58 minutes agoAuthor: Kiran Jain and Abhinav Tripathi
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Shooting in water costs three times more money, time and energy than shooting on land. Shooting underwater requires special techniques. Here the importance of Director of Photography (DOP) increases a lot. How to shoot underwater depends on them.
Apart from this, actors also have to make special preparations. They are first taught swimming. Special attention is given to diet.
Before shooting underwater, special care is taken about safety. Rescue divers are present on the set, so that if someone drowns, he can be saved.
Many Hollywood and Bollywood films have been shot underwater. How these films are made and what are the challenges, we will talk about this in the new episode of Reel to Real. For this, we talked to stunt artist Sanobar Pardiwala, underwater cinematographer Priya Seth and actress Madhurima Tuli.
Those whose lungs are not strong have difficulty in underwater shooting. During the shoot at the real location, only 4 to 5 people are able to go underwater. It consists of two cameramen, a rescue diver and artist. Actors who do not have strong lungs may face difficulty in shooting underwater. This is because shooting in water causes fatigue more quickly than shooting on land. Also, it is very important for actors to know swimming. Without this they cannot shoot underwater.
Underwater camera handling is the most challenging task To prevent water from getting inside the camera, it is covered with a special kind of glass. This is a water proof glass. Here the role of cinematographer increases a lot.
Cinematographer Priya Seth said, 'We can easily handle the camera on land, but shooting it in water is a very challenging task. It is very important for an underwater cinematographer to have knowledge of physics. What will be the weight of the camera inside water? How will it be moved? A cinematographer should know all these things like how to guide the actors. Apart from this, actors should also understand their job. Many times their preparation is not complete, due to which the entire shoot gets spoiled.
Stunt artists are also called for underwater shoots Just as actors' body doubles are often called for fight or dangerous action sequences, similarly stunt artists are sometimes called for underwater shooting. These stunt artists are excellent swimmers, who film action sequences even in the deepest water.
Two stunt artists died due to lack of swimming skills Stunt artist Sanobar said, 'While doing underwater stunts, the mind should be calm and breathing should be controlled. The underwater sequence should be done by a stunt artist who is a certified swimmer. If this does not happen, there can be a big danger.
Sanobar said that once during the shooting of a South film, two stunt artists had died. Actually, both of them had to jump into the pond from the helicopter. They jumped down, but they did not know how to swim properly. Unfortunately both of them died.
It is not easy to shoot at sea, so most of the sets are built in studios. It is not easy to shoot in the sea. There is always a fear of cyclone and storm. Besides, there is also the issue of safety of dangerous fishes and actors inside the water. Apart from this, there are many problems in shooting underwater including camera handling.
For this reason, the makers of films which are completely water centric find it better to shoot them in studios.
Artificial storms and cyclones can also be shown inside the studio There is an underwater film studio in Belgium. The pool inside it is 10 meters deep. Here, with the help of electricity, waves up to one meter high can be raised. Artificial rain can also be made here. Solar panels and a heat pump are used to keep the pool water warm.
Here, storm and cyclone scenes can also be shown through special effects. Apart from this, the color of water can also be changed. The person who prepared it, Wim Michels, is himself a diver and cinematographer.
This is not a sea but an underwater film studio located in Belgium.
Why the need to build an underwater film studio? There is a special reason behind building an underwater film studio. In fact, Wim Michels along with his crew members used to go near the sea for many days and wait for the waves to rise. This caused a lot of delay in the shooting of the film. Moreover, it was also dangerous for the actors to shoot at actual locations, keeping these things in mind he built an underwater film studio. When Akshay Kumar got injured while shooting underwater, he was afraid that he would be swallowed by the fishes. The 2009 Hindi film Blue was a completely water centric film. Most of the shooting of the film was done underwater. The lead actor of this film, Akshay Kumar was also injured during a scene.
Had to stay in the sea for 12-12 hours during the shooting of the film- Madhurima The 2013 film Warning was shot underwater. Actress Madhurima Tuli has worked in this film. Regarding the experience of working in the film, Madhurima said, 'This type of film was made for the first time in India. Therefore a lot of hard work had to be done. We had swimming training for 1-2 weeks, because many actors did not know swimming.
I had to do underwater dive in the film, for which I had already been trained. We used to stay in water for 3-4 hours during training, because during shooting we had to stay in the sea for 12-12 hours. Before the shooting started, the scuba diver had thoroughly examined the entire sea for safety.
We met for 40 days to shoot this film. Before going for the shoot, we had to take complete stock of the weather. Sometimes we even got bitten by fishes while shooting. The entire body got tan when direct sunlight fell on it.
Madhurima Tuli has worked in many TV serials and films. Apart from 'Warning', he was seen in Akshay Kumar's film Baby.
Jellyfish stung during shooting, fear of shark remained Madhurima further said, 'I was feeling very scared while shooting this film. My co-actor and I had to shoot a shot in the middle of the ocean. Even though a scuba diver was there for our safety, there was still a fear in our mind that what would happen if a shark came? What will happen if bitten by a snake?
I was also stung by a jellyfish. Because of this, I had rashes all over my leg. I was also feeling very jealous. Because of this I was not able to shoot that day.
Madhurima told that while shooting underwater one should take special care of these things-
- Attention should be paid to safety measures
- Must know swimming
- Sun cream should be used more
Madhurima also told that when underwater shooting is done, special attention has to be paid to food. The amount of protein in food should be high. If there is protein deficiency then actors face a lot of difficulty in shooting.