About

Underwater Cinematographer

I am an underwater cinematographer best known for my work on My Octopus Teacher, Our Planet and Blue Planet 2. With fifteen years of experience filming underwater behavioural sequences from the frozen polar regions to the warm equatorial seas, my passion is to connect humans and aquatic creatures through the power of imagery and storytelling.

Raja Ampat

2017

With Hugh Pearson in Raja Ampat, Shallow Seas, Our Planet

Cape St Francis, South Africa

2021

Filimg Squid for Animal, Nerflix, 2020

Simons Town, South Africa

2021

On assignment for Netflix, 2021

London, United Kingdom

2018

BAFTA Awards, with Ted Giffords, for Blue Planet 2

Cape Town, South Africa

2016

BAFTA Awards, with Ted Giffords, for Blue Planet 2

Okavango Delta, Botswana

2016

Assignments + Archive

Through my production company RHCine, I am available to undertake any footage acquisition assignment or project anywhere in the world. In addition, filmmakers and creatives can licence footage directly from my archive for their projects through the RHCine Collections featured on this site.
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The Azores, Portugal

2014

Filming Mobula Rays for Atlantic, 2014

Alaska, USA

2019

Jelly Fish smack, Alaska, for Apple TV, 2019

Azores, Portugal

2014

Blue Sharks in the Azores, Atlantic 2014

London, United Kingdom

2018

BAFTA Awards, with Ted Giffords, for Blue Planet 2

Costa Rica

2018

BAFTA Awards, with Ted Giffords, for Blue Planet 2

Cape Town, South Africa

2019

Filmography

My Octopus Teacher

2021

My Octopus Teacher takes viewers into a world few humans have ever seen. In 2010, debilitated by adrenal fatigue, Craig began free diving in a freezing underwater forest at the tip of Africa. As the icy water re-energised him, he started to film his experiences and in time, a curious young octopus captured his attention.

Perfect Planet

2021

Discover how our incredible living planet operates. See how sunlight, weather, ocean currents and volcanoes all work together in an intricate balancing act to shape and support the great diversity of life on Planet Earth.

Filmed in spectacular habitats around the globe, the series shows how animals of all shapes and sizes are perfectly adapted to whatever the environment throws at them. But what happens when nature’s epic forces are knocked off course? As human activity impacts on Earth’s perfectly balanced ecosystems, what can we do to protect the fragility of life on our unique and precious planet?

Blue Planet 2

2017

The BBC led the world with the award-winning Blue Planet & now it returns to the planet’s oceans. More marine species have been discovered in the past decade than ever before, with an average of 2,000 discoveries per year. Drawing on new filming techniques not available at the time Blue Planet was shot - such as a new gyro-stabilised aerial camera system, remotely operated submarines, 4k digital resolution and new marine tracking techniques - we will capture the marvels of the world’s largest living space.

Dolphin Reef

2020

Echo, a young Pacific bottlenose dolphin, seems more interested in exploring his coral reef home and its inhabitants than learning to survive in it, but lessons from his family may encourage Echo to master his vital role in the marine community.
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Our Planet

2019

The BBC led the world with the award-winning Blue Planet & now it returns to the planet’s oceans. More marine species have been discovered in the past decade than ever before, with an average of 2,000 discoveries per year.

Drawing on new filming techniques not available at the time Blue Planet was shot - such as a new gyro-stabilised aerial camera system, remotely operated submarines, 4k digital resolution and new marine tracking techniques - we will capture the marvels of the world’s largest living space.

Into the Okavango

2019

From National Geographic Documentary Films, Into the Okavango chronicles a team of modern-day explorers on their first epic four-month, 1,500-mile expedition across three countries to save the river system that feeds the Okavango Delta, one of our planet's last wetland wildernesses.

Sequences

Our Planet - Whales

2021

Our Planet - Shallow seas

2019

Blue Planet 2 - Armouring Octopus

2017

Our Planet - Azores baitball

2020

Our Planet - Shallow Seas

2019

Our Planet - Spinner Dolphin

2019

Apple TV
Screensavers

Jelly Fish - Alaska

2019

Kelp Forests - South Africa

2019

Jelly Fish - Alaska

2019

Cape Fur Seals - South Africa

2019

Kelp Forests - California

2019

Spinner Dolphin - Costa Rica

2019

Biography

Roger developed his underwater field craft as a competitive spear fisherman while studying for an Honours Degree from the University of Natal in South Africa. He continued to dive while working in the digital and financial services sectors, and furthered his management training at the UCT Graduate School of Business and the London Business School.

In 2007 he began working for the BBC Natural History on the Nature's Great Events series directed by Hugh Pearson, and began his apprenticeship under cameramen Didier Noirot and Doug Anderson. During this period he narrated and co-directed three documentaries with Craig and Damon Foster. The first of these "Into the Dragon's Lair", was nominated for an Emmy for best Cinematography in 2010, and the sequel, 'Touching the Dragon" was selected as one of the feature shows for National Geographic's 125th centenary year celebrations. Roger was also nominated for Best Narration at Jackson Hole .

In 2011 he shot his first blue chip sequence for John Downer's "Earthflight", for producer Rob Pilley. This was followed by a long term assignment from John Downer to film bottle-nose dolphins for the "Spy in the Pod" series which aired on BBC One in 2013, and two sequences on the BBC Atlantic series for producer Ted Giffords 2010.

In 2015 and 2016 he spent 110 days filming for Silverback Films on Disneynature's "Blue", for director Keith Scholey and worked as a second unit DOP on the National Geographic "Into the Okavango" feature directed by Neil Gelinas.

!n 2017 Roger was appointed as the underwater DOP on the National Geographic Pristine Seas Expedition to Tristan da Cunha, led by Paul Rose, working for producer Alex Verville. For Blue Planet 2, released in October 2017, Horrocks received cinematography credits on four of the six main episodes, shooting for producers Jonathan Smith, Katheryn Jeffs and Joe Steven. For his contribution to the series has was awarded a BAFTA for Outstanding Cinematography in 2018.

Between 2015 and 2018 Roger worked for producer Hugh Pearson on the Coastal Seas and High Seas episodes of the Netflix original series “Our Planet”, produced by Silverback Films.  He won a nomination alongside cameraman Jamie McPherson for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program at the 2019 Prime Time Emmy Awards on Los Angeles.

In 2019 Roger was one of two Underwater DOPs hired by Jonathan Smith of the BBC Natural History Unit to shoot underwater screensavers for Apple TV. He also began initial work on the oceans episode of Planet Earth 3

In 2020 Roger contributed two sequences to the Animal series on Netflix, produced by Plimsoll Productions., and worked on a sequence for Silverback TV for a new series to be released in 2023.

In 2021 and 2022, Roger has been working exclusively on a new ocean series for Netflix.