How do they film someone submerged in water for prolonged periods of time and the character does not drown (as in the actor themselves)?

How do they film someone submerged in water for prolonged periods of time and the character does not drown (as in the actor themselves)? - Bunch of Camera Film Underwater

In some movies, you see that there is a character who is sinking towards the bottom of the ocean or pool or whatever, they are there for prolonged periods of time with their mouths open and they are under for quite some time (longer than 3 minutes).

Though I can't remember the name of the movie that I saw it from (as that doesn't matter) I have the scene clear in my head (a woman is hovering in an ocean with her mouth wide open and they film her being there for quite some time with relaxing music being played and a close up scene to her body from the side of her body.).

How do they film this without the character (actor) actually drowning?



Best Answer

  1. Slow motion to make the scene longer.

  2. Each time the camera changes angle there is a new shot. So the whole scene might have been shot in for example 3 shots of 1 minute each and all these shots were edited together with some clever angle change.




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How do they film someone submerged in water for prolonged periods of time and the character does not drown (as in the actor themselves)? - Hispanic couple looking at photos on analog camera near river
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How did they film the underwater scenes?

Dry for wet is a film technique in which smoke, colored filters, and/or lighting effects are used to simulate a character being underwater while filming on a dry stage. Fans and slow motion can be used to make hair or clothing appear to float in the current.

How do they film actors under water?

Mostly with underwater cameras and divers mixed with Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). This particular scene looks to be filmed completely underwater with a shark model. Nowadays they would simply film the water surface and add a CG shark later. CG effects grow better and they just make complete scene with CG.

How do actors stay underwater so long?

Cast members wore weights around their waists during filming to keep them submerged underwater. Cameron filmed a majority of \u201cAvatar 2\u201d in giant water takes, and the longer the cast could hold their breath without returning to the surface for oxygen meant less interruptions in filming.

Did they film underwater underwater?

Popular on Variety. Shooting \u201cUnderwater\u201d was no easy feat for Kristen Stewart. Stewart and her co-stars spent the majority of their time filming the sci-fi flick in the water wearing heavy 100 lb. scuba suits \u2014 a challenge which none of them were prepared for.



The Science of Water Pressure | History




More answers regarding how do they film someone submerged in water for prolonged periods of time and the character does not drown (as in the actor themselves)?

Answer 2

Actors have in the past stated that they were able to perform without any breathing apparatus, but most of this is probably hyperbolic and in most cases can be attributed to clever editing.

In filming the extended underwater sequence of Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise has claimed he held his breath for up to 5 minutes.

Cruise, who reportedly trained to hold his breath for six and a half minutes underwater in Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, shared the process of filming the extreme stunt. “You get rid of the regulator, get rid of the bubbles, get on the side and we wanted to do it one shot, so they were very, very long shots,” said Cruise. “I’d have to hold it consistently, you know safely, up to four minutes almost for every take.”

Despite hours of training and even learning to slow his heart rate down, Cruise explained performing the actual stunt was “not pleasant.” “I trained for a long time to the point that when I finished the sequence, there’d be times I’d be sitting there talking in meetings and I wouldn’t breathe,” he said. “I realized I am not breathing and I had to turn my autonomic system back on to breathe again.”

However, even if this is true it should absolutely be treated as the exception, and most film makers will simply be creative in how they choose to film and how they edit. Different film makers will use different techniques, which are in turn dependent on variables.

Almost all underwater shots are done in 'a tank', as opposed to out in actual open water. Not only is this less cost prohibitive, but it also allows the film maker control over consistency of conditons: lighting chief among them. This is often also the case when shooting with water at all, infact.

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Tanks are typically useful for creating the deception of the actor being deeper underwater than they actually are, but when an actor needs to go deeper and cannot surface for air, a diving team is typically used.

The following scenes are from the production diary of Atonement. The shot below of Keira Knightley sees her submerged only a few feet underwater, but in order for her not to constantly have to reset her position she was given a diving team (just out of shot, to the left):

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In this shot, she is being provided with oxygen between takes. It is much easier for the diving time to get out of frame than for Keira to surface, gulp air, dive and get back in position for another shot.

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When using tanks, greenscreens/bluescreens and Chroma Key are used to modify the background in post production.

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Images: Soloman Soh, Budgeron Bach, Jeremy Bishop, Sergey Torbik