Lights, Camera and Underwater Action
Today’s guest blogger is Nick Fash, a Heal the Bay education specialist who works with students at our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.
When the email came from Matt King, our Communications Director, asking if I was interested in filming a “Green is Universal” Subaru promo, I was intrigued. Hey, it was something different and exciting and, yes, I really do drive a Subaru. Little did I know that for the next month I would be sending resumes, personal stories and pictures, answering phone calls and taking part in an on-camera interview at Universal. Then, radio silence. Welcome to Hollywood …
A few weeks passed before a phone call made it all seem very real. Unbeknownst to me, I had been just one of a group of environmentally minded people from all over the country who were in the running for Subaru’s ad spot, highlighting what we do for our planet and why we do it. I eventually got the nod for the role.
As the piece started to take shape, countless meetings, phone calls and visits from producers, cinematographers and directors who came to watch me work, helped to forge the final piece (Watch on Vimeo). They loved the excitement from the children when I taught, and the thoughts of filming me underwater were all woven into their vision to highlight the work I do here at Heal the Bay. Strangely enough, the hardest part was getting enough time away from teaching and sorting out how to film in the Aquarium without disrupting what we all do every day.
But once the filming got underway, it was a blast. Being filmed underwater was new to me, but thankfully being a certified SCUBA instructor, I have underwater communications nailed. Learning how to do precision driving (to avoid crashing into a camera truck and its film crew) was also something different. But the best part was stepping out of the water into a warm robe, being handed a cup of coffee and asked what kind of panini I wanted.
If only Heal the Bay could work that in for my post-teaching routine…
