Underwater Cinematography

D

DDirector

Veteran
So, I have always been wanting to be a cinematographer, and that's the route I'm taking. But, I also want to do underwater cinematography. But... Where do I start?

I plan on getting my scuba divers lisence, but I won't do it until I know exactly what I'm heading into so I don't end up just blowing all my money.
 
Take a look at the site of my friend Chris Ross…

http://www.chrisrossphoto.com/

He studied for a number of years (college) focusing on just underwater work. And he's worked for years since refining his skills and pushing the boundaries. There are a few underwater-photo-specific message boards, so you might want to start there. But your best bet is going to be following in Chris' footsteps…education and experience.
 
lol not a problem. Its just that I people become cinematographers as its standard. But underwater is different and was wondering how to get into that. Not just by owning equipment as there should be more.

Its NOT that I want to do only underwater stuff, its that if there is a scene in a movie that is done underwater, a pool or whatever it may be, I'd want to know what to do in those situations.

There are two things I want to know. I want to be a DP, but every so often I'd end up doing a scene that's underwater and want to know what I need to know to accomplish that scene. What do I need to learn..

And, I'm also interested in being a camera operator specifically for underwater work only. I know I'd need a housing if I were to be using my camera, and I'd need a scuba divers lisence, but is there anything else I'd need?
 
Just like above water cinematography, you just need to dive in and practice (pun intended!). You can try buying something like a Panasonic TS3 or a GoPro HD which are both excellent affordable underwater cameras to learn with, or you can use that money towards the purchase of an underwater housing for a larger camera. To shoot underwater, you're going to want weights (to weigh you and your camera down so you don't float back up!) and other equipment that is standard for diving. You're also going to want lights as underwater, you'll loose a lot of light. Many of the high end SLR or Film camera housings have either built in lights or light attachments. A lot of underwater cinematography is shot wide, so you'll probably need a wide lens like a 17-40 or something depending on what you need.

If you are just shooting an underwater shot every once in a while right now and you don't mind a bit of a risk, you can purchase one of the aquapac bag housings and use that until you can afford a plastic or metal housing. Basically you'll just have to get used to balancing and moving your camera underwater. Get used to compensating for light and focusing through a pair of goggles.
 
Do you have any interest in diving for the sake of diving or are you only wanting to do it for filming? The reason I ask is, you're talking about hours and hours of learning dive skills before I would even think of throwing a camera into the mix. You're going to want to be very comfortable with your diving skills and being under the water in various conditions. There is a lot of things going on during a dive and a lot of things to keep track of and you'll want these things to be almost second nature before you then start worrying about operating the camera, lighting, framing, etc. I think if you don't have interest in diving for the sake of diving, you'd probably loose interest in it before you get comfortable enough to start seeing results in your footage.

I would suggest if you're really serious about it, before doing anything else, find the closest dive school and talk to them and see if they offer a trial class. I know PADI used to have a trial thing where you could go and try it in a class pool before going forward with the open water course. If you like it and are willing to put the time in, then take the classes and take it from there.
 
+1. As more of a scuba diver than an underwater filmmaker (though I've tried it), I can say you'll definitely need to develop your dive skills, in particular buoyancy control. A good target is to aim for is being able to dive with MINIMAL weight -- over-weighting is a sure path to bad buoyancy control and rapid unexpected ascents. All the light and colour is near the surface, but buoyancy control is harder the closer you are to the surface.

The first time I tried diving with a camera, I was all over the place -- I'd really suggest not even trying it until you have a good few dives under your belt, as even a tiny amount of task loading has a drastic effect underwater. 80 dives in, I'm feeling a little more comfortable with filming as I go, but not great. I've certainly not got to the point of trying anything fancy with lights, etc!

For cameras, GoPro is a cheap way in, but honestly my results have been poor due to bad colour correction (I dive fairly deep though). A better camera in a housing -- I use a compact in an Ikelite housing -- is a better bet. For scuba, the watertight bags are a no-go -- they aren't rated deep enough, unless you're on a really shallow reef.

Having said all that, if you think diving may be your cup of tea, I'd definitely say go for it -- it's absolutely awesome super-addicting fun!

One of my poor UW attempts:

 
I've been done some scuba diving lessons before but all in a pool. And yes, I love doing it, not just for filming.
I loved it andenjoyed it, so I wanted to put the two together.

Thanks for the advice, if there's anything else I need to know, let me know.
Ill be contacting the local dive school soon.
 
DDirector said:
I loved it andenjoyed it, so I wanted to put the two together.
Click to expand...

Excellent! Hope it goes well!

In terms of dive schools, any decent reputable school will get you technically certified to dive as you need. PADI is the McDonalds of dive schools; they're everywhere, but the quality of instruction is patchy. Many PADI instructors will just walk you through the bullet points; a better instructor will actually teach. Other schools, like SSI, may be a better choice, but YMMV. Certainly there are good PADI instructors too. I'm PADI certified, and I'd say it's fine if you make a little effort to hunt out good instructors.

The canonical source for diving info and support is scubaboard.com. NetDoc / Pete, the admin, is a great guy.

Have fun!
 
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