• Showreels
    • Synchronised swimming entertainment showreel
    • Underwater production showreel
  • About us
    • Aquabatix founders
    • American synchronized swimming team
    • Clients
    • Water artists
    • History of synchronised swimming
    • Synchronised swimming facts
  • Event entertainment
    • Event entertainment
    • Pool party entertainment
    • Mermaid entertainment
    • Underwater entertainment
    • Case studies
    • Aquariums
    • Aquabatique
    • Event entertainment FAQ
  • Underwater production
    • Underwater production
    • Underwater Photography
    • Advertising
    • Film
    • TV
    • Music videos
    • Underwater body doubles
    • Production case studies
    • Underwater production FAQ
  • Underwater specialists
  • Images gallery
  • Videos gallery
  • Underwater models
  • Contact
    Aquabatix
    • Aquabatix Privacy and Child Protection Policy
    • Event entertainment and production testimonials
  • Blog
Aquabatix
Aquabatix
  • Reels
    • Synchronised swimming entertainment showreel
    • underwater production showreel
  • About us
    • Aquabatix founders
    • American team
    • clients
    • History of synchronised swimming
    • Synchronised swimming facts
  • event
    entertainment
    • Pool party entertainment
    • Mermaid entertainment
    • Underwater entertainment
    • Aquabatique
    • Case studies
    • Aquariums
    • Live water entertainment FAQ
  • Underwater
    production
    • Underwater Photography
    • Advertising
    • Film
    • TV
    • Music videos
    • Underwater body doubles
    • Production case studies
    • Underwater production FAQ
  • Underwater
    specialists
  • images
    gallery
  • videos
    gallery
  • Underwater
    models
  • contact
    Aquabatix
    • Aquabatix Privacy and Child Protection Policy
    • Event entertainment and production testimonials
  • blog

Brief: Underwater models and choreography to create captivating underwater movement sequences

Aquabatix underwater model in speedo campaign

Aquabatix Execution: More and more productions such as film and advertising are using beautiful shot underwater scenes to captivate their audience with, and to help create this imagery, professional underwater models are often used, such as those from Aquabatix.

Aquabatix underwater model in campaign

Underwater scenes are some of the most difficult to do shoot logistically, with lighting, communication, ability for the actors and models to stay in water for long periods of time and camera adjustments with professional underwater camera people. Filming tanks are often used and several are opening up. Pinewood have long had their U stage, and The Underwater Studio in Basildon their filming tank, but now filming tanks are appearing elsewhere with the inside and exteriors tanks at the Warner Brothers studio in the UK, Under The Water Media have a tank in Croydon and Aquatic Impact have a portable filming tank. Elsewhere big water tanks across Europe such as Nu Boyana in Bulgaria and Malta Film Studios have a lot of Hollywood films using them and of course there are water tanks in some of the larger studios in and around Los Angeles, California, making underwater filming more accessible.

Aquabatix underwater models filming Rocetman underwater sequence at Pinewood U Stage

Those creating the movement, poses and action underwater need to be underwater professionals. Synchronised swimmers, free divers, swimmers and divers all have a great awareness of movement underwater and how to pose. Most of all they are training to stay in water for long periods of time, which helps on a shoot rather than keep resting, and many have great breathold too. The artists are used to being in deep water and know their bearings well under there as well as taking direction easily. Therefore the Director and crew can concentrate on the logistics and have the time to spend on the creativity rather than worry about those in the water being tired, scared, unfamiliar and costing the production a lot more money by holding up filming.

Aquabatix underwater model in Templespa Most Revealing campaign

Several examples of how professional Aquabatix underwater models have helped to create spectacular underwater imagery are:

Rocketman: Filmed at U stage in Pinewood. Six underwater models from Aquabatix were cast to create beautiful and serene underwater movement in a ‘dream’ sequence. They could all dive and jump stylishly into deep water, move upside down, around and interact where needed, then swim down deep to the actor Taron Egerton who was underwater playing Elton John. They had to also pick Taron off the floor and swim up to the surface with him. Flip to the pool scene where the six Aquabatix artists are shown rescuing ‘Elton’ and acting on top of the water. The male and female artists included 5 synchronsied swimmers and one diver, with the choreography by Adam Murray and the Aquabatix artists together. Dan Wooton, The Sun’ said “The underwater sequence during the title song, following Elton’s suicide attempt somehow becomes beautiful, with astounding choreography”.

Ford; Night Swimming Campaign

Ford recently tipped pickup truck advertising on its head, and created a 1.30 short film shot mainly in the water. Using one of Aquabatix’s synchronised swimmers and an Aquabatix free diver, the underwater models moved serenely in the water, creating various movement and shapes filmed in a tank, as well as swimming in a real lake, all looking like it is lit by pick up trucks. The trucks then move in a serene way out of the formation. The piece was filmed over 6 days in Romania with the underwater models working every day either in a tank or cold lake. At no point could they ever tire. Produced by AMV BBDO, they stated they wanted to “make it stand apart from other pick up trucks”.

Aquabatix underwater models in the Ford Ranger night swimming campaign

Intel; Behind The Brains Campaign

When Intel hired ASL Productions for their new ‘Behind The Brains’ campaign to visualise synchronous and asynchronous movement, the creative team at ASL realised it would be perfectly explained by synchronized swimmers with their grace in formations and also as underwater models in individual movement. . Intel are on the verge of making big breakthroughs in neuromorphic and quantum computing and wanted video content to explain and promote these leaps in computing science. The brief was to make this visually captivating and digestible for a mass audience. Here is where the Aquabatix synchronized swimmers in Los Angeles jumped in.

The choreographed synchronised formations, by Aquabatix Los Angeles synchronized swimming choreographer Valerie Williams,  represented a metaphor for traditional computing, each move dictated by the previous action. The individual improvised underwater movement, again developed by Aquabatix’s Los Angeles underwater movement Director Val along with the synchronized swimmers,  represented neuromorphic computing as each move was instinctive and only made based of intuition and the action around them.

Aquabatix synchronised swimmers in the Intel Behind The Brains campaign

 

Templespa; Most Revealing Campaign

Many times an Aquabatix underwater model features not only under the water for a campaign but also in the dry shots as well. This was the case for the Templespa advertising campaign. Templespa wanted a model who could move freely and elegantly in the water to feature in their ‘Most Revealing’ campaign.

Aquabatix underwater model features in Harrods display for Templespa

The Aquabatix model was filmed elegantly moving underwater as well as trying out the beauty product on her face. The stills and video featured also appeared in Harrods on display by the product but also on a digital screen by the elevators. Producer Sam Orams of Kindred Comms said “ We had an amazing shoot, Gen was a dream to work with”.

Aquabatix underwater model in Templespa Most Revealing campaign

To make your underwater production go swimmingly, get in contact with us today to feature one of the Aquabatix underwater models info@aquabatix.com

 

 

 





You might also like
Why Aquabatix was brought on board for Adele
November 1, 2022
Underwater Production: Behind The Scenes
April 22, 2016

High End Water Entertainment Shows in the UAE
January 12, 2022

  • Twitter

    Tweets by @Aquabatix1





© Copyright 2023 Aquabatix