Tag Archives: production

Filming on Water

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Safety.

It is the first word here as it should be first before putting any camera in a boat.  Depending on your project – movie, commercial, motion or stills – the list of things required is similar yet different if you want to pull off a great safe production while floating on water.

Here are a few tips about filming and photography on and around WATER:

  • Walk through a safety check list with the boat owner(s) / operator(s) from ample life-jackets to current paperwork.  Licensing to State and local registration.
  • Know the local waters.  From water depths to tide tables to rocks in lakes and trees in rivers.
  • If you are shooting on a beach, keep an eye on the possibility of erosion.  I once scouted a beach that was a viable option.  Three days before the shoot, it disappeared with a high tide.
  • The smaller the boat the tighter your personal space will be.  You might be standing in one place for hours.
  • Choose extra wide shooting platforms as your camera boat, like a pontoon or even a barge.  In markets where they shoot a lot on water, there are camera boats with great rigs.
  • Even if you’re shooting one boat, you’ll need at least one additional.  Think about boat to boat photography and a place for the client, crew, extra gear, and / or back-to-shore runs.  It could be kayaks for everybody or a houseboat.
  • If your boats are big, confirm bridge clearances and canal access – before you rent them.
  • Your best case scenario is to have a marine savvy crew.  Some crew near water own a boat.  Grips near water carry wet suits and aren’t afraid to jump in – literally.
  • Have things to keep you and the gear DRY like plastic bags, tarps, rain gear, and boxes THAT FLOAT.
  • Boats should have protection from sun and weather.  Especially if you’re on the water all day.
  • Have fun.   And be SAFE – I can’t say it enough.

Photos and words COPYRIGHT Jamie Vesay 2012  ANY USE requires permission.

Production Nirvana

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Pause and reflect on that one shoot. You know the one.

It is a feeling – when a project’s subject matter or location or fellow crew or all of the above meet - and production joy happens.

That shoot that you find yourself working on or walking away from and feeling – THIS is why I do what I do.  Things clicked.  Weather was optimum.  The light was awesome.  Shots were magical.  The vibe was simply perfect.  If you haven’t experienced it, you must do so to understand.  If you have – you know.

Production nirvana.

On a few of mine, the location was the obvious embrace.  Natural locations from coastal towns to annual harvests to national parks.  Special places that instantly warm you prior to frame one.  People do it to me too.

I have met centurions for a project and wept.  I experienced double nirvana on the same project when we returned to film them.  I experienced young kids with troubled beginnings that were rescued by forces greater than us all.  The project was for a cause.  It too made me cry.  A good cleansing cry.   When I work with top-shelf professionals, from the crafts to on-camera talent, and the collaboration turns out to be a wonderful overall fit – it overwhelms me and stirs me to career pause.  Nirvana.

I relish that I’ve been paid to: watch sunrises and sunsets, scout beaches, go fishing, interview unique characters, play golf, travel, eat new foods, and light fireworks.  We all have a list of notes we can compare.  Do so.  Never feel like you have done enough – yet.

I simply wish this feeling for you all.  When you feel it once you will wish it too.  Promise.

One wonders, out of all the projects there will ever be, why can’t they all be like this?

For more tangible ways how production nirvana can happen, visit The Location Guide and read how earning trust from Location Owners causes good things to happen.

Content is COPYRIGHT Jamie Vesay    USE of materials requires permission.