Sunrise Earth

2004 American TV series or program

Sunrise Earth
Created by	David Conover
Starring	Nature
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	64
Production
Cinematography	David Conover
Editor	Josh Povec
Running time	approx. 50 minutes
Original release
Network	HD Theater
Release	September 27, 2004 (2004-09-27) – September 12, 2008 (2008-09-12)

Sunrise Earth is a nature documentary television series that last aired in the United States in 2008 on HD Theater (originally Discovery HD Theater), which has since been reformatted and rebranded as Velocity. The series focused on presenting the viewer with sunrises in various geographical locations throughout the world.^[1] It is also notable for its complete lack of human narration, concentrating instead on the natural sounds of each episodes' specific location.^[2] The technique has been described by TV critic Tom Shales as "crazily uneventful and thoroughly wonderful."^[3]

Production

Compass Light, Conover's small production company in Camden, Maine, started producing the series in 2004. Clint Stinchcomb helped produce the series.^[4] 64 one-hour Sunrise Earth shows were created in the first four years of production. The crew shoots with high-definition video cameras, and the editors cut between multiple perspectives at a leisurely pace. The show is presented in real-time, with each shot lasting an average of 30 seconds. Each episode captures one sunrise from a certain location, such as Machu Picchu, Turkey or Scandinavia. Captions in the lower portion of the frame occasionally give information as to the location, time, and events on screen.

Audio

High-definition video and Dolby 5.1 stereo surround sound are used to present each natural environment in a clear and detailed manner. The show is an example of the genre known as "Experiential TV", developed by series creator David Conover.^[5]

Schedule

Sunrise Earth aired weekdays at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Discovery HD Theater.^[6] However, as of mid-March 2011, the show no longer airs on any channel (current or otherwise), except on Amazon Prime, and is rumored to have been cancelled, though no official word from Discovery or Compass Light has confirmed this.

All three seasons were made available on Amazon Prime.

Reception

Ross McCammon of Esquire said the show "will relax and reset you", calling it "an antidote not only to everything else happening on TV that night but to everything else that happened to you that day".^[7] The Tampa Tribune's Kurt Loft wrote, "For eye-popping visuals in the HD format, Sunrise Earth is a world unto itself."^[8]

Episode list

Season 1

Moose in the Morning
Yellowstone Geysers
Gator Hole
Bison Before Breakfast
Sea of Terns
Vermont Balloons
Alewife Eternal Return
Tropical Palms
Swallow Sea Cave
Yosemite Dawn
Cribworks Kayak
Sequoia Light
Sunrise Seal Colony
Lobster Village
Western Ranch
Everglades River of Grass
Wildflower Elk
Edge of Atlantic
Milk Cows in the Morning
San Francisco Tai Chi
Teton Beaver
Manatee Spring
Island First Light
Greatest Hits East
Greatest Hits West

Season 2

Katmai Bears
Volcano Lagoon
Homer Takeoff
Ninagiak Island
Glacier of Kenai Fjords

Season 3

Mayan Pyramid
Birds of Palo Verde
Cloudforest Waterfall
Playa Grande Moonset
Dawn of Cerro de La Muerte
Angkor Temples of Khmer Kings
Li River Cormorants
Ping An Rice Paddies
Buddhists of Wat Svay
Elephant Trunk Park
Scandinavian Waterfall
Foothills of Turkey
Stonehenge Dawn
Mediterranean Port
Icelandic Geysir
Argentinean Seal Pups
Peruvian Rainforest Canopy
Andean Dawn at Machu Picchu
Amazon Parakeets
Patagonian Penguins
Christmas Lights
Total Eclipse
Polar Bears
Secrets of the Sun (special documentary)

Season 4 – Viewers Choice

The Skelligs of Ireland
Great Barrier Reef
Haleakala Crater
Society Island Sunrise
New Zealand Frost

Season 5 – Viewers Choice II

Japanese Garden
High Desert Arches
Midnight Sun of Svalbard
Vancouver Inside Passage
Venetian Canals

References

^ Snider, Mike (2007-11-26). "Wide world of HDTV - Picture clarity gives rise to new channels". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
^ Coyle, Jack (2006-10-27). "Sunrise Earth brings dawn to your living room". Miami Herald. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
^ HD May Be Too Good To Last 2005-07-05
^ "Clint Stinchcomb". Cablefax. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
^ About Compass Light Productions 2008-07-09
^ Sunrise Earth: Discovery HD Theater Archived 2008-02-29 at the Wayback Machine
^ McCammon, Ross (2008-12-02). "Sunrise Earth: The Endorsement". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
^ Loft, Kurt (2008-06-15). "Here Comes The Sun — In Vivid HD". The Tampa Tribune. Archived from the original on 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.