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][obsolete source]

## Production

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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

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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

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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

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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

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* Season 1

1. Moose in the Morning
2. Yellowstone Geysers
3. Gator Hole
4. Bison Before Breakfast
5. Sea of Terns
6. Vermont Balloons
7. Alewife Eternal Return
8. Tropical Palms
9. Swallow Sea Cave
10. Yosemite Dawn
11. Cribworks Kayak
12. Sequoia Light
13. Sunrise Seal Colony
14. Lobster Village
15. Western Ranch
16. Everglades River of Grass
17. Wildflower Elk
18. Edge of Atlantic
19. Milk Cows in the Morning
20. San Francisco Tai Chi
21. Teton Beaver
22. Manatee Spring
23. Island First Light
24. Greatest Hits East
25. Greatest Hits West

* Season 2

1.   2. Katmai Bears
3. Volcano Lagoon
4. Homer Takeoff
5. Ninagiak Island
6. Glacier of Kenai Fjords

* Season 3

1.   2. Mayan Pyramid
3. Birds of Palo Verde
4. Cloudforest Waterfall
5. Playa Grande Moonset
6. Dawn of Cerro de La Muerte
7. Angkor Temples of Khmer Kings
8. Li River Cormorants
9. Ping An Rice Paddies
10. Buddhists of Wat Svay
11. Elephant Trunk Park
12. Scandinavian Waterfall
13. Foothills of Turkey
14. Stonehenge Dawn
15. Mediterranean Port
16. Icelandic Geysir
17. Argentinean Seal Pups
18. Peruvian Rainforest Canopy
19. Andean Dawn at Machu Picchu
20. Amazon Parakeets
21. Patagonian Penguins
22. Christmas Lights
23. Total Eclipse
24. Polar Bears
25. Secrets of the Sun (special documentary)

* Season 4 – Viewers Choice

1.   2. The Skelligs of Ireland
3. Great Barrier Reef
4. Haleakala Crater
5. Society Island Sunrise
6. New Zealand Frost

* Season 5 – Viewers Choice II

1.   2. Japanese Garden
3. High Desert Arches
4. Midnight Sun of Svalbard
5. Vancouver Inside Passage
6. Venetian Canals

## References

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1. ^ 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.
2. ^ 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.
3. ^ HD May Be Too Good To Last 2005-07-05
4. ^ "Clint Stinchcomb". Cablefax. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
5. ^ About Compass Light Productions 2008-07-09
6. ^ Sunrise Earth: Discovery HD Theater Archived 2008-02-29 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ McCammon, Ross (2008-12-02). "Sunrise Earth: The Endorsement". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
8. ^ 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.

## External links

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* Sunrise Earth at IMDb
* Sunrise Earth on Amazon Prime

*[No.]: Number