During my time in Bristol, I had the opportunity to dive deeper into underwater film-making and photography – how could I not, while spending time in the home of BBC Blue Planet? So, what could possibly be more amazing than learning about the specialist equipment required for a documentary of that scale? To do so from the brilliant minds that developed it of course!
The wonderful Dave Blackham and Felicity Flashan from Esprit Film kindly invited me to their headquarters – for a placement with them as an underwater camera technician in training. Esprit Film have been working to support the film and television industry for decades working with renowned productions lead by the BBC and NatGeo, to Silverback, Plimsoll all the way to Discovery. Entering the unassuming Esprit buildings felt like stepping into a new world. Spread across multiple equipment rooms there were cameras, domeports, lighting rigs and pelicases as far as the eye could see. The camera equipment Dave and his team provide to big productions like BBC Blue Planet are some of the most advanced available. Where film shoots require equipment that does not exist in the perfect configuration for the task at hand, Dave simply builds it himself, coming up with new systems for everything from stills, 2D, 3D and 360 VR cinematography to audio.
I got to see the amazing and creative solutions David and his team have developed for underwater shoots and help in the preparation of equipment for a very exciting new production which, as it turns out, involves another past Our World Underwater EU Scholar! It’s a secret so I cannot tell you more at this point, but what I can tell you is that a very exciting new production will be coming to your screens soon!
Dave also took me through the “Gates STO (Setup/Test/Operate)” course which provides knowledge on the Setup, Test, and Operation (STO) of their professional underwater imaging systems, as well as the use of RED cinema cameras. I cannot wait to put my newly learned skills to use for science communication in the future. I absolutely loved learning about the different test tools and techniques for establishing housing seal integrity – this is very important, as we certainly don’t want the housing to accidentally flood and drown the camera, as well as understanding camera specific considerations for the underwater medium such as color, light, filtration, and more.
Dave was like a human encyclopaedia of camera equipment and shared as much knowledge as I could absorb about underwater optics with me as well, covering everything from the limitations of certain port types to lighting. As part of the course, I also had the opportunity to fully put together a housing for a cinema camera, conduct its seal-check and submerge it. Due to Covid-restrictions we were unable to make it out to sea and to the indoor pools in the area, however Dave – being the problem solver he is – had a very (VERY) big rinse tank that allowed us to complete the course.
The importance and impact of digital film is becoming more and more evident to me throughout my scholarship. As I traveled around the UK – and the world – meeting storytellers, divers, underwater camera operators, producers and many more, it was not only the technical challenge of filming underwater from both a diving and optics perspective, but also the creative solution design that goes hand in hand with it that caught my attention. My time with Dave and the Esprit team hugely expanded my knowledge and understanding of underwater filmmaking; and we just scratched the tip of the iceberg! I now feel familiar with different industry-standard housings, and have been able to peek at Dave’s inexplicably brilliant inventions and work with a range of professional underwater imagery kit. This will help me get even more use out of the kit provided to me by Nauticam on my scholarship journey and beyond.
Thank you so much to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and Rolex for providing me with the opportunity to dive into the world of natural history film-making. Esprit Film, and especially Dave, as well as Felicity, Laura and the visiting team members for allowing me to join you behind the scenes of some of the most exciting film productions and for sharing your camera expertise with me. I cannot wait to put everything I learned from you into practice out in the ocean!
