Incredible Film Shoot on St Lazarus Banks

The 'Trophy' at the end of an incredible film trip.

The In The Zone Productions team has just got back from an amazing spearfishing trip to the famous St Lazarus Banks with Mohammed Jassim Al Kuwari. This intensive film shoot was part of Mohammed's part in the epic film called 'Legends of Blue Water Hunting' which features greats like Terry Mass and Rob Allen.

Richard Leonard in the driving seat filming and directing.

What was unique about this shoot is that it was not just a spearfishing trip that was filmed, the  production was the priority. This meant that unless something was going to hinder the spearfishing, the filming and production took preference.  ITZ also assembled possibly the best spearfishing videography team to work on the project.
Richard Leonard directed the shoot and also applied his skill as a camera man above and below the water.
Chris Coates organised all the spearfishing and dive gear as well as using his diving ability to film Mohammed in action.

Matt Swart, ITZ's wizard on the editing desk brought some unique filming skills and insights above the water.

Robin 'Gumby' Moulang not only is an excellent water cameraman he brought some epic quadcopter flying skills to get some unique and very interesting camera angles.

Creating new angles with the flying Quad Cam

Lazarus was an amazing place to shoot, the water is very clean with amazing fish life. The goal was a big Dog Tooth Tuna on film and Lazarus did not disappoint. The team also worked hard to ensure that the footage was above the normal standard seen in spearfishing videos. 

Mohammed and Chris all smiles on Lazarus

Filming spearfishing at this standard also required a huge sacrifice from Mohammed, the production generally comes first and for this you need loads of patience. Especially when having to redo things over and over until the team gets the shot right. You often hear some one shouting, "wait for he cameraman!"

The ITZ team - Gumby, Chris, Rich and Matt 

Trips like this into places like Mozambique need a serious amount of organising and planning. From flights and boat transfers, to filming permits, fishing licenses and a host of admin night mares. This is all before Richard hands you a 28page shoot list and production plan, nothing like a little bit of light reading before the trip :-)

All in all the Lazarus trip with Mohammed was a huge success, with the team getting what has to be some of the best spearfishing footage ever filmed. Now its up to Matt on the editing table and Rich directing to do their magic.

Go here for more on the: Lazarus Spearfishing Trip

The ITZ Team

Top Shots Spearfishing Video Concept Goes Live

Top Shots - The Best Spearfishing Shots Series

The crew here at The Zone Productions has just launched a new video series online. The whole concept is to find the most epic spearfishing shots on film and then skype call the guy and get all the details. Then put it down in a seriously hot little vid for all to see on line.

 I guess there are loads of guys out there getting epic shots on GoPro and other video cams. The problem is that often they dont have enough footage to make a complete film or segment or have the skills to edit down the videos in a cool sleek way. This video concept will probably appeal most to these guys, and they will be able to get there epic spearfishing footage out and edited.

Here is the first episode featuring some great footage from Ian Brookes in Australia.

Top Shots - Spearfishing Series - Ian Brookes - Australia

As always it's not all that simple with loads of guys already submitting their footage for consideration. So only the choice vids will make the cut, the ones with great cinematography and great fish. The guys who get chosen also stand to win some cool prizes from Ultimate Spearfishing Magazine Subscriptions to spearguns and more.

If you want to get your insane spearfishing shots on ‘Top Shots’ then email: topshotsvideo@gmail.com

It would also be super cool if you could let me know what you think of these videos and the concept.

The ITZTV Team