Q & A with Award-Winning Director Nays Baghai
How did Diving Into The Darkness start as a project?
The inception of Diving Into The Darkness can be traced to March 2017, when I met Jill Heinerth for the first time. Back then, I was a film school student and did not know a single soul in the dive industry. As fate would have it, Jill was one of the first people I met at the OzTek Advanced Diving Conference, and it didn’t take long for me to realise that not only was she among the most accomplished, elite divers present at the conference, but she was an incredibly warm, generous person. In fact, we ended up talking for half an hour after her presentation, and over the next few years, she became a close friend and a mentor.
When Jill’s autobiography, Into The Planet, was released in 2019, I was completely captivated by the sheer power of her story, and immediately recgonised it as the next project I wanted to sink my teeth into. When I finally got the nerve to ask her if she was keen to adapt the book into a feature film with me, her response was an immediate yes. I was absolutely elated, not only because Jill trusted me enough to bring her story to life, but also because I knew that the challenge of telling this story was one too enticing to refuse.
You took a cave diving course on a rebreather specifically for this project. That is virtually unheard of amongst film directors. What influenced your decision to do so?
I decided to take a CDAA Basic Cave Diver course for two big reasons. First of all, I wanted to increase my fluency with the theory, technique, risks and sensations of the sport. Of course I had read Jill’s encyclopedia about cave diving and was a certified rebreather diver, but I felt at a bit of a stalemate with both of those, and I wanted to learn more.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, I knew that my presence down there in the darkness of the caves would improve the morale of the team, as well as the communication process. The idea of being a lazy armchair director while the underwater crew risked their lives to get the shots was total anathema to me, considering I was capable of diving alongside them. Being able to observe the details of the cave and how we all fit inside it helped me recalibrate instructions on the fly, and it meant that I could witness the scene being filmed in real time, as opposed to anxiously waiting topside.
How did you plan these dives?
Just like a cave expedition or a deep wreck diving, planning is absolutely essential for an underwater shoot. Before we assembled together, I prepared a 100 page encyclopedia that dissected each and every scene in the following ways:
- Essentials. What year are we set in? What location? Number of shots & setups? Team configurations? How deep are we diving?
- Storyboards. What are the key details of the shots? Any framing references? What about shots that don’t exist?
- Shooting Positions. How many people underwater? Where are the cameras positioned? How many setups? Which shots in which position?
- Dive plan. What’s the projected descent time? How long do we have for each setup? What’s our ascent/deco plan? Do we need a second or third dive?
However, it quickly became clear that this was too much detail to process in advance, and that it was impossible for the creative team to memorize all this. Our solution was to meet in the dive shop every morning and discuss the scene from scratch. I would speak first, outlining what I wanted in terms of story, style, and coverage. Janne [Suhonen, lead cinematographer] would then go up, interpret my shot list into his own personalized storyboards, and outline where he wanted the cameras, lights and divers. The rest of the crew - Jill, Rich, Vincent, Arja - would chime in if they had any questions or concerns, which helped establish a very democratic atmosphere on set. Once we ensured we were all on the same page, we then headed out to the cenote, prepped our gear and got to work in the water.
Which Shearwater products did you utilize throughout filming, and what was your experience like?
All of us utilized various closed circuit rebreathers throughout filming - the JJ-CCR, Kiss Sidewinder, Hollis Prism 2 - that all had Petrels as the onboard computers. We also had a few Perdixes and Peregrines as backup computers amongst our team members. Simply put, the comfort, reliability and intuitiveness of the Petrels made diving with them a real treat. I used to prefer diving with smaller, watch-sized computers, but now I much prefer the larger shape of the Petrel and Perdix and how snugly they fit on a drysuit. I just wish I learned earlier the value of using Saft batteries instead of rechargeable batteries!
Another Shearwater product that came in really handy were the Swift Air Transmitters. We had a few days of filming that required the on-camera divers to use open-circuit sidemount, and having wireless air integration displayed on their computers not only made it physically easier for them to keep an eye on their air supply, but it meant there was one less entanglement hazard in the caves.
What was the reason for using primarily rebreathers as opposed to twins or sidemount?
Forgive me for sounding like an evangelist, but there are so many advantages rebreathers afford for underwater filmmakers, especially if overhead environments are involved. In fact, I would go so far as to say that today in 2024, it’s no longer a question of whether you use a rebreather for cave diving, but which rebreather you use for cave diving.
For starters, our dive times were greatly increased, and the anxiety of worrying about our SAC rates diminished greatly. It was such a relief to surface after a two hour dive, not have to change tanks, and then go back down to do another two hour dive, knowing we literally had plenty left in the tank. This was even more noticeable when we did deep cavern and wall dives in New Zealand, where we had short decompression times thanks to the constant PPO2 (partial pressure of oxygen) provided by our rebreathers.
Secondly, because all of our rebreathers had back-mounted counter-lungs, we were able to take care of a hidden advantage they afford in terms of buoyancy. Unlike scuba, your breathing does not affect your buoyancy on a rebreather whatsoever, because of how it’s a closed circuit system. Because of how cave diving frequently requires you to hover above the bottom as a means of reducing silt, this meant we could effortlessly float in trim and our depth wouldn’t fluctuate one iota whilst filming in midwater. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve filmed on open circuit and a shot has been ruined by an ill-timed exhale or inhale. Not having to worry about that when we were filming was a massive weight off our shoulders!
From a safety perspective, the lack of exhaled bubbles meant that there was no discharged silt, which in turn meant we had impeccable visibility within the caves. Talk about the best of both worlds!
Finally, it’s easier to enunciate words on the mouthpiece of a rebreather than it is on scuba, so this afforded us another method of communication that came in handy many times, even if it makes you sound like Bane from The Dark Knight Rises. [laughs]
What were the hardest cave dives throughout the project?
There were so many dives that pushed us to our limits for various different reasons. I’d say the most challenging sequence to film were the scenes we filmed in the Minotauro Cave System, in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Minotauro is notorious for its claustrophobically tight passages. During the first scout dive, I remember swimming through one passage that could not have been taller than my coffee table. To crank up the difficulty further, there are a lot of fragile stalactites and stalagmites, and it is quite a shallow cave, which makes diving on a backmount rebreather in a drysuit quite torturous. It also posed a challenge in identifying good spots close to the entrance that afforded a variety of camera setups and the freedom to simulate a siltout without damaging the cave whatsoever.
On top of all that, I was concerned at how we’d be able to fit the six of us inside such tiny passages. We reluctantly decided to shave the underwater team down to a skeleton crew of three. I was initially quite frustrated at not being able to be underwater and supervise filming, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise. Now that I no longer had to rinse and clean out my rebreather, I now had more free time to review the footage after each dive, do scratch edits on my laptop in the middle of the jungle, and communicate my vision with Janne and Rich [Stevenson, underwater cinematographer and gaffer].
Another reason Minotauro was so hard was because of how physically and psychologically demanding the performances were for Jill and Arja [Hintsala, safety diver & body double]. Without giving the scene away, Arja had to play a role that was the polar opposite of who she is as a diver, and she had to do so with virtually no acting experience to draw from. Jill’s performance was also really hard because of the large amount of choreography on her part, and it involved her getting fin kicks in the face at one point. Fortunately, Jill took it all without a single complaint, and tirelessly gave it her all over the four days it took to bring this scene to life.
I heard that you were influenced from the UI of our computers during the editing & visual effects process. How did that play out?
One of the most recurring challenges we faced during the editing process was representing the sheer scale of these caves, and all the essential data the audience needed to know where the divers actually were. As beautiful as the footage we captured was, it didn’t convey the vastness of the various passages, and how far away the divers were from the surface.
When it came time to design the graphics that accompanied each map, one of the earliest drafts was a reconstruction of the display on a Peregrine! [laughs] I chose that display because of how it did a neat job of outlining all the essential data in one place. I also drew inspiration from both Australian Ocean Odyssey and Diving Into The Unknown, as well as some cyber templates from MotionVFX. Ultimately, the final result ended up being a melting pot of all four influences - big shoutout to our art director, Roya, for helping us get there!
Do you think there is a symbiosis between filmmaking and diving as crafts?
Absolutely. I’m not exaggerating when I say that being a rebreather diver changed my life because of the mindset required for it. Some of the mental habits that crossed over into planning for the shoot and editing all the footage included:
1. Being meticulous and detail-oriented
2. Thinking through contingencies and backup plans
3. Drawing from the well of mental strength when times are tough
4. Being prepared to deal with lots of things going wrong all at the same time
5. Staying mindful and relaxed in order to do the job well
The other side of that coin is how being a filmmaker means my experience underwater is usually vastly different to divers unfamiliar with film or photography. Firstly, I’m constantly analyzing all the mise-en-scene elements of an underwater dive - the lighting, the textures, the gear being used, and the best position to nail the composition of an image. Secondly, I pay attention to the sonic experience of the dive, largely due to the fact I’m a musician and a sound designer. In fact, for Diving Into The Darkness, nailing the sound design and representing how it really sounds underwater in those caves was just as important as acing the underwater cinematography.
Do you have any tips for anyone wanting to get into cave or tech diving?
1. I would accumulate at least 100 open water scuba dives in various conditions first. Once you’re a confident diver, decide on which configuration you will use - sidemount, twins, rebreather - and then get at least 50 dives on that configuration before you venture into overhead environments.
2. Make sure you have a steady, well-paying job to finance your equipment, and don’t be a cheapskate. Although the tools we use for this kind of diving are expensive, cutting corners and buying questionable equipment is a far more costly mistake in more ways than one.
3. Embrace your detail-oriented side, especially when it comes to pre-dive equipment checks. It will save your life.
4. Be honest about your fears and weaknesses, and find a well-regarded, active instructor that will work on that with you.
5. Keep your ego on a short, tight leash. Virtually all cave & tech diving accidents are caused by either inexperience or arrogance, so if you’re in this to make a name for yourself and be the biggest and baddest, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.
Do you have any tips for anyone wanting to become an underwater filmmaker?
1. Be a good diver first and foremost. If you don’t have control of your buoyancy or don’t know how your equipment works, focus on that before you touch a camera.
2. When you’re not working on your diving skills, study the greats of storytelling, not just in film and television, but also in the other art forms - music, literature, photography, art and even podcasting. Nothing else matters unless you know how to tell a good story, succinctly and creatively.
3. Start off with a small point-and-shoot camera and become familiar with the theory of underwater cinematography. Once you nail the art of composition, then you can progress to a mirrorless setup.
4. Observe before you shoot. Pay attention to the lighting, your subject and the surrounding conditions. Adjust your settings before you roll.
5. Be safe above all else. No shot is worth your life.
Where and when can we see Diving Into The Darkness?
We’ll be hosting a series of virtual screenings until the end of 2024, which is when we are hoping to finalize arrangements with streaming platforms and broadcasters around the world. If you live in Australia, you’ll be able to watch it in the cinema from July 27-30 at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, and then from October 1-7 at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Sydney, where we will be doing a series of Q&A sessions with a plethora of guest speakers, including Jill and myself.
