We’re bringing a scientific view of sharks to the world. They’re not villains – they’re just misunderstood.” Executive Producer Drew Jones was discussing National Geographic’s innovative series Shark Attack 360 at an RTS London online event in July.

The show uses 3D creation tool Unreal Engine to bring the presenter – marine biologist Dr Diva Amon – up close to virtual sharks so she can explain their behaviour and predatory characteristics.

Unreal Engine, which is used on games like Fortnite and increasingly in film and now television, seamlessly integrates live-action and computer-generated imagery in real time, while the programme is being filmed.

Pinpointing the show’s appeal, Jones said: “It’s rare to find people who aren’t curious about sharks.”

Episodes begin with a personal account of an incident involving a shark to “grab viewers’ attention”, and then use experts – including Amon who presents from a virtual shark lab – to explain why the shark attacked.

The shark lab had to be “dynamic, credible and immersive”, said Executive Producer Nick Metcalfe from Arrow Media, which makes Shark Attack 360. “We wanted seamless storytelling.

“Seeing a life-size virtual shark is stunning – you get an idea of the extraordinary size and power of these creatures. It makes for amazing TV.”

The shark lab was created at Collins Music Hall in Islington, north London – “an interesting physical space”, said Metcalfe. “Diva and the sharks could interact. She could move from one level to another and be beneath the sharks and above them.”

Amon had “dabbled in TV before”, but Shark Attack 360 was on a different scale. “I’m a marine biologist, not an actor. This required me to get all of my very poor acting skills together. The space was empty [apart] from the crew, and there weren’t any sharks.

“We had to envision these giant sharks and, thankfully, there was this technology that was able to help me do that. We had a mirror screen where I could see the [sharks’] placement and get the feel, but ultimately they weren’t there, so it took a lot of imagination and memory.”

She continued: “As a marine biologist, being able to have that access to these sharks, to see the scale of them right next to me, to be able to open their mouths and look at the shape of their teeth, to go inside them and look at shark foetuses developing in the uterus – it was like the CSI of shark shows.”

Arrow worked closely with London visual effects (VFX) studio Little Shadow, whose Managing Director, Simon Percy, explained how his team made a virtual copy of the multi-storey physical space in Islington to allow them to plan the sequences in the shark lab.

Little Shadow Senior VFX Artist Lucas Zoltowski created the virtual sharks. He said: “Making aliens is fine, and even with dinosaurs you have a lot of creative freedom. But with [sharks] you have to be very specific with their anatomy. Sharks move in a fluid, beautiful way – they’re graceful creatures. Previously, these kinds of effects were reserved for Hollywood budgets.”

TV technology is developing rapidly. This is the second iteration of Shark Attack 360 and far in advance of the first. Metcalfe explained that, first time round, “we didn’t have the VFX played on a monitor and through the eye-piece of the cameras – we had yellow tennis balls on [sticks] and people had to imagine these were going to stand in for a shark”. 

‘Dive into the future of TV: A behind-the-scenes look at Shark Attack 360’ streamed online on 22 July, and was chaired and produced by Terry Marsh.