Professions in Scuba Diving
Scuba diving has gained popularity in India over the years, to facilitate this growth there has been an increase in Scuba Diving centres. This gain in popularity has created many career opportunities in niche segments where being a scuba diver is a pre-requisite for the role. The first thought that comes to mind is a scuba diving instructor but there are other opportunities with scuba like, underwater photography, cinematography, archeology, oceanography, commercial diving, aquarium maintenence, search & rescue, etc.
PRO TALKS
Priya Seth & Anees Adenwala
Underwater videos, we all make them & want to get better. Some of us would like to make a living out of it. Quest Adventure Sports Academy aims to create awareness about the various career opportunities associated with Scuba Diving in India, through a series of conversations with professionals in the scuba diving industry. We spent an evening with Anees Adenwala and Priya Seth about how scuba diving is now becoming a part of the film industry.
Priya Seth is a celebrated cinematographer with almost two decades of experience in Indian films. After studying a short course in filmmaking at New York University, Priya returned to Mumbai, where she assisted on films like Deepa Mehta’s Earth and Jane Campion’s Holy Smoke.In 2003, she helmed her first feature as Director of Photography -- the much acclaimed indie Barah Aana. Her recent projects include Bollywood drama-thriller Airlift and comedy-drama film Chef in 2017, as DOP. Priya has shot thousands of commercials and she is the leading underwater cinematographer in India for Bollywood movies and commercials. Priya also helps run Ellora Studios, a highly successful, 4.5 acre multi set studio where many TV shows, films and ads are shot.
Anees Adenwala, a veteran of the oceans, is a CMAS 2* Instructor and a PADI OWSI with over 24 years of experience in diving. He is one of the very first SCUBA Diving Instructors in India. Anees runs two passion projects: Underwater Film Services, a specialised underwater unit to film sequences for Bollywood, television and documentaries and Orca Dive Club, an end-to-end PADI 5 star dive center in Mumbai to bring SCUBA diving into the city.
PRO TALK HIGHLIGHTS
Underwater sequences in indian film
The first underwater scene in a movie was in a Kannada film called Ondu Muttina Kathe back in 1987. The actor Rajkumar, plays the role of a fisherman who goes pearl diving and encounters a giant octopus. There is an underwater fight sequence between the actor & the octopus, the hero was victorious.
Fast forward to 2020, lots of movies, Tv shows & commercials have an underwater sequence. To name a few movies with underwater sequences Dhoom, Ok Jaanu, Theri, Blue, Zindagi na mile dobara, etc.
The market for underwater cinematography is definitely niche & not developed as well. Specialisations in cinematography are just being recognised in the film industry. Cinematographers have to learn scuba diving to be able to get those epic sequences. Hence there is potential for scuba divers to take to cinematography as a specialisation as well.
Growth of underwater cinematography in India
Underwater cinematography has definitely come a long way in India. The availability of waterproof equipment & scuba diving lessons has helped boost this niche.
At the moment underwater filming is an art restricted to cinematographers that have scuba diving experience. The experience of at least 50 dives is necessary if you want steady footage & be able to maintain the safety of all the expensive filming equipment. The underwater film crew not only includes a cinematographer but also safety divers, instructors, assistants and gaffers. There is an entire production that helps facilitate an underwater shoot.
Underwater Photography Equipment
Scuba diving equipment is available in India in a variety of dive shops & dive centers. This gear can be rented by experienced divers for a reasonable fee. On the other hand the Underwater Camera to record cinema quality is very expensive there are cheaper options in the market to shoot for online media. Gopro and Olympus have quality cameras that record almost professional videos.
Starting your journey, Underwater cinematography
From what we can summaries there are 3 steps to pursuing your career in underwater filming. Start off by handling a camera on land till you are super comfortable with photography & filming.
Step 1
Learn scuba diving & get lots of diving experience in a variety of conditions. Get at least 50 dives under your belt before you attempt handling expensive filming equipment.
Step 2
Buoyancy is key! You do not want your footage to be shaky & unprofessional. Handling a camera underwater has its challenges & having your buoyancy in check with minimal effort will make it easier to get stable footage.
Step 3
Practice with your camera on land & in the water to get familiar with all the controls. Learn to be intuitive with how the camera behaves underwater at different depth. Remember that light underwater changes with depth & you need to be quick to make adjustments. Get experience with other professionals in the film industry your exposure to real life scenarios will help pave you path to a profession.
The best advise we can give you to become a good underwater cinematographer is “START”.
