A free diver drops past a reef wall on one breath while a pool swimmer trains in the dark: two sides of the same discipline, for Tidewater.
Tidewater wanted a swimwear film without a single shot of anyone on a sun lounger. Rafael split forty-five seconds between two swimmers: a free diver off the coast of Gozo and a club swimmer training in an unlit London pool at five in the morning.
Priya Natarajan shot the sea in natural light with a wide spherical lens in a compact underwater housing, diving on a single breath alongside the talent so the camera moves the way the swimmer does. In the pool we switched off the overheads and put two lamps through the windows above the water line, which gives the caustics on the swimmer's back their hard edge. The pool material was monitored in black and white on set so the agency could judge it as it would finally look.
Clara Moss intercut the two on breath rather than stroke, so each shot holds for about as long as a diver would. There is no music: only water, bubbles and a heartbeat.
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Offscreen Originals / Short film
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