#Industry News
Wildlife Documentary Filmmaking with Boxfish Luna - "All Too Clear" Case Study
Documentary filmmakers Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert of Inspired Planet Productions discuss their experience filming wildlife beneath the Great Lakes with Boxfish Luna.
The Boxfish Luna drone allows wildlife documentary filmmakers to capture natural fish behaviour in extreme conditions without concerns for diver safety. They can film at depth and for extended periods shooting unprecedented footage that is captivating to viewers and scientists alike. A case in point is Canadian Inspired Planet Productions. They get beneath the surface of the Great Lakes in their latest wildlife documentary project, the series "All Too Clear".
Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert of Inspired Planet Productions are highly experienced documentary filmmakers. They have been making documentaries for over twenty years focusing on terrestrial wildlife. However, with their latest feature-length series, "All Too Clear", the team have ventured into underwater filmmaking.
Inspired Planet Productions is located in Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, on the shores of the Great Lakes, so they're perfectly positioned to reveal the offshore freshwater ecosystem. The documentary explores the invasion of the Great Lakes by quadrillions of Quagga mussels.
Zach and Yvonne investigated the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) market to meet the challenge of underwater wildlife filmmaking. However, alternatives had inadequate cameras or were large work-class ROVs for scientific expeditions.
They chose the Boxfish Luna because of its incredible Sony A7 SIII camera for low-light filming. The drone's extended battery life and the ability to control camera settings on the surface also impressed the team. Furthermore, the capacity of Boxfish Luna to travel in any direction opened up opportunities for filming moving wildlife or capturing smooth pan shots.
"The Boxfish Luna kind of fits in this pretty amazing niche where someone like an independent production company can get one and start exploring waterways and lakes and oceans in a way that before just really hasn't been possible. So, it's a really exciting time for us as filmmakers."
Yvonne Drebert, Producer of "All Too Clear"
Subsequently, Boxfish Luna has enabled Inspired Planet to "swim with the fishes", capturing footage of wildlife behaviour that has excited scientists. The documentary material is beautiful and has a second life furthering scientific research and supporting conservation efforts.
"Being able to have this freedom to film underwater has completely changed how we think about what we're going to do with our work in the future…We have a whole series of projects that we want to do to show people things they've never been able to see before using this technology with an initial focus on freshwater. But marine ecosystems are in our future as well."
Zach Melnick, Director/Cinematographer of "All Too Clear"
Watch the interview on our website to learn more about "All Too Clear" and Inspired Planet's experience of underwater documentary filmmaking with Boxfish Luna.
