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.