TV Casting Question - Looking for you Divers!

[Rich Keller]

If by "oil rigging and docking divers" you mean commercial divers that dive surface supplied with communications you should post this in the commercial diver section here or in the help wanted section. I do not think any insurance company in their right mind would cover you for having amateur divers doing this on scuba. If you do find one then you still have the problem of communications unless you do what Cousteau did for his specials. If you have ever seen the ones where the divers are wearing motorcycle type helmets with a light built into the front and an antenna sticking out of the top and they are talking to each other, that was all dubbed in after. There were no communications built into the helmet and the antenna was just there for show. I am local if you have any questions that I can help you with let me know.

 

[DevonDiver]

....unless you do what Cousteau did for his specials. If you have ever seen the ones where the divers are wearing motorcycle type helmets with a light built into the front and an antenna sticking out of the top and they are talking to each other, that was all dubbed in after. There were no communications built into the helmet and the antenna was just there for show.

Still happens. A relatively recent, quite popular British diving documentary series resorted to similar tactics. They used full-face masks with comms, but the audio quality was sufficiently low to merit them re-record the voice-overs (speaking into tin cans to give the right effect).

 

[rhwestfall]

OP is no doubt asking himself why he ever posted here ....

one must be careful when entering an unknown garden.....

 

[Tom Winters]

I've had out-of-body experiences diving. They're ok, but I never knew whether to buddy-breathe with myself or hand off the octopus. Plus the current dive tables don't really cover alternate universes. The OP probably has some psychic abilities so he already knew exactly whom would be posting what.

 

[mrfixitchapman]

I usually have out-of-money experiences.

DC

 

[CT-Rich]

I think this would be an absolute hoot.... My only concern is how do they find the haunted ships? plenty of tragedies, but have they already cast the clarviouant diver? I have been watching Bering Sea Gold, they have the hot opera singer, the screw-up the the struggling dad, you the young turk and the crotchety old guy.

What characters do you need on a team of ghost chasing divers? The pragmatic mother hen, whgo keeps the team focused on the bottom line... The visionary leader (with a napolean complex) who sees ghost busting old wrecks as one of the most incontrovertable ways to determine whether ghosts exist... the tech guys who keep the gear running and the tech guy that makes sure the electronic ghost detectors, cameras and recorders all work despite the shoe string budget.... the dive safety officer who is incharge of making sure everyone come up in one piece.... and the f***-up green horn who is threatened with dismissal if he screws up again (costing valuable time, because that is the most prescious commodity... And finally the resident sceptic, who's job it is to cast a critical eye on evidence and keep the process honest....

Of course some of these rolls could be combined.... techy as green horn, hot girl mixed in there somewhere....

I imagine that since they have done show on shipwreck mysteries, gold mining, diamond mining, gold mining under ice, there must be a diving activity that would lend itself to reality TV. Perceived risk and conflict without the insurance concerns.... Anyone have ideas?

 

[tech_diver]

Oh! Don't forget nicknames! Sparky, Tex, Worm, Momma Diesel and the lovable Squirtly!

The bummer is that there are colorful characters finding, doing and exploring incredible things in the underwater world all the time but it just doesn't always translate into an action packed, dramatic TV show. Usually, if I'm on a dive trip where there is action and drama, it means something has gone wrong and not a good thing. If I see the deck hand and his father-in-law, the boat captain, brawling on TV, it's one thing but not on the bridge of the boat I'm actually on. A possible source for drama in a reality show might be following some dive rescue group in a sunny local but even then you're competeing with 'Baywatch'.

There have been dive operations approached by TV production companies but then later passed over due to lack of sharks and danger.

I think paranormal, haunted shipwrecks could be done in a documentary style with a scientific approach that would still be compelling (scary, sexy) enough to hold a reality TV type viewer. There can be wonder and mystery in a shipwreck even when they find there are no ghosts.

For drama and excitement, there are a number of fiction writers on SB who use their experiences with colorful characters in diving to create books that could be developed into TV and movie projects.

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[DandyDon]

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[tech_diver]

I wonder if the people of New Jersey see the reality show 'Jersey Shore' the same way SBers look at reality TV dive shows?

 

[Diver0001]

I can't believe any of you don't feel stuff on wrecks.

I'll admit to me the whole concept of people calling themselves "paranormal" makes me laugh. Most people who would declare themselves as "paranormals" come across to me as attention seeking snake-oil salesmen who try to profit from people's naivety. Real paranormals you seldom hear from or about.

That said. I'm no stranger to experiencing things that weirded me out. You might call them ghosts but maybe that's just because I don't know that it was. I seriously believe in the paranormal and I don't discount the idea that some people can "plug in"... I've never seen anything on a wreck that makes me believe for a second that ghosts hang out at the scene of the accident though.

R..