Different View of The Dark Side of The Moon

We are often asked how many people are involved in shooting the videos we make, how we shoot them and how long each video takes to film.
It is surprising to many people to learn that in all of our videos to date it has just been the two of us and no other divers have been involved in any way.
Most of the videos have been completed in just a few dives for example “Journey to the Dark Side of the Moon” took 2 dives.
We both know the caves we shoot in extremely well and storyboard what we want to shoot before we dive so we are very efficient in what we do.
Most of the time making the video is spent in editing the raw footage and in post production.
As to how we shoot what we do, this video is a compilation of raw uncut shots that we filmed during the making of “Journey to the Dark Side of the Moon”
Many of the shots in our final videos are taken from much longer sequences like these and they illustrate the skill and awareness required to get these shots.
Not just the diving / filming skills and cave awareness but also a close understanding between Steve and I about relative positioning, shot sequence and framing all on the fly in real time.
As nearly everywhere in life communication is the key so as well underwater and especially while filming.
It needs a lot of practice to find the right timing between model diver and videographer to get the shots we want and an almost intuitive sense of what we are each going to do at any moment.

Whenever we film we always follow a few simple rules listed in order of importance:
1. Diver safety. This is of paramount importance and something that we pay particular attention too as filming can drastically reduce overall awareness. Knowing the cave where we shoot really well makes for better videos and safer dives.
2. Conservation and safety of the cave. We always make sure our skills are matched to the cave we are diving and the shots we are trying to get without causing any negative impact on the cave itself. This is also one of the reasons we do not usually name the cave or section where we shoot so as not to disproportionately increase diver traffic and impact in specific areas.
3. Last on our list is getting the shot. We will only try that if we can satisfying the 2 rules above or we will go away and practice more until we get better.

One other thing that really makes a difference is always seeking to improve. We believe that our videos have indeed got better over time but we still see a lot more room for improvement and have plenty of ideas for new things we want to try out and experiment with.
We have a lot of fun making these videos and sharing them with other divers and we hope you are enjoying our videos and that you are looking forward as we do for some more…
Cheers
HP