i need your advice

Hi all

this is the story

a production company in dubai contacted me to shoot for them underwater,, they want to shoot a rescue teem in a shallow water , like 5 or 6 meters,,, this is the first time for me to do pro underwater filming,,, can yoiu give me some tips like the white balance and color and light,, the visabilty in Abu Dhabi ( UAE Capital ) its very poor,, like 3 to 5 meters or less,,

i found sony HVR-V1E and Gates FX7/V1 housing,, i will take them if i didnot find any other company with better offer....

any simple tips will be good for me,,,

thanx alot

Well for that depth I'd probably keep the w/b on outdoor, the sun icon, with exposure on manual so you adjust to suit the condtions...

I haven't got the V1 so I can't say about the other controls..Maybe someone else here can be a bit more helpful.

If they are a production company they can mess around with it in post...

Dive safe

DeanB

I was a diver with the San Diego Sheriffs Search and Rescue Dive team for several years and most of the diving we had to do was in 3-5 inches not meters. Consider yourself lucky. Since this is a training exercise for the dive team, they should have a complete plan of the training and should be able to tell you in advance who is doing what. You have 2 parts to this shoot. There is the topside work which will be important. Inclusive within this will be the officer in charge giving his briefing to the team. The team member's setting out their gear from the dive transport and, if they are using hasmat equipment, setting up and testing the comm system, hard hats, tanks, umbilical cables etc. If you can, speak to the individual team leader and divers. Once you have their plans, it will be time for you to be outspoken and tell them what you need in order to do a good job. Things like, 'Don't wave into the cam, give me the finger, smile like a moron'. You get the picture. Know what the divers tasks are so that you can be prepared to shoot at the best angle. You might not get second takes so be prepared by knowing what it is they want of you and making sure they know what it is you want and need to get the job done. You can also speak to the production company about bringing me over to Dubai to assist you. I can use the work now that I'm retired. ;-)

Steve B)

Thanx alot DeanB and Steve

its really nice to learn from the experts,, i contacted other company to rent the gear and im still waiting for them to contact me to know what stuff they have,, you know somthing ,, there is alot of divers here in dubai,, but there is few of them r shooting underwater,, i already working in a TV station as Video Editor, so i know what shots i need to take,, but i do really love underwater shooting because i do belive that the worest thing is to deal with human,, i love to deal with sharks rather than with human,loooooool,, im kidding..... small sharks will be fine

so any more ideas will be helpful to me,, and we still waiting for the french Director to come..... and decide about the shooting,,,

so more ideas will be best for the forum and for every body............

My advice differs from Dean's.

- Colour correction filter on (yes, even at that shallow depth)

- Manual white balance on something white or pale pink or grey once you're at your shooting depth

- Iris, Shutter: Both on auto. You'll have enough to worry about without setting these manually

- Gain: 0dB (or auto, which should make it 0dB anyway)

- Focus: You'll need to use manual focus in that visibility to stop the focus "hunting" for a fix. Do a "momentary auto focus" on your subject before you start shooting. Do it again if you don't get the correct fix. Depending on the focal characteristics your port that fix might be Ok for the whole shoot. Otherwise you'll need to keep doing "momentary auto focus" when the shooting range changes significantly.

No lights.

Keep all the lenses and filters absolutely spotless.

Ahmed

You can get an idea of settings from the Amphibico review listed in the forums.

I would shoot at AE-1 or 2 to reduce chances of over exposure and also shoot with knee control at Mid and use the ND control to keep your shutter speed low if shooting in P-scan 25p mode.

At that depth, you don't really need the filter. It causes a drop in resolution and birefringence. WB to a gray card(a glove can substitute) for best results.

Since you are a post guy, you want the cleanest image you can get and add stuff in post. I'd set Black to Stretch and -3 to saturation. I assume you have some sort of editing workstation you can use that you don't have to worry about time.

Leyahfozak (sp?) or good luck.

and also shoot with knee control at Mid

Hi Drew,

To help my ignorance could you please explain the term "knee control", I saw you commented on this in your V1/Endeavour write up.

I assume it has nothing to do with legs On my FX7 I don't seem to have a manual control for my knees

Cheers

Roger

guyes i will be away from the net for 4 days,, so if i didnot post dont think that im ignoring the topic,, i will be in a deep dive for some testing,,,,

waiting for more ideas,,,

Thanx alot for DeanB, steve, Nick Hope ,king Drew ,Roger Eve for your ideas and many thanx for every body who will post in the next 4 days while im not online.,.

see you guys

hi,

I have always been seen as the party pooper around here so here's my shout. It seems that maybe you have limited knowledge in this field, I also know there are very few production companies in Dubai, so how to make this work for you?

I suggest that you look at getting someone to do the shoot for you, why not pick someone from these contacts here, all good shooters. Not because I don't think you are able to do the shoot but more so for the long run and any possible nurturing of your long term relationship with the production company. You can then take some longer time to get proficient with shooting underwater, the production team gets a pro job, your name and service gets a great boost and everyone's happy.

Just a thought.

Whichever way it turns out I wish you all the best.

Cheers,

Mark.