Filming around water is always fun. We wanted to film Splendid Damselflies mating, the difficult bit is the entire love affair happens just inches over the water. Keen to shoot some of the sequence high speed I knew Photosonics had recently made a 360fps Super 16mm camera, so I called Alan Neil. Alan asked just what I was going to do with it (he knows me ;o) - "put it in a stream in France", I offered. To which he calmly replyed, "how long do you need it?" - adding swiftly that it was the one and only High Speed Super 16 camera in existence and to please insure we did not to drop it in the water.
In France we needed to dip the periscope so we made the usual gaffer tape job, it leaked. The stream cut through wine growing country, miles and miles of vineyards. At an agricultural supply house we bought some tubing used to irrigate the fields it was perfect, flexible PVC with a 3in ID.
The one off Photosonics High Speed never fell in the river, as luck would have it but the Cinematography Electronics Precision Speed control for the Arri HSR did - twice - a quick trip back to the hotel, circuit boards laid out on the bed, and a hairdryer did the trick. I knelt down in that stream for over two weeks. My knees ache just thinking about it. I still have the vineyard periscope condom.
Damselfly Love from the BBC Battle of the Sexes series
Exec Producer John Sparks
Producer Director Camera: Phil Savoie
AC: Chris Timmons
Editor: Tim Bevan
Super 16: Kodak 7245 7246 7298
Location: France
Film Clips © BBC Natural History Unit
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All contents of this web site © Philip A, Savoie 2007
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