Filming Watery Worlds
Filming content in the water — whether it is in a marine environment or a swimming pool — is a mammoth task only fit for experts. The Callsheet explores these watery depths.
Some of the most iconic films to be made feature the vast and glittering world of the ocean — Master and Commander, The Big Blue, Waterworld, and Jaws are just a few that come to mind. Most recently, Guillermo Del Torro’s beautiful and graceful depiction of this dark and fascinating realm has captured the hearts of cinema-goers around the world. The Shape of Water, which won four academy awards including Best Picture, is a perfect example of the complexities one faces when shooting in this kind of environment.
South Africa has had its fair share of water-filled shoots, with most of the recent international productions requiring some level of technical marine or water expertise on set. These include Tomb Raider, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, The Odyssey, Red Sea Diving Resort, Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, and Outlander, all of which Frog Squad has been involved with.
On Tomb Raider, for instance, they did all the commercial diving work on the Hong Kong set and six weeks of work moving blocks underwater as part of a set-build on location. In Red Sea Diving Resort they shot all the underwater vignettes for the film in Egypt, and were also involved in the naval marine extraction off the beach. “We assisted the art department in procuring the ten naval boats and hired actual navy divers from SA Navy to take part in the show,” Frog Squad Marine Coordinator, Jason Martin explains, “On the shoot day we provided the camera and support boats along with water safety for stunts and the platform for the drone operators.”
Marine Scene has also worked on some fascinating projects, one of which involved the use of animatronics with various cameras mounted in and on them explains Grant Spooner, who heads up Operations. “In years gone by most battery packages were heavy and cumbersome, smaller power packages with exceptional performance and endurance have assisted in many aspects of animatronics and remote control packages.” He says that as a result of these advances, some “astounding footage” was captured on this UK project. The company also supplied seven vessels to the Volvo Ocean Race to service the event’s official film crew.
Outside of South Africa, Underwater Cameramen like Dan Beecham do well. Based in SA and the UK< he sees the best of both worlds and has worked with BBC on the likes of Blue Planet II and Earth from Space, as well as National Geographic’s Hostile Planet. “My shoots for these series have seen me travelling to some amazing places, oftentimes documenting behaviours that have never been filmed before, with brand new technology — always a challenge, but always exciting,” he says.
Water Trends
SA has seen its fair share of water shoots, which, until recently, were mainly comprised of underwater jobs. These days, Frog Squad has had a balanced mix of both under and above-water shoots. “The marine elements vary according to the scripts,” Jason explains, “and there seems to be a trend — last year we did four surfing jobs, this year, to date we have done six in two months.”
Dan says he’s seen a resurgence of natural history filming, much of which includes water work. “The success of some recent BBC productions like Plane Earth II and Blue Planet II has created an increase in demand,” he explains. “As such, there are a few big series in production and some others just being commissioned that will hopefully keep shooters busy for the next few years.”
He adds that another trend is the increased demand for camera operators who are multi-skilled. “There are still some operators who get by only doing underwater work, but I find myself getting jobs where there is also a need for some motion control (Ronin/Movi/Cineflex) or drone work.” Jason agrees, saying that the use of drones is becoming a game changer and something that is likely to propel the industry into a new era of filmmaking on the water, thanks to the convenience of its set up.
Grant adds that the digital revolution continues to “progress performance of sub-surface, on-surface and aerial filming by making camera packages smaller, lighter and more capable and more affordable. Thus some incredible footage is being filmed often in a more cost-effective way than in years gone by.”
The progression of VFX has also increasingly affected the marine film industry. For example, whole scenes that were once shot on the water nowadays might only include beach landings, with ships added to the background in post-production. Feeding into this trend is a need for more controlled environments for water work. Although there is a new, film-friendly indoor pool facility in Cape Town, it is still not enough. According to Jason, the region is sorely lacking in proper indoor facilities and has lost large water jobs to international studios like Pinewood as a result.
Budget, Budget, Budget
Across the film sector, budgets remain difficult, with Jason saying that the challenge to every shoot is “bridging the gap between the various departments in the industry while justifying the budget to the production company”. This is because marine support is not often considered a regular line item on most budgets.
In addition, gear is another challenge, as is the cost of operating in such a niche sector. Frog Squad has invested millions in film-focused equipment in an effort to add value to the industry — ranging from underwater cameras, communication and diving gear, to shooting platforms designed to float techno 50 cranes or transport a unit downriver. “We have camera cages for shark movies, underwater scooters for VFX, and safety gear to placate the most vigilant health and safety officer,” says Jason. That said, all of this comes at a price, and often productions do not realise the cost of this kind of work entails until the project is already underway.
The State of SA’s Marine Film Sector
South Africa’s film and television industry is in flux at the moment thanks to a number of reasons ranging from drought in the Cape and national politics to more competitive destinations attracting big-budget productions. According to Jason, this does not bode well for the health of the industry, particularly from a marine coordinator’s perspective. “Our work is too sporadic…the flow of work is unpredictable, and we lose a lot of crew to offshore or more regular work which pays better and is more structured,” he explains. “The danger I feel we are in is that the drain of experience both in the marine and our counterparts in stunts is that as an industry we won’t be able to offer the same standard of service as we have in the past.”
More and more skilled workers in the film sector are looking for jobs elsewhere, and newcomers are beginning to take over, resulting in fluctuations all-round. The marine support companies aren’t making the money they did from 2012–2014. Black Sails for us was the one show that made sense both financially and in the form of investing, and this was done because we had a top-notch producer at the helm, who knew how to make water movies.”
The bottom line is that things need to change soon, especially with the cost of gear, loss of skilled workers and lack of work continuity combining to create a lethal cocktail. “Our experience, credits and resources help win scripts and storyboards,” says Jason, “but if the companies involved in marine support can’t survive financially, and if crew and stuntmen are looking at going abroad, it will be back to the dark ages for the marine film industry.”
Gear Used in Marine Shoots
Gear is often basic, yet expensive, with operators accumulating it over their years working in the industry. Frog Squad has even gone so far as to develop their own gear, such as a 12m purpose-built camera crane boat with silent, 4-stroke motors and space for a full libra or mini giraffe. Another example is a pontoon barge designed for transportation on a trailer. Their crafts are licensed by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) so that if an accident happens, the gear will be insured. There have been times when shoots not using recognised marine film companies have had mishaps on the water, so productions should be aware of the dangers involved when choosing a cheaper, less reputable or unknown marine service.
Below are a few more examples of variety of gear used on water shoots:
- Camera cages for shark films on 3D Imax shoots, with crane weights of 680 pounds
- Floating light masts for lighting the water or where a light moon is required and there is no access for a condor or crane
- Jetskis with camera rigs for surf shots
- Picture boats, sailboats, period lifeboats, Navy attack vessels, traditional paddle boats, surfboards, pedalos, and clicker boats, to name a few
- Marine databases (acquired through recognised marine film companies) can save productions a fortune as they do not need to scout for boats
