Its been a long time coming but Steve has finally completed his marine videography course and internship program. After a time of absence and working as a divemaster he returned to complete the internship program. It was if he had never left and picked up where he left off. Last night at the Crystal Dive Resort Bar he played his final movie from the Open Water training dives earlier in the day. The showing was a great success with a 100% on sales. This has given Steve a great start in the underwater videography business. He is now taking his skills to Greece where he is opening up his own video company. We wish him the best of luck in all he does.
New videography trainee Jimmy was out with video trainer Dan & internship trainee Steve for two training dives to Twin Peaks. Steve is coming to the end of the internship program and is moving to Greece to start videography for one of the dive schools. Jim will be around for another 4 weeks undertaking the pro video course & internship.
Underwater Videographer films Turtle @ Green Rock, Koh Tao
Whilst out gathering stock footage videographer Justine managed to have 20 minutes with a Hawksbill Turtle. This was the first time she has been lucky enough to film the amazing animal. She has produced a short movie for all our viewers to enjoy. To see the full movie visit our Youtube Channel by clicking here.
The DDP crew where lucky enough to get to double dive the world famous chumphon pinnacle.We stayed the majority of the dive about 15-20 metres off the north end at 20-24 metres.
Aswell at the amazing bullsharks we were lucky enough to dive with another whales shark.
Also Jace filmed an unfortunate grouper who looks like he was the victim of a close encounter with one of the bulls. On the footage you can see the bite marks ( one side the punture wounds and the other side the cut wounds ).
Underwater Videographer Trainer Dan was out yesterday with ex Video course trainee Blaise from Australia, they were collecting footage in HD 1080i and SD for our ever growing database.
Blaise is studying marine biology at The New South Wales University in Sydney and was collecting footage of the Bullsharks & other marine life that will be useful in his studies.
We have posted a short video of some of the marine life that was filmed at Chumphon Pinnacle & Twin Peak on Koh Tao.
Mike is completing the final stages of his pro video course before heading back to Chicago for a week then returning to Crystal to undertake an IDC program. After this he plans to start the videography internship program. He has his showreel to complete and film a student movie. Already shooting some great footage including a some time lapse work and macro filming.
Underwater Videography trainee Justine getting in close with a triggerfish
Latest video student Justine is completing an intensive videography course with DDP and should be complete in the next week. She is shadowing the videography crew at the moment and will be making her first student video shortly.
Also Mike is also nearly complete. He aired his first video last night at the Crystal Dive bar. He will be undertaking our internship program on his return from the states.
Koh Tao underwater video documentary aired at Crystal Dive ...more showings soon
Last night Iain completed his videography training with DDP when he showed his documentary that focused on the coral reefs around koh tao. The 30 minute documentary narrated by voice over professional Mike from the USA kept the audience captivated as he explained the differences between the coral, battles that occur amongst the corals and defence mechanisms of a variety of the reefs corals. Also he showed the other marine life in the dive sites from around Koh Tao adding some inspiring background sounds effects.
We aim to show the documentary again at a new location for our videos - Dirty Nellies.
Latest course training dives for underwater video student
We were out with Mike today as he completed dives 5 & 6 of his 26 dive training program. We went to twin peaks and the junk yard (one od koh tao's artificial reefs) he was practicing body positioning, static and motion filming techniques. He is looking at the professional course where he will be filming divers/marine life for souvenirs style DVD's - he will get to choose this at around dive 12 & 13. Until this time he has plenty of time learning all the other modules on our extensive underwater videography course.
Professional Film-maker Tobias finishes the DDP documentary video course today with dives at White Rock & Twin Peaks. He was shooting in HD 1080i using manual focus& manual white balance on a Sony HC-3. Due to time restrictions he will be showing his show reel of his course over Youtube. When it goes live we will post a link.
Also out today was Underwater video trainee Mike from the USA, he completed training dives 1 & 2 ; focusing on body positioning and getting a feel for the camera he will be out tomorrow practicing static filming techniques.
underwater videographer tobias during his last training dive on ko tao - thailand
new video student Mike during his first two dives.
Underwater Videography Course Training Dives
Professional filmmaker Tobias (Sweden) is showing he has talent underwater as well as on land. Having only completed 8 of his 26 training dives with the video camera he has a full understanding of what is needed to become a marine videographer. Tobias has his own film company in Sweden and wants to take his work underwater as well as topside. He is only here for a couple of weeks but with him diving everyday and his pro editing skills we should comfortable complete the course in the allotted time
underwater videography trainee filming at tanote bay - thailand
New intensive documentary course begins
With no time to loose our latest videography trainee Tobias has started his underwater video training this afternoon. He will first be learning buoyancy control with a housing then moving onto static positioning techniques. He has only a limited time of two weeks to complete the course so will sometimes be diving four times a day to make sure he covers the whole 26 dive training program.
Also Iain (right) is up to dives 22 & 23 and is capturing some excellent marine life sequences. He will be moving onto the narration/sound effects module very soon.
Training Dives at White Rock - Koh Tao, Thailand
Whilst training our latest student Iain this morning, we took the opportunity to grab some spectacular shots of him filming the barracudas at White Rock. Iain, a coral expert and passionate aquarist is thoroughly enjoying his time on Koh Tao while progressing nicely on his customised documentary course. All of us at DDP are appreciative of his knowledge, especially Latin !!
Whilst out on training dives 13 & 14 Iain filmed this box jellyfish at White Rock, the float measuring just 2cms, these fascinating jellies have a square-shaped float with tentacles streaming from the corners of the bell. Like all box jellies they can sting using nematocysts, tiny stinging cells that line the other surface of the animal. When an animal touches the box jellyfish, the nematocysts fire, puncture the victim and eject venom. The venom paralyzes and kills the box jelly’s prey, which are usually invertebrates. There are 28 known species,only three can be fatal to humans - These live in the Gulf of Mexico, Japan and Australia.
Anya finished her Pro Video Course yesterday in style by airing her showreel at the Crystal Dive Bar. Her movie went down a treat to the viewers. by the end of her course Anya showed great potential as a marine videographer and is heading of to Australia where she will be seeking work in her newly found skills.
Anya receiving her certification & showreel from video trainer Dan
DDP crew & trainee's (from left - Stuart, Jace, Jon, Dan, Anya,Iain & Tony)
Video student Iain was out in the afternoon with Jace diving at two video training dive sites Twins & pottery. He his now learning the variety of body positioning techniques that his will have to master during the course. These include kneeling, fin pivot, and hover. The weather is defiantly improving and the visibility is clearing so a perfect time for anyone interested in the pro course to contact us.
Anya has finished her video course and will be playing her showreel at Crystal in the next couple of days after a very successful training program.
Documentary focused video course - module one
DDP has begun the first module of another video course geared towards documentary film making. Video trainee Iain (uk) is a coral specialist and as such wants to focus on marine life including this subject matter. As DDP offer a variety of training programs this was the course best suited his needs. During the documentary course he will however have an opportunity to film all subjects from fish to coral to divers. This will give him all the skills he needs to become a marine videographer in which ever field he chooses. We are also starting another course on Sunday with Sarah (Aus) and like all trainees half way through the course (dives 12-13) she can decide which route she wishes to take.
Awesome Indian Walkman battle captured in (HD1080i) hi-definition.
Marine Videography trainer Jace was out filming a stock footage dive yesterday with the final dive at a local site named Pottery Pinnacles. He happened to see 2 Indian Walkman (scorpaenidae family) fighting with each other out in the open. These venomous fish are normally very hard to spot as they bury themselves in the sand. He settled down to record the outcome of the battle in HD1080i. After a few minutes he noticed a third Walkman buried in the sand under the 2 exposed fish (look closely at the picture opposite). This fish was much larger than the others and was obviously a female. It appears the 2 males were well aware of her presence and were fighting for her attention. He recorded some 25 minutes of amazing never seen before wildlife behavior with all 3 fish exposed and the 2 males continously vying for her attention. We are currently working on a sequence to express the ferocity of the battle, we look forward to seeing this on our new youtube channel. .To see more stills of this encounter please click on the link below.
