How do you plan your shoots?

[PerroneFord]

For those that shoot underwater video seriously (for money or a purpose other than your own entertainment), how do you plan your shoots?

Do you script/storyboard? Do you scout your locations? Do you shoot over multiple days?

In looking at some of the better videos, clearly some good preparation has been taken in selecting shots, backgrounds, and coverage for editing. Just wonder how people here who shoot underwater regularly, handle this.

 

[ronscuba]

For those that shoot underwater video seriously (for money or a purpose other than your own entertainment).....

The only people I can think of that fit this description is Dr. Bill and Annie Crawley. Most of us on this board do it just for fun. Wetpixel would be better board if you want to talk with pro's and semi-pro's.

I think any good video, whether it's made for money or just for fun will have some kind of story. It might be something complex like a scientific documentary or something as simple as a series of video clips put to music.

 

[PerroneFord]

I think what I was really more interested in was whether those folks, or I guess even advanced amateurs, set up shots in advance. Do you plan the shoot in advance, and go to the dive site with the certain ideas of the shots you want to come back with? And if so, do you write them down, draw them, or just keep them in your head?

 

[Tigerman]

I havent had the pleasure of doing this underwater and I havent done any serious filming in a while, but back in school I had the pleasure of working with a (small) local TV station as one of my extracurriculars..
We soon found out that filming more than what you thought youd need or had planned to use was key. If we didnt, wed end up short or with stuff that basically just filled the gaps..
We planned what we could and shot what was there to shoot, which sadly wasnt always what we had planned or wanted..
Other than that, I bet Bill would have some great input here if he stumbled across this thread..

 

[Cacia]

set up shots in advance. Do you plan the shoot in advance, and go to the dive site with the certain ideas of the shots you want to come back with?

I think the best conceptualize the light more than most people realize.

With light, it has a lot to do with the time of day. So, they often recreate something they saw, at the correct time to make it exceptional. My friend Armando Jenik is an underwater producer and he keeps ratty disorganized notes. In my experience, the most artistic people are the least organized.

 

[LowVizWiz]

I don't have for hire experience underwater, but I do produce, direct and edit commercials and docs for a living and the process whether under water or on top has to be similar when shooting wildlife.

You study your subject (on site preferably) and roughly outline the purpose of your project. Depending on the subject matter and your objective the outline can be detailed but flexibility is a must.

For example the outline for a doc on feeding habits of a grizzly bear would be loose while the outline for a commercial featuring the Yellowstone grizzly bears would be fairly tight in comparison. You may even have a shot list that you know you need because your copy has already been written for a commercial; while you may want to wait to write your script for a documentary after logging the footage from your preliminary shoot. Then filling in the gaps on secondary shoots.

If you want more specific info on pre-production for a particular type of project feel free to PM or post an specific sample of what you have in mind.

I hope this helps you.
Wys.

 

[drbill]

Often times Mother Nature is responsible for setting up the shots I get although some times I dive a site with a particular species or shot in mind. With marine life it is often difficult to get them to do what you want, so you have to ilm them doing whatever they're doing!

Once I've gathered a few hundred hours of footage, I start putting together the story I want to tell.

 

[ronscuba]

I think what I was really more interested in was whether those folks, or I guess even advanced amateurs, set up shots in advance. Do you plan the shoot in advance, and go to the dive site with the certain ideas of the shots you want to come back with? And if so, do you write them down, draw them, or just keep them in your head?

For the basics of my limited storyline, I know I will need/want some topside shots, wide angle, reef scenery, macro. Sometimes I'll want divers in the shot for scale, for reference on a swimthrough or as a lead into a small creature. The divesite will obviously also be taken into consideration. For example wreck dives, I will want W/A. Time of day and angle of the sun, I might plan to do silhouettes.

.

 

[stillhope]

Yes. All of the above.

And I'll second what wysmar and Dr. Bill and all the others said. Filming underwater isn't really all that different from filming above water except for the little detail about being underwater You can do wildlife, macro, architectural studies (e.g. wrecks), artsy films, documentaries, commercials, or even adventure flicks. Each genre has its own demands, and each filmmaking team has its own approach. Taking filmmaking classes can be a big help too -- and there is a greater wealth of above-water filmmaking courses than underwater video courses.

I do mainly short documentary style films. I always research the topic before I start. Wildlife shots benefit from my knowing about the behavior of the critters. For some I sketch out a story and storyboard it. There are always surprises, not only filming underwater critters, but even when interviewing people above water. Often the surprises change the story I had planned.

For some projects, I comb through my stock footage first, sketch out a story, then go out and film what I need to fill in the gaps. Much of my stock footage has come from just filming whatever struck my fancy that particular day. Today it was Bryozoans growing on kelp. I do scout locations if I can afford to -- it usually helps.

As far as "purpose" goes, I never could see the point of filming underwater just for my own entertainment. There is so much good that can come from showing well crafted underwater stories to the general public, how could I swim around with their video camera and not want to do that? How can I be content with just giving myself pleasure?

 

[Tigerman]

...
How can I be content with just giving myself pleasure?

I think we shouldnt elaborate on that topic on this board... ^^
Could be an interesting documentary though