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When making a topside video on dry land, everything, apart perhaps from the weather and a baby's facial expression, can be planned down to the minutest detail and you can follow your prepared story almost exactly. Topside on a boat is quite similar but rain may now be replaced by salt-water spray. A major difference is the stability of the surface upon which you are standing. For the shot of the beer bottle against the sunset, the yacht had to be moored at a site where there was little swell to rock it, and timing was critical to get the sun in the required position. At the last moment a boat passed across the scene - it is actually behind the bottle in the final shot. | |||||||
Under water it can be almost as simple, or impossible. If you are going
to dive at a site you know well, and are intending to video a fairly common
indigenous creature doing a very common action, then you can plan exactly
what you are going to do before you enter the water. In some cases you may
even wish to "arrange" your shot by taking a delicate morsel to place in
front of the creature of choice, or tools to allow you to place one creature,
say a small urchin, in front of its natural predator. "Dinner Time" is certain
to result, but you may consider this to be too cruel. Diver subjects will
hopefully follow the script! Another possibility for planning is to decide
on the theme of a story and to video appropriate footage at a number of sites
over a period of time. It then only remains to shoot definite "Beginning
and End" sequences to complete the final video.
The most common situation however will be you on holiday at a new and distant location. Certainly read the dive site guides and as much as you can about the types and activities of the expected inhabitants. Think about what you would like to see and record. But the actual dive site may be new to you and you will not know exactly what will be down there. I spent a week at a well-known Whale Shark site; not one turned up.
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While waiting, observe what is happening at other depths, particularly at what is happening close to the bottom (if there is one). Then plan to video these creatures at the new depth on a subsequent dive. Assuming you are lucky and they are still there, watch the way they are moving and place yourself directly in front of them, or so near to their predicted path that you can get a side facial shot with a clear background. You have to remember of course that you are videoing large wild animals and that they may not be too happy about it. | |||||||
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At sites such as Sipadan, just off the NE tip of Borneo, the appearance
of turtles can be guaranteed on almost every dive and you can define almost
exactly what shots you will be able to take.
Videoing small creatures can be easier as they often stay at a relatively fixed location but you may need your buddy to coax them into facing you rather than swimming away. You must be able to see their eyes; you must not be able to see your buddy! Of course the creatures will not do what you would like them to do, so simply video them for several minutes from all angles whilst they go through their complete repertoire of actions and then edit to get the seconds that you require. Patience is essential. Whilst videoing you must remember that many small, highly venomous, creatures are so well camouflaged as to be almost invisible. You must not come into contact with any of them!
Many small creatures are almost totally immobile and thus make good subjects for still photographers but not for videographers. Understandable and specific action by the subject is highly desirable. And as you already know, your video will always be better if it includes wide angle, mid angle and close up of many of the subjects. © words and images, JohnFletcher |