How Richard Bullock made waves with his ambitious amphibious spot

Can you tell me more about the evolution of the concept for There’s Something In The Water?

Rugby Australia and their Super Rugby Pacific people asked me to think about how I might make a promo for the upcoming season. Strategically they were very open. As a rugby fan myself, I naturally drifted towards the notion of the Pacific being the binding element between the 12 teams.

I imagined players colliding with the ocean and the idea grew from there.

There are teams from Fiji, Samoa/Tonga, New Zealand and Australia. The Pacific culture is so special for the region’s rugby and I wanted to celebrate that. I imagined players colliding with the ocean and the idea grew from there.

I also felt it was important to clarify for the audience who was in the competition and why it was worth watching. So emphasising the Pacific worked strategically. When I looked online I saw that the client had been using the line 'The Power of the Pacific' but they hadn’t really done anything with it. 

What were the logistical challenges of shooting underwater? For example, how did you get the ball to travel through the water in the way it did? 

Underwater is very challenging. I did a lot of planning with Stefan Jose my DP and the underwater operator Murray Milne. So the performances I wanted and the style was figured out by those guys and their lighting team. 

They were all connected by comms on the day and even though I couldn’t yell out notes it was very well organised by my first AD and producer. We had a system during the day which rotated the players through different scenarios around the dive pool. Within that there was still room for spontaneity. For example the underwater pass wasn’t something in the storyboards.  

That was a shot I most likely never would have achieved without the skill of the player and my producer messing around in her pool.

My producer Nicole Crozier had actually tested different buoyancy qualities of rugby balls in her pool at home and sent me videos. Between her and the prop master they worked out different levels of water filled rugby balls to do different things. Some sank, stayed in same spot or rose past camera. Depending on the shot we chose different levels of buoyancy. The underwater pass was the heaviest prop. 

The players feet are anchored with weighted bags near the surface to give him leverage. Then it was down to the skill of the player to make the ball spiral. He took a few tries to get the spiral going and eventually threw a perfect pass across the lens. So that was a shot I most likely would never have achieved without the skill of the player and my producer messing around in her pool.

Above: Bullock's plan for the shoot. There were three cameras used: A Red, A Freefly Ember and Phantom shooting at 600fps.

Did you really have all twenty-four players from twelve teams in the shoot? 

All 12 teams are represented in the final spot. Not all 24 players appear though. Although all 24 were involved on the day and got wet!  

How long did the shoot take? 

About three months of planning and two days to shoot. The main shoot with players was in Auckland and ocean plates and wave textures were shot on another day in Byron Bay, Australia.

Where was it shot and how did you come to pick the location? 

At first I thought I’d do it for real in the actual Pacific ocean but getting players from all 12 teams to one place on the same day is almost impossible. Fortunately, there was a media event on in Auckland in early January and we only had to fly a few extra players in from Australia and the Pacific islands and we had everyone represented.

So against the technical advice of the experts we shot it outdoors at a public pool.

Location hunting was quite difficult. Initially I’d picked an amazing indoor underwater film studio just outside of Auckland but they ended up needing repairs to their tank. We found an Olympic indoor dive pool but our day clashed with NZ Olympic dive training. I then went to a smaller facility but that also had some technical hitches regarding water clarity. So all the indoor options were eliminated.   

So against the technical advice of the experts we shot it outdoors at a public pool in Panmure, about 20 minutes from Auckland. In hindsight even though it was the fourth choice it was absolutely ideal. It had a great vibe and nice natural colour to the water and we got a perfect, bright, sunny day. 

Above: Behind the scenes at Panmure Pools, near Auckland.  

What were the highs and lows of the making of it? 

The lows were the three first choice locations falling away for various reasons. The high was realising the fourth choice was actually the best location all along. 

I didn’t really have any proof to show [the clients] leading up to the day. I just felt that it would look spectacular and if the players could perform the moves underwater it would work.

Other highs include the first take of Wallabies and Brumbies player Allan Ala’alatoa coming towards camera, eyes open and performing like he’s playing rugby and not diving. My clients cheering on their monitor. They had put a lot of faith in me and trusted that the idea would work. I didn’t really have any proof to show them leading up to the day. I just felt that it would look spectacular and if the players could perform the moves underwater it would work. 

The players loved the challenge and, to a man, they were brilliant to work with.

Then also my camera and lighting team managing to capture the faces. All very difficult but on the first take it all came together. Then the rest of the day was a joy. The players loved the challenge and, to a man, they were brilliant to work with. I really hope they like the finished film and feel proud to be Pacific rugby players.