#236 — Ian Seabrook on Underwater Cinematography (reboot)

The NonProphet Podcast

This podcast originally aired in October 2022 but recent texts with Ian about music and dogs and life reminded me of how good this is and that it merits re-release. Since the original broadcast Ian, who is an underwater cinematographer, has worked on "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", "Shogun", "Wednesday" (a Tim Burton offering) and "Last Breath", which premiers in February 2025. Ian and I have spent a good amount of time working on a documentary together and perhaps in the next chapter, the one titled "Whatever Comes Next", we might see if a logical conclusion exists and can push it to the finish line.

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Ian Seabrook returns to the podcast after a three-year hiatus. Ian is an award winning Underwater Director of Photography in the motion picture and television industry who first appeared on Episode 55. At that time he was in Utah to document the production and release of REFUGE, the first large book produced by NonProphet. This year Ian's return coincided with the printing of POISON so we strong-armed him into making a short film about that.

Ian's underwater credits include “Batman v Superman”, “Deadpool 2” and “Jungle Cruise”, five episodes of the TV series, "See", and he was also the second unit cinematographer for Zack Snyder's "Army Of The Dead". More recently his work on "The Rescue" earned several cinematography awards, which we discuss intensively in this current episode.

We start this talk with an in-depth review of the underwater shots in "Man of Steel", and simple behind-the-scenes things like how to keep personnel safe in the tank while the SFX crew sets the water on fire. Ian also discusses about the necessity of appropriate clothing, nutrition and fitness for long shooting days in water that is constantly extracting heat from one's body.

The conversation shifts towards the current state of filmmaking and how it feels like cinema is a disposable medium these days (very different than in the 70s) and the sheer volume of output is shocking ... quantity vs quality diluted by frequency. We do a drive-by on the unreality of Reality TV and the difference between true documentary film and docu-drama or docu-fiction projects that are "dramatized" to "improve" the story. In an unusual twist, Michael brings up some of the positive aspects of new and social media but don't blink or you'll miss them.

In review, Ian's descriptions of shooting underwater sequences for "The Rescue" are riveting, and easily worth the price of a listen.

Ian's website:

https://www.dorsalfin.net/