Day 2 and 3 were used to film special effects, dramatic scenes and underwater model filming. The special effects scenes were shot multiple times with a locked down camera to allow for post production layering. John Despres from Scene It All Production provided the custom built equipment designed to launch a variety of projectiles through the shots. These included everything from a catapult to throw bricks, to leaf blowers to propel flour and peas. (Special care was taken to use bio degradable materials for projectiles.) For another scene, a pick-up truck was used to yank a 8′X8′ fence section through the frame, to give the illusion it was propelled by the blast.

The last day of shooting was spent in Cedar Lake in Jenison, filming a scale model of the underwater blast-damaged intake. We used the new Kodak Playsport HD video camera for the underwater scenes. This amazing little camera shoots 1080i HD footage and is safe up to 3 meters underwater. Its compact size allowed us to “fly” around the model, with out having to employ and deal with prepping and shooting with a larger HD camera in an underwater housing.

Post production is underway and will take the better part of July. We still have another day of “talking-head” shooting to complete as well. Tentative show delivery date is September 1. We’ll post various segments over the next two months as we complete them. And check back here often for other projects currently in preproduction. We currently have three Spectrum Health projects and an Amway project in the preproduction pipeline.

The first day of shooting of the Water Security project utilized two separate crews: one on the water, and one on land. The water crew was made up of three camera ops, an underwater camera op, special effects coordinator and the director. On land, three camera ops, an assistant director and a make-up artist, rounded out the crew. This first day required the filming a full scale exercise shot in real time, concurrently on land and on the water. The exercise included the involvement of the following agencies: US Coast Guard, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Dept., Kent County Sheriff’s Dept, Grand Haven Twp. Fire Dept, GR Police Department, GR Water Treatment, North Ottawa Community Hospital, Ottawa County Technical Rescue Team, GR Fire Dept., Michigan State Police, FBI, and Dept. of Homeland Security.

After filming the real time exercise, both crews moved into filming b-roll including water special effects and reenactments of various segments of the exercise. The morning started out foggy, with 2-3′ swells on the water. By mid-morning the sun was out, and the big lake had calmed. We have already begun editing the exercise rough cut, but still have two more days of shooting to round out the production. Stay tuned for more updates.