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Featured Underwater Videographer January 2010
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Mark Thorpe
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Mark Thorpe
Mark is a well-known underwater videographer and is currently based out of Indonesia. Living in a location like Indonesia, Mark has almost daily access to world-class diving that a lot of people only see once or twice in their lifetime.
Mark is of British descent and spent 12 years in the military prior to taking up photography. Moving on to videography, Mark has quickly made a name for himself as one of the top underwater shooters. Mark is currently shooting with a Red One Cinema Camera and has written several in depth reviews of equipment he as used, including the Red One reviews here on Underwater Videography.com.
Recently Mark has created and launched several networking sites for specific diving genres, inclucing idivesharks.com and idivemuck.com. Make sure you go check them out as they are quickly becoming a popular hang out for divers with common interests.
Q. How long have you been diving? How long were you diving before adding a video camera to the "sport"?
A. I started diving during an aspect of my military past some 19 years ago. I was stationed in Djibouti, just north of Somalia for a while and back then had nothing to do when we were not on missions etc. A friend of mine was qualified through the French FFESSM system and was the equivalent of a PADI Dive Master so he basically gave me a first and very brief lesson. Using old J-valve tanks, backpacks and a pair of very unimpressive shorts I spent two years ignorantly breaking every scuba diving rule. One regulator, no computer, no BCD, no idea of tables and decompression etc. When I met breathing resistance I pulled the reserve on the tank, hoping the reserve had been filled at the local dive store, and headed for the surface, no safety stops and for two years no problems. Ignorance is bliss as they say. I had to get certified on my return to Europe by which time I had about 700 dives under my belt. I think I had more dives than my Instructor and his assistant combined during my OW course. It was about another two years after this that I first started filming underwater.
Q. What caused you to start shooting underwater video?
A.I was an out of work scuba instructor and a buddy was looking for a dive shop videographer. I was kinda economic with the truth when he asked if I'd ever used an underwater video rig before!
Q. What is your favorite aspect of shooting underwater video?
A. Just the complete freedom of creativity. It is up to you how you record a scene, which angles you think the most appealing. Part of the art, in my opinion, is the interpretation of the same scene by different camera operators.
Q. Do you have any "idols" or people you look up to in this industry? and why?
A.There are certainly people that I respect. Howard Hall and his team have done incredible things and are true masters of the art. The pioneers, Hans Haas and Jacques Cousteau of course, Ron and Valerie Taylor and Stan Waterman. All are true ambassadors of underwater filming. Time and technology move on though. A new breed is emerging and there is some amazing talent out there. I try to not idolize anyone per se, I don't think thats a healthy use of one's energy.
Q. What would you recommend to someone that is interested in getting started in underwater video?
A.To learn to be efficient in the water as a diver first. There's no point carrying a camera underwater if doing so turns you into a buoyancy challenged reef wrecking safety liability. The respect for the Ocean and its inhabitants should always be priority #1. The day I start to see it purely as a way to make coin is the day I would stop. Learn all aspects of the process, the shooting is the fun part but its also the easiest in many aspects. Become familiar with copyright laws, learn how to write scripts, edit, color process etc etc, its all important in the modern age when most people have a computer and the power to edit very strong pieces from the comfort of their own home. Make an effort with the final presentation. I really don't like seeing a fantastic piece of work failing at the last minute due to the presentation being weak. That final effort will reap dividends in the long run. Last thing, marketing. We live in a World driven by social networking. Get your work seen, get it out there, festivals, online, competitions, networking platforms etc. Lastly, have a backup source of income. Only a very few fortunate souls make a full time and worthwhile living from underwater filming. The competition out there now in the digital age is massive.
Q. Do you have a favorite subject?
A.I love the mega fauna. The sharks, mantas, whale's and dolphins etc. I have spent many hours in the water with them respectively however there is one aspect of filming I think that takes a lot of time, concentration and effort over everything else. Macro. The macro World is so diverse, so unique that you could spend a lifetime swimming over the muck sites of the World and continually find new things to film. Its an amazingly diverse, colorful and, to a large part, undiscovered World. It takes good fortune, the right gear and mental application to film this genre right and when you do get it right, the satisfaction is enormous, infectious even.
Q. What is your most memorable shoot?
A.That would have to be the six months I spent filming Tiger Sharks on the Aliwal Shoals of south Africa for National Geographic's remote imaging department. Those animals are just incredible and to be in their presence for such an extended period of time was memorable. I'm planning to go dive the Tiger Beach location sometime in the near future and the contrast of conditions and animal behaviors based on the environmental conditions will be interesting. Other shoots like a recent three week deal to document the Jellyfish Lake in Palau with the new RED One cameras was also a great adventure. What makes for a great shoot is having a great team for the job. On both of these mentioned shoots I was fortunate enough to be working with some incredibly talented and personable people, consummate professionals in their own right.
You can watch more of Mark's videos on his profile here and be sure to check out his networking site for shark divers at idivesharks.com
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