopher and the other trackers make daily visits up the mountain

0:03:42 > 0:03:44and know each gorilla family and every individual.

0:03:47 > 0:03:51Without their tracking skills, we'd never find our gorillas.

0:03:51 > 0:03:54And without their knowledge and expertise,

0:03:54 > 0:03:56the gorillas would never let us get close.

0:03:56 > 0:03:58It was about 100 years ago...

0:03:58 > 0:03:59that the first...

0:03:59 > 0:04:04outsiders came here and saw mountain gorillas for the first time.

0:04:04 > 0:04:07They brought back stories of these terrifying animals

0:04:07 > 0:04:09that were incredibly strong

0:04:09 > 0:04:12and could rip a man apart with their bare hands,

0:04:12 > 0:04:14which is what inspired the story of King Kong.

0:04:14 > 0:04:18Since then, we've learned an awful lot more about mountain gorillas.

0:04:18 > 0:04:21We've found out that they're peaceful animals that eat...

0:04:21 > 0:04:23well, stuff like this, most of the time.

0:04:23 > 0:04:26That doesn't stop them being formidable creatures.

0:04:26 > 0:04:29While I carry on looking for these elusive characters,

0:04:29 > 0:04:31let's get back to the Deadly Art studio.

0:04:31 > 0:04:34How's our giant gorilla getting on?

0:04:34 > 0:04:36I'm making the gorilla's hands.

0:04:36 > 0:04:40I'm using some wadding to stuff these socks and turn them into fingers.

0:04:40 > 0:04:44You can see that the ankle of the sock works well as the knuckle.

0:04:44 > 0:04:49I'm using a safety pin to attach my socks to this black, furry cushion.

0:04:49 > 0:04:51If you can imagine that this furry cushion is his palm

0:04:51 > 0:04:56and these are his fingers, you can see how big this guy is going to be!

0:04:56 > 0:04:58One of the essential elements of the gorilla is power.

0:04:58 > 0:05:02He is full of muscle and this is going to be his bicep.

0:05:02 > 0:05:06I'm tying these cushions together really tightly to pack them in.

0:05:06 > 0:05:09Jo and Mike's mountain gorilla is going to be large and fearsome.

0:05:09 > 0:05:11Now Mike will show you how to draw one.

0:05:11 > 0:05:15OK. I'm going to show you how to turn this picture of an angry gorilla

0:05:15 > 0:05:16into my Deadly Doodle.

0:05:16 > 0:05:20Going to place my picture down on top of my light box.

0:05:20 > 0:05:23This will help me trace over it.

0:05:23 > 0:05:26If you don't have a light box, you can place your picture on a window

0:05:26 > 0:05:28and use that light to trace over it.

0:05:28 > 0:05:34Now I'm going to put my A3 piece of paper, centred, over my gorilla head.

0:05:34 > 0:05:36All right, this is all about wax crayons.

0:05:36 > 0:05:39You must use a wax crayon and let's start with red.

0:05:39 > 0:05:41Let's colour the angry eyes.

0:05:42 > 0:05:44Now I'll move on to the mouth.

0:05:44 > 0:05:46That is one fierce gorilla!

0:05:47 > 0:05:49I'm tracing over the red bits underneath.

0:05:52 > 0:05:56Make sure you push down nice and hard.

0:05:56 > 0:05:59That's the red done. Now for the white crayon.

0:05:59 > 0:06:02I'll use that to colour in all the parts that are not shadows.

0:06:02 > 0:06:05I'm going to leave all the shadows for later.

0:06:05 > 0:06:08Starting on that big nose of his.

0:06:18 > 0:06:19Add in those deadly teeth.

0:06:21 > 0:06:23OK, that's all the white crayoning done.

0:06:25 > 0:06:27Let's take it off.

0:06:27 > 0:06:28You might be thinking,

0:06:28 > 0:06:30"What is it?"

0:06:30 > 0:06:33That's because we haven't added in the magic ingredient.

0:06:33 > 0:06:34Some black ink.

0:06:37 > 0:06:40Just going to start painting on our page.

0:06:40 > 0:06:44Here's the reason we used that wax crayon earlier.

0:06:44 > 0:06:49This black ink soaks into the parts that don't have the wax crayon on.

0:06:50 > 0:06:54So as you paint, that picture really comes off the page.

0:06:54 > 0:06:57I must say, this is very impressive!

0:07:02 > 0:07:07Ha! And there you have my angry gorilla Deadly Doodle!

0:07:07 > 0:07:11I'm going to give that one a go myself! Back to our big art.

0:07:11 > 0:07:15As you can see, our gorilla is just getting bigger and bigger.

0:07:15 > 0:07:18I've got loads of black fur that I'm covering him in from head to toe

0:07:18 > 0:07:21and just tucking it in.

0:07:21 > 0:07:23Now our gorilla also needs some form,

0:07:23 > 0:07:26so I'm using some black wool to tie the fur on tight

0:07:26 > 0:07:28and create some body shapes.

0:07:28 > 0:07:31We're going to use this bean bag for his stomach...

0:07:33 > 0:07:35..and this bean bag for his head.

0:07:35 > 0:07:37He's going to have a big personality.

0:07:37 > 0:07:38He's going to be huge!

0:07:38 > 0:07:43Meanwhile, back in Uganda, we've found our mountain gorillas.

0:07:43 > 0:07:44(Wow.)

0:07:50 > 0:07:53It feels quite vulnerable to be so close,

0:07:53 > 0:07:58knowing that if he wanted to charge, he'd be on me in a heartbeat.

0:07:58 > 0:08:00Massive.

0:08:01 > 0:08:06Despite the fact that he probably is no taller than I am...

0:08:06 > 0:08:09he would be at least two times my weight and way more muscular.

0:08:11 > 0:08:12He's walking across now.

0:08:12 > 0:08:16You can see that silver saddle back as he goes.

0:08:16 > 0:08:19And just the strength to just brush bushes aside.

0:08:23 > 0:08:26Look at that incredible bulk!

0:08:26 > 0:08:28They are majestic animals.

0:08:28 > 0:08:31'And I'm about to get the fright of my life.'

0:08:31 > 0:08:34Before that, let's join Jo. She's got a great DIY.

0:08:34 > 0:08:37I've taken Mike's doodle from earlier

0:08:37 > 0:08:41and I'm going to show you how to make him into a talking gorilla.

0:08:41 > 0:08:44I took the drawing and glued it to some foam board.

0:08:44 > 0:08:48And the first thing we're going to do is cut out a hole for his mouth.

0:08:48 > 0:08:52Remember, scalpels can be dangerous. Get an adult to help you.

0:08:54 > 0:08:57Just...pop that out.

0:08:57 > 0:09:00Now what we have to do is peel back this mouth,

0:09:00 > 0:09:02off the foam board, taking care not to rip it.

0:09:02 > 0:09:04Take your time with this,

0:09:04 > 0:09:07otherwise you'll have to do the doodle again.

0:09:08 > 0:09:10OK. We're going to take that

0:09:10 > 0:09:13and put double-sided sticky tape on the back of it.

0:09:14 > 0:09:17Now I'm going to stick that on to another piece of foam board.

0:09:17 > 0:09:21This piece has got some black paper stuck to it.

0:09:21 > 0:09:23So we'll just peel that back.

0:09:25 > 0:09:28Put it right in the middle.

0:09:28 > 0:09:31So now, we need to make this grid structure,

0:09:31 > 0:09:36which keeps it all in place and works a bit like a drawer.

0:09:36 > 0:09:39What we've done with that...

0:09:39 > 0:09:42is got some more strips of foam board.

0:09:42 > 0:09:43Before we put that together,

0:09:43 > 0:09:47you need to check that the mouth is in the right position.

0:09:47 > 0:09:52So these are going to go down the sides, like the runners.

0:09:56 > 0:10:00This one is going to go across the back, just to keep it in place.

0:10:03 > 0:10:06Make sure it only sticks to the runners and not middle piece.

0:10:06 > 0:10:09One more, smaller one, which is going to go across the top,

0:10:09 > 0:10:11which stops it all falling out.

0:10:11 > 0:10:17OK. Next, I'm just going to put his mouth up into the closed position.

0:10:17 > 0:10:20I'm taking another piece of foam board, which will be our handle.

0:10:20 > 0:10:24It's a nice, long piece and this goes right up against that guide.

0:10:26 > 0:10:29So there we have it, one talking gorilla.

0:10:29 > 0:10:31Is that deadly enough for you?

0:10:31 > 0:10:32What a fantastic DIY!

0:10:34 > 0:10:37But imagine getting close to these bad boys.

0:10:37 > 0:10:38I got closer than planned.

0:10:38 > 0:10:41We try and keep a respectful distance,

0:10:41 > 0:10:44so we don't disturb the gorillas as they feed.

0:10:44 > 0:10:46Johnny, Johnny!

0:10:46 > 0:10:50Suddenly, a cheeky, confident young male moves menacingly towards us.

0:10:52 > 0:10:56This is the blackback. He's the young male.

0:10:56 > 0:10:58And...

0:10:58 > 0:10:59they can be...

0:11:01 > 0:11:06more of a worry than a silverback, because they have more to prove.

0:11:06 > 0:11:09You can see how easily he pulled that tree down to cover himself.

0:11:09 > 0:11:12People that actually work with gorillas a lot reckon...

0:11:12 > 0:11:16they're ten times stronger than people.

0:11:16 > 0:11:19They've seen them bend iron bars.

0:11:19 > 0:11:23The guides make me stand my ground as he comes in for a closer look.

0:11:25 > 0:11:26Ooh!

0:11:33 > 0:11:35Right. Well that...

0:11:36 > 0:11:40is a blackback gorilla... letting us know who's boss.

0:11:42 > 0:11:43HE CHUCKLES

0:11:43 > 0:11:46Gorillas are aggressive when defending their families

0:11:46 > 0:11:49or when showing off to a film crew.

0:11:49 > 0:11:52Let's get back to Jo and Mike. Their gorilla is better behaved.

0:11:52 > 0:11:55If an essential element for the gorilla is protectiveness,

0:11:55 > 0:11:58our gorilla is going to look angry.

0:11:58 > 0:12:00I have a sock, stuffed with wadding.

0:12:00 > 0:12:02This is going to make his eyebrow,

0:12:02 > 0:12:04which makes a difference to an expression.

0:12:04 > 0:12:08I'm going to put it low down on his face to make him look really cross.

0:12:08 > 0:12:11If our gorilla's looking cross, his mouth will be wide open.

0:12:11 > 0:12:14So for the mouth, I've used this red cushion cover.

0:12:14 > 0:12:17Just going to stuff it down into his face.

0:12:18 > 0:12:21Now if his mouth is wide open, we'll see those big teeth.

0:12:21 > 0:12:24So for the teeth, I've used some wadding.

0:12:24 > 0:12:27Going to shape it into one of those big, sharp canines...

0:12:27 > 0:12:28and stick it in his mouth.

0:12:30 > 0:12:34So, we've got his head, his arms, his legs and his body.

0:12:34 > 0:12:36All we need to do is put it all together.

0:12:36 > 0:12:41And once it's fixed together, Mike and Jo hoist it up.

0:12:44 > 0:12:48Wow! This is definitely the biggest Deadly Art we have ever made.

0:12:48 > 0:12:52The sheer size of it represents the gorilla's awesome power.

0:12:52 > 0:12:54We have covered his personality

0:12:54 > 0:12:57by giving him that angry expression on his face and adding in that hand,

0:12:57 > 0:12:59with those five fingers coming at you!

0:12:59 > 0:13:02He's reaching out, he could be protecting his family,

0:13:02 > 0:13:04which is an essential element.

0:13:04 > 0:13:06- Well done, us! - Let's hope Steve likes it.

0:13:08 > 0:13:10So it's time for the big reveal.

0:13:10 > 0:13:14Remember, this is the killer moment I challenged my artists to recreate.

0:13:14 > 0:13:17Now let's have a look at the finished piece of art.

0:13:19 > 0:13:21That is a monster!

0:13:22 > 0:13:25This is the biggest piece of work we've ever done on Deadly Art.

0:13:25 > 0:13:29I asked Mike and Jo to capture the gorilla's personality.

0:13:29 > 0:13:32Well, look at its sheer size!

0:13:32 > 0:13:36His eyes look menacing, the teeth are sharp. Big tick there, guys.

0:13:36 > 0:13:40And with his outstretched hand, he's definitely protecting his family.

0:13:40 > 0:13:41Fantastic!

0:13:45 > 0:13:47That's a top Deadly Rating from me

0:13:47 > 0:13:49but will it make it into my Deadly Gallery?

0:13:49 > 0:13:53Maybe. See you next time for more Deadly Art.

0:14:04 > 0:14:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:14:07 > 0:14:10Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk