The ground-breaking camera technology used in BBC Planet Earth II gets audiences closer than ever to nature. So, to promote the show, we created an experience that did the same thing. But in entirely new medium – a city park.

For two nights, Albert Park in central Auckland became the killing fields of the Serengeti. Park-goers suddenly found themselves in the midst of a wildebeest stampede and brutal lion hunt that swirled around, past them and over them.

So they didn’t just experience the show, they were right inside it.

This 360-degree, sensory ambush was created entirely with sound and footage from the actual show. The BBC’s original sound stems were used to construct a 3D soundscape tuned to the park location, that not only physically located individual animal sounds, but enabled them to ‘travel’ around the target area in a convincing way – creating the impression of being caught in the middle of an epic stampede and lion hunt.

Projections on concealed, low-visibility screens heightened the sensory experience by giving the audience fleeting glimpses of running animals. Projecting these images through ambient smoke effects cast realistic shadows on the ground, heightening the suspension of disbelief.

Despite competing with a top-rating reality show on another channel, we exceeded the target of 4% audience share, and achieved 8%.