NASE Shoot

A few years ago when I started my open water dive training up in Massachusetts, we still used the "old school" classroom/book approach. I still remember the excitement of getting the PADI book and reading every word before class, which was held in the back garage of Vineyard Scuba. Surrounded by dive gear and in the company of a few other people, the small garage witha little whiteboard is perhaps where it all began for me - but a new wave in diver education is starting. The next summer when I returned to the Vineyard, I decided to pursue my rescue diver training and this time the classroom portion was online. The training consisted of slideshows with videos and pictures, and it was great because I didn't have to buy books (and as a result didn't waste paper) and could complete the lessons on my own time and in the comfort of my own home. Not even in my craziest dreams did I think I'd ever be in a diver training video...

But this past May, about two years later, I found myself at a pool in Ocala with David, cameraman Bill Mills, photographer Gene Page, super cave diver Eric Hutcheson, NASE director Scott Evans, and fellow diver Lance. We met at a pool in Ocala and dragged tanks, cameras, and gear into the pool area, greeted at the same time by the practically-summer Florida sun and scorching temperatures. But this (and the fact that literally nobody remembered sunscreen...oops) didn't stop us from having a productive and successful day - and a perfect on-the-fly introduction to being on-camera.

Pool Day 1

On the first day of the shoot, we were tasked with getting the topside and underwater footage for confined water training. Part of the video was for an instructor training course while the rest was basic skills for beginning open water students.

Step 1: Gear setup. Bill films and Gene shoots as Lance sets up gear and Eric and I hold up reflectors. 

Before Lance showed the regulators, mask, fins, and pressure gauge, I was responsible for attaching the regs and BC to the tank. Seemingly simple task, right? Normally, I can basically do it with my eyes closed, but not for the camera... Here are a few things I learned: go slowly and be explicit with your movements and actions, take direction from the director and cameraman but do not respond with ok or a nod... just do it, don't look directly at the camera, don't block what your doing from the camera with your body or hands, and it usually takes multiple takes (and different angles/shots) to finish one skill. But with the help of the professional and very patient team, figuring these things out on the fly wasn't bad and actually turned out to be a lot of fun :)

David and Bill shooting some topside gear setup.

Opposite direction of the photo of David and Bill above... it was getting veryy warm at this point in the day... we were ready to jump in the pool!

Step 2: Superman/muscle pose while Scott arranges the gear. (I think the heat was getting to our heads). 

 Step 3: In-water skills. In the afternoon, we all hopped in the pool to shoot the underwater skills. Some shots were filmed as a group to reflect a class setting while others were camera-inches-from-your-face close. I demonstrated skills such as mask flooding, clearing, and removal, regulator removal, etc. It was a great review for me - after a while of diving (or doing anything for that matter), I think everyone adapts each skill or performs some sort of variation while actually swimming in the water. It was also interesting to learn how NASE wants the skills to be demonstrated for their new divers.

Pool Day 2

A few weeks later, we had another day at the pool to finish up some shots we didn't complete on Day 1, but this time it wasn't as large of a production. This time, it was just David, Scott, Gene, and I who met for a long morning in the water. With David behind the video camera, Gene behind the still camera, and Scott and I as the divers, we shot stride and seated entries then moved quickly to underwater shots of BC removal, kicking, and ascents, just to name a few.

BC removal at the bottom of the pool.

Remember: don't look directly at the camera! Such a blast working with Gene... it was pretty cool to get a chance to work with him again. He does all of the behind-the-scenes photography for The Walking Dead and has photographed many celebrities such as John Travolta, Colin Farrell, Drew Barrymore, and Jack Black!

Open Water Day 1 - Weeki Wachee

Most recently, the day before my birthday on October 10, we took an exciting trip to Weeki Wachee for the open-water portion of the dive video. Scott, David, and I returned, this time with the addition of Jim Killion as videographer and a much-recovered Harry as the producer. Thanks to Harry, I had been in the water at Ginnie a few days before the shoot to practice the skills and make sure I was demonstrating them in a NASE-like fashion... and to make the process go more smoothly once we were on site at Weeki Wachee for the day. Plus we had limited time to be in the water because we had to plan around the underwater mermaid shows that take place in the basin throughout the day.

While it wasn't  the objective of the day, I did manage to snap a 1/2 and 1/2 picture of the main basin with Harry's camera. The building with the sloping roof to the right is where the auditorium is located - people can sit in the comfortable room and look out the windows in front of them into the spring at the underwater stage and the mermaids!

The first time we were clear to be in the water was 11am, so after a 2 hour drive, unloading and trekking all of the gear over to the basin (and marveling at the free-roaming peacocks at the park), we had a pre-dive briefing and hopped in the water for our first (of three) dives. 

One of NASE's major philosophies is that sharing air does not need to occur only in out-of-air scenarios. Here, Scott and I demonstrate a convenient position for sharing air and swimming comfortably in a low-air situation - this skill could be used to get a low-air diver closer to the boat so they are safely able to ascend and do a safety stop near the boat without the help of a buddy.  

Another thing that sets NASE apart from other training organizations is that they do not believe buoyancy control is a skill - they more see it as a necessity. They believe that divers should naturally hover while swimming and when they stop swimming, and they do not teach any skills kneeling on a platform underwater. This photo, as well as the other two in this post with divers in them, are stills taken from Jim's amazing video - he shoots with the Red Epic camera, which shoots in 5k (higher resolution than HD!!).

Before our last dive, we took a trip over to the underwater room and watched a bit of the mermaid show. It's pretty amazing to be sitting in a room looking out at eye level with the mermaids in the middle of the basin.

Behind the scenes: this is how the mermaids enter the basin from their changing room... it is a 60' swim through this secret entrance... you never see them dive in during the show!

The filming went smoothly and we got all of the shots on the list that we needed that day. It was also fun to meet Allen, who is responsible for training all of the mermaids at Weeki Wachee. He had some cool stories and I also peppered him with questions about training and what it takes to be a mermaid. This particular shot is a still taken from video footage during the last dive. Jim was filming from the underwater stage as I floated above, ready to demonstrate how to breathe off a free-flowing regulator.

Here is a little video Harry made about our day at Weeki Wachee: http://scubanase.com/news/video.html 
Can't wait to see how the training videos turn out... they're promoting NASE's new Learn Green, Dive Blue philosophy by not printing any books (http://www.diveindustry.net/diving-news/70-diving-news/253-nase-think-green-dive-blue).
:)