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UnderwaterCinematography
ABeginnersGuideforClients&UnderwaterSafetyAdvise
DearClient,thankyouforchoosingMeehadeeUnderwaterTeam!ThisdocumentisaBeginnersGuideto
the exciting, mysterious, often misunderstand and dangerous world of Professional Underwater
Cinematography.ThisguidewillprovideabasicintroductiontohowUnderwaterProductionworks,howto
plan your Production Queues for Underwater Filming, Cast & Crew advise, budgeting for Underwater
Shoots,andimportantly,HealthandSafetyAdviseforfilmingUnderwater.
UnderwaterCinematographyisdifficult!
Yesitisadifficultandtiring(anddaunting)process,especiallyforfirsttimeclients,
castandcrewmembers.Butunderthecareofanexperiencedunderwaterteam,you
canbesureyouareinsafehandsandafunexperience.

ForProducers,whenplanningyourbudgetingprocessforUnderwaterProductions,thinksointhat
anythinginvolvingfilmingunderwatertakesthreetimeslongercomparedtoabovewatershoots.Planfor
triplethedurationofanabovewaterfilmingqueue.Planningscenes,takesandshootingscheduleshaveto
beadjustedaccordingly.Underthewater,movementisslower,visionislimitedtoonlyafewfeetinfront,
and more in certain underwater gear, light is much lower, communication is difficult (especially sound
communicationusingspecialunderwaterspeakers),andmanymorefactors.
Moreover,alsoconsidertheexperiencelevelsandskillsofthecast,includingmainactorsandsecondary
cast, as well as the experience and skill of the Director, Assistant Directors, Art Team, and other crew.
Prepareinadvanceforextratimeforbothcastandcrewtoacclimatizethemselvestobeingunderwater,
andalsoallowforsituationswherebytheanymember,includingtheDirectorisunabletodohisjobdueto
lackofexperienceinthesesituations.Alotwillalsodependontheskillandequipmentsuppliedbyeach
UnderwaterTeam,suchasunderwatercommunicationgearandsoon,butthehumanfactorisimportant.
DirectorsandAssistantDirectors,willbeabletoviewthecamerafeedfromonamonitor
abovethewater,andareabletodirecttheactorsviaspecialunderwatercommunicationequipment.The
people inside the water will be able to hear via a special speaker system. The Director has to be clear,
conciseandconsistentinhisinstructions,astherewillbeacertainlatency(delay)betweentheDirectors
commands and the sound hear underwater. Inexperienced Directors often make the mistake of either
speakingtoo muchor else,notknowingexactlyhow tocommunicateeffectively.This often leadstobad
takes,retakesandmissedtakes.
Auditory sensory is reduced underwater, and most often the most audible sounds to each person
underneathareoftentheirownbreathingsounds.Directorsneedtobemindfulofthesefacts.

HireexperiencedDirectors!
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UnderwaterCameraOperators,areoftenanimportantparttheentirecrew,butevenmore
important are then the Underwater Camera Operators are the Underwater Support Team. Both
needtoworkinharmony,butthepriorityofcommandmustbegiventotheUnderwaterSupportTeam.
Thisisbecausewhilethecameraoperatorshavetofocustheirattentiononfilmingthesubjectandframing
theirshots,operatingthecameraandsoon,theUnderwaterSupportTeamhastokeepaneyeonboththe
entirecastandcrewunderneath,includingtheactors,thecameraoperatorsthemselves,theirequipment,
includingoxygenlevels,depth,waterpressure,timespentunderwaterandalotmore.
Itisneedlesstosay,thattheCameraOperatorsthemselvesneedtobebasictrainedswimmersanddivers,
andmustpossessanunderstandingofwaterandlight,wateranddepth,andwaterandfocallengths.Also
themustunderstandthedifferencesbetweendeepwaterfilming,shallowwaterfilming,saltwaterorfresh
waterfilming.Filmingsituationsareverydifferentwhendoneintherelativesafetyofapoolset,andwhen
doneinthesea.Itisveryeasytoloseperspectiveandloseyourbearings.
CameraOperatorsmustknowwhichequipmentaresuitedforeachshoot.Forthemostefficiency,prepare
onlytheequipmentessentiallyneededfortheshot,donotbringdownexcessortoolittleequipment,asit
takesamatterofminutesorhourstoreseteachshoot.Alsodonotinsistofwearingafullsetdivinggearif
theUnderwaterSupportTeamsaysitisnotneededtowearso.Sometimesthebestequipmentisabasic
maskfinsnorkel,andcrewwhoinsistonwearingfullsetdivingsuitsoftenunnecessarilylaborthemselves
withextraloadandreducedmobility.TrusttheUnderwaterSupportTeamsadvice!
Art & Prop Teams, must also undergo the basic underwater checklist and guides that the
UnderwaterSupportTeamsrecommend.Donottakeitlightlyeventhoughyouarenotgoingtobeinthe
waterforlong.Sometimessimplyplacingaproptakeshours,andiftheArt&Propteamdecidestoswim
tothepositioninsistingonusingafloatingaid,insteadoftrainingthemselvesinnonfloatingaidswimming
anddiving, thensometimesit takesthemminutes/hourstoget out oftheframeofreferenceofashot,
andprecioustimeiswasted.

UnderwaterSafetyAdvice

Thefollowingarethe15importantrulesandregulationsforUnderwaterFilming.
1. Actors&castmembersmustundergoabasicUnderwaterWorthinesscheck.
2. Cast&crewmemberswhohavebeeninvolvedinasession(queue)ofUnderwaterfilmingwill
havetousebasicskincarelotionsontheirskinforaperiodof4days,inordertohelpreducethe
itchinesscausedbyChlorineexposureunderwater.
3. ItisrecommendedtoconsumebeveragessuchasGingerrootTea,oratmost,warmwater.Do
notdrinkroomtemperaturewaterorcoldbeverageswheninvolvedinanunderwatershoot!It
cancausecolds,pneumoniaandgeneraldiscomfort.
4. Forfemaleactorswithlonghair,extrapracticeregardingframingandhairmovementunderwater
isrequired.Sometimeslongbeautifulhaircansuddenlylookscaryunderwater.
5. Oxygenlevelsintankshavetobecalculatedinaccordancewiththedurationofeachshoot.
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6. Art&Propertyteamsmustundergobasicswimminganddivingpracticeinthepoolbeforethe
shootbegins.Thisistomakesuretheyarepreparedasmuchastheothermembers.
7. Theremustbeafloatingaidattachedtoaropeonthelandendatalltimes,withasupportcrew.
Readytobehoistedintothewateratanymemberwhoneedsitandabletopullhim/herto
safety.
8. Whenoutatsea,weathermeteorologicalforecastsneedtobeheededimportantly!Watertide
levels,waveandwindspeedneedtobeconsideredaccordingly.Donotoverlookthesemost
importantfactors.
9. AdvicetoDirectors,donotbeimpatientorurgentwithcrewspreparingtheshootunderwater.
Remember,itisnoteasy.Ifthewatermountingisnotproperlyattachedbeforesubmerging,then
itsearlypackup!
10. Anysituationthathasariskofdamageordangerabove40%,findanotherway!!
11. Whenfilmingbodyfloatingshots,itisnotnecessarytoattempttomaintainbalanceonthe
water(buoyancycontrol).Berelaxedandflexible,itiseasierforfilmingandacting.
12. Shouldalwayshavestandinswhocanhelpinframingtheshootspriortomainactorscomingin,
thisismostoftenoverlookedandbythetimethecameraoperatoranddirectorisreadyforthe
realtake,theactorsareoftenexhausted.
13. DirectorswhoareimpatientandunwillingtofollowtherulesofUnderwaterFilming,thenthis
workisnotforyou.
14. Always,always,always,alwayshaveaUnderwaterSupport&Safetyteam.
15. Always,always,always,alwaystrustyourUnderwaterSupport&SafetyTeam.

HappyFilming!
BeSafe!