Dolphin Deadly Art

My name's Steve Backshall and this is Deadly Art.

I'm lucky enough to travel the world, tracking deadly animals.

But in this show, my team of artists take my killer moments...

..and turn it into art.

And we'll reveal another unique creation.

Along the way, you'll get to pick up some tips, tricks and techniques,

so you can make some art yourself.

This is no ordinary art show. This is Deadly Art.

Coming up on Deadly Art,

I get close to one of the world's most popular and iconic mammals.

This is out of this world!

My Deadly team make some more fantastic art.

I love it. Those spaces are so effective.

And we'll show you another Deadly Doodle.

So, what are we looking at today?

They can swim faster than some speedboats,

and they're found in the Indian, the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans.

These are the bottlenose dolphins.

To their prey, dolphins are super deadly, and here's why.

Their hearing is eight times more efficient than our own,

and they communicate with each other

with a series of whistles and clicks.

And that dolphin smile might look cute,

but they have loads of cone-shaped, sharp teeth

which are perfect for ensnaring their favourite food

of fish and squid.

So, who's taking on the Deadly Art challenge today?

I'm Michelle, and I just love working with different materials.

I'm all about getting stuck in.

I'm Nicola.

I'm an ice sculptor, a sand sculptor,

and a power tool queen.

'Nicola and Michelle are representing the Deadly Art team,

'who are always up for a challenge.

'And here's our killer moment to inspire their artwork.

'When they leap into the air.'

The image of dolphins leaping out of the water is so classic and iconic.

I love that we get to put our own Deadly Art twist on it.

Definitely, but it needs to be simple,

with some beautiful, fluid lines.

-So, two dolphins.

-Yep. A model.

-Made out of wood.

-Let's do it!

'Time for some more Deadly Art.'

This is a model which demonstrates our big art.

As you can see, it's a dolphin made up of lots of separate shapes.

We're going to re-create this using wood.

But as ever, it's going to be on a much bigger scale.

The first stage is to draw out each individual segment,

and I'll begin with the centre piece, including his dorsal fin.

'We'll leave Michelle and Nicola drawing out their shapes.

'On Deadly 60, I was in Australia,

'on the search for wild bottlenose dolphins.

'And it looked like we were in luck.'

Literally five minutes out of the dock, and already

a whole bunch of bottlenose dolphins have popped up

right alongside the boat.

Look! There's about six or seven, and they are so close.

These ones are right up at the bow.

This is a family group, known as a pod.

We're really hoping that they're going to want to stay and play.

One of the reasons dolphins are so lethal

is because they're incredibly intelligent.

Using that superior brain power to work together as a team

means they can come up with astonishing strategies

for catching fish.

Check out these dolphins in Florida.

That ring of muddy water was actually made by a dolphin

swimming along the bottom to churn up the mud with its tail.

The ring encircles a shoal of fish.

The fish think they're trapped,

and as they leap out over the top to escape,

the other dolphins are lying in wait.

But the really amazing thing is that they all take turns

to churn up the mud, so everyone gets a chance to grab a fish dinner.

And have a bit of fun, as well.

As well as chatting with whistles and clicks,

dolphins also use sound to find and catch prey.

Bursts of ultrasound echo off anything solid in the water,

giving the dolphins a kind of sound picture, which they can

even beam to each other, a bit like e-mailing a photo, but better.

Their ultrasound even penetrates the sand,

so there's nowhere to hide.

Join me later, when I'm on a mission

to swim and play with these incredible creatures.

Let's go back to the Deadly Art studio to see how

Michelle and Nicola are getting on with their art.

This is my favourite bit.

It wouldn't be Deadly Art without the use of power tools.

Once all the shapes are cut out, we're going to sand around

all these rough edges to make them smooth and streamlined,

just like a real dolphin.

But remember, Nicola and Michelle are trained professionals.

Don't attempt anything you see in our Big Art stages.

Michelle's going to take time out from the Big Art

to show you a Deadly Doodle.

I'm going to show you how to draw this bottlenose dolphin.

We're going to start with a simple oval in the middle of the page.

A nice large oval...

Then at the bottom of that oval, I'll draw a smaller, thinner one.

At the end of that, a large, fat triangle.

Coming up to the top of the large oval,

we're going to do another oval off the side of it.

Down to the other side, a large triangle,

and in between the two ovals at the top, another triangle.

For the nose, I'm drawing another triangle coming out.

Just drawing a nice large circle for the eye.

With my marker pen, I'm going to go round the pencil lines

and bring it to life.

I'm just joining all the shapes together.

Swooping all the way down...

Ignore this section of the oval and carry your line straight through.

Down around the mouth...

I'm putting a line in the middle of my original shape.

Then his eye.

And not forgetting the blow-hole.

I'm just rounding these off...

The front and the back.

Next, I'm going to go round the tail.

I'm just making it slightly more curvy to add a bit of movement.

I'm going to add some movement lines here,

and now I'm going to add the sea, so it looks like

the dolphin is jumping out of the water.

Nice big wavy line across,

and some water markings to show he's made a real big splash.

All that's left to do is rub out the pencil lines.

Brilliant, and there we have our bottlenose dolphin.

Love that dolphin, Michelle.

We visited Devon on a Deadly Day Out,

and here's how some of you got on with your dolphins

in the Deadly Art tent.

If you were doing this at home in pencil,

these guidelines you could then rub out.

ALL: DEADLY ART!

-I'm Joshua.

-I'm Zoe.

BOTH: And this is our Deadly Doodle.

I definitely think my doodle's deadly enough.

I really like my doodle and I'm going to put it on my bedroom wall.

I can't think of a better place for it. Keep on doodling.

Let's get back to the Deadly Art studio,

and Nicola and Michelle have got their kit of parts.

We've finished sanding our shapes. They're lovely and smooth,

and now we'll assemble our dolphins.

We have two - one over there and one right here.

We'll start with this one.

To assemble them, we'll start with the centre section

and build it up bit by bit.

We've got wooden blocks here to act as spaces.

That's going to give it the width and dynamic form.

-Are they lined up?

-Yeah, that's right.

OK.

'We'll leave Nicola and Michelle building their wooden dolphins.

'Over in a Australia, it was time to join

'the bottlenose dolphins in the ocean.'

Wish me luck, guys.

-Good luck, Steve.

-Good luck, Steve.

OK, guys, go.

These motorised sleds give you an idea of what it's like

to be a dolphin and help us keep up with these beautiful,

streamlined animals.

It's really frustrating,

cos we can't hold our breath anywhere near as long as a dolphin.

We need to keep coming up for air.

They also seem to be having as much fun as we are,

and this is even more special, because these are

wild dolphins and they're choosing to play with us.

This is out of this world!

I've never seen anything like it before in my life. Just incredible!

Ah, that was out of this world.

An experience of a lifetime.

Now, Nicola's got a beautiful DIY for you to try.

Look at these beautiful bottlenose dolphins

splashing about in front of the sunset.

I'm going to show you how to make it,

and we'll start with the water.

Take a rectangle piece of blue card.

This will form the ocean, and we'll make the waves using a stencil.

Take a blank piece of card,

and using a pen, draw on some long swooshy shapes.

Almost like an elongated S.

And then cut them out.

I'm using a scalpel, and scalpels are very dangerous,

so make sure you get an adult to help you.

You can use scissors, but be careful.

Pop them out...

..and there is our stencil.

You'll need to make a second one, but slightly different.

This will give some variation to your water,

so maybe a few more or a few less in different sizes.

Position your stencil over the top of the blue card,

cos we're ready to spray on the water.

I'm going to use blues, greens, and the odd flash of white.

There's one stencil done.

You can remove that and reposition it in another point.

You can use normal paint for this and dab with a sponge.

Now we need a bit of variation,

and that's where our second stencil comes in.

And there's our water almost complete.

The sunset works in a very similar way.

Again, we're using a stencil, only this time it's much, much bigger,

and I've cut out three holes in the shape of a rainbow and sprayed on

some oranges and reds to reflect that gorgeous, burning sunset.

Now we can fix on the water.

I've got double-sided sticky tape on the back.

It just needs the dolphins,

and as you can see, these dolphins are leaping out of the water

and leaving behind two splashes.

For that, we will make two more stencils.

Amazing.

Perfect setting for our bottlenose dolphins.

Earlier on, Michelle showed you how to draw these.

I've cut them out of craft foam,

and all we need to now is fix them into position.

One there...

And there they are,

our very happy bottlenose dolphins.

DOLPHIN CLICKING

That's dolphin for, "Deadly."

Whatever you say, Nicola(!)

Back to the Big Art, and the finer details.

Nicola and Michelle have reached the finish line.

Well, I love it. Those spaces are so effective.

From this angle, it looks like an abstract piece of art,

and from the front, we see those two dynamic dolphins

leaping out of the water.

I love the fact we've only used one material.

It's so simple,

yet it really captures the essence of Steve's killer shots.

Great stuff.

Earlier, I asked the Deadly Art team to recreate this killer moment

and turn it into art.

Let's take a look at the finished result.

I wasn't expecting that.

That's so dramatic.

It's a simple design, and the light of the studio works so well,

with rays of sunlight hitting the ocean.

The dolphins' smooth, aerodynamic shape

is perfectly represented in our streamlined models.

Despite the fact that they are such beautiful animals,

those mouths, bristling with teeth - they really are Deadly.

Nice work, team. Art doesn't get any Deadlier than this.

What an incredible creation.

Make sure you try the Doodle and the DIY,

and we'll see you next time for more Deadly Art.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd