🔎How Deep Look Filmed Silkworms🐛🐛🔎
Added 2022-05-22 17:30:01 +0000 UTCHave you seen Deep Look's NEW video, Silkworms Spin Cocoons That Spell Their Own Doom? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgavTIBQ_Z0) If you have, you know that a silkworm’s cocoon is made of a single strand of silk up to 10 city blocks long! Read on to find out how we got some of our silkworms spinning silk footage. 🎥
Mike Seely, the producer of Deep Look's silkworm episode, partnered up with cinematographer Kevin Collins. (https://www.youtube.com/user/kevincollinsfilm)
Mike had worked with Kevin before on our Mexican jumping bean video to capture larvae inside the “beans.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lkdidU79TY&vl=en) You can see his fantastic time lapse in the GIF above. How did he do it?
Kevin used a stepper motor. This motor can rotate in very small increments. He linked his camera to the motor and set it up to automatically capture an image every 200 seconds for 72 hours, until the memory card was full. You can see his full set up in this behind-the-scenes short video (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UoANQroG-Vo) Many thanks again Kevin!
Close-up of a silkworm (Bombyx mori) spinning silk, using its spinneret to secrete the material. As the solution touches the air it becomes a strong, pliable fiber. Silk is primarily made from two proteins: fibroin and sericin. (Kevin Collins/KQED)
Do you have any questions about how we filmed this episode? Or about silkworms in general?
