‘Descending uncovers underwater landscape’ interview with crew

Published on Friday, September 9th, 2011, under Media

Playback –
17 February 2012 –
by Danielle Ng See Quan –

Playback talks to Scott Wilson and Ellis Emmett about the challenges of shooting underwater, and using the “every day man” approach.

Outdoor Life Network’s (OLN) ‘Descending’ TV ocean diving show

Echo Bay Media’s Scott Wilson and Andre Dupuis had seen the big-budget series with experienced divers being towed by manta rays, or scraping the ocean’s bottom in submarines.

Underwater challenges like that are certainly not for inexperienced divers.

And that’s exactly what Wilson and Dupuis were before they set out to shoot their 13-episode series with Kiwi co-host Ellis Emmett (OLN’s ‘Don’t Forget Your Passport’), with an eye to exploring the world below the surface by travelling to global diving destinations.

So, adopting the same approach they took with ‘Departures’, their earlier adventure travel series on OLN, Wilson and Dupuis took an “every day man” approach to ocean diving and exploration.

“Based on the feedback [for ‘Departures’], what people liked about it was the fact that it was a very approachable take on travel, and so we wanted to do the same sort of thing [with ‘Descending’],” Wilson tells Playback Daily.

Taking a DIY approach to diving, Dupuis, Wilson and Emmett appear on screen as three ordinary guys learning about the world’s bodies of water, and deciding to go diving to explore them.

They’re learning on the job, increasing their training as the series progresses, in a bid to dive further down and explore yet another underwater tier.

Being neither professional or elite divers when they started work on ‘Descending’, the trio had seen big-budget BBC series with the Richard Attenborough voiceover, or the Nat Geo specials with Dr. Ballard, and James Cameron going to the ocean’s bottom in a million dollar submarine.

“We felt there was a gap to be bridged there with the everyday person,” Wilson explains.

With ‘Descending’, which premieres Feb. 19 on OLN, camera work became a challenge as they sought dramatic footage while wearing masks and extra diving equipment as much as 140 feet underwater.

The trio also had to cram years of diving experience into a single year.

After all, Dupuis and Wilson had less than 100 dives apiece – in diving terms, a very limited amount experience. Emmett, having dived since he was 16, says even he felt like a relative newbie, particularly when entering cold waters.

Wilson says they made the decision early on to shoot using a Red One camera, which he called a “game-changer.” Shooting on red let them maintain the visual aesthetic they established with ‘Departures’. The result is showing viewers true images as they had experienced them underwater, instead of washed out greens and blues.

Equally important was capturing varied dive locations, including Canadian bodies of water, and avoiding a sole focus on warm, sunny coral reefs.

‘Descending’ will feature one episode covering the coastline of Vancouver Island, and another dedicated to the Great Lakes.

As with ‘Departures’, their demo tape used to pitch ‘Descending’ to OLN was again self-funded.

Emmett says ‘Descending’ aims to spark viewer interest with what they see and discover on-screen, and to urge people into action.

“We’re better off to create interest, and leave people with questions to go answer for themselves,” adds Wilson.