Movie - Open Water.... Bad for scuba

[Weston]

"Open Water" Angers Dive Industry

"Open Water" opens in August and is a film that portrays scuba diving in a bad light according to dive industry representatives. Col McKenzie, executive director of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators and spokesman for Dive Queensland, told the press that the movie is damaging for the scuba diving industry."This is just a piece of entertainment fiction. It's not based on fact, it's based on supposition," he said...

The Hollywood movie is loosely based on the true story of a scuba incident on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef in 1998. Americans Tom and Eileen Lonergan mysteriously disappeared from a diving tour at a reef off Port Douglas almost six years ago. An inquest pronounced them lost at sea but there are some who believe that the couple didn't die at sea at all.

To learn more, read the following stories: ;


Let me know anyone of thoughts and such ---

weston - madisonscuba.com

[FreediveWI]

Back in 75', when JAWS came out, they say the dive industry dropped off 24% that year. Maybe this won't be so bad.

James Cameron is also in the process of making a movie about the life, and death, of Audrey Ferris, Pipin's wife who died on a record attempt. The whole thing was a cluster from the get-go, but has tainted the sport is some respects. Seems like Hollywood is only interested in the death apsect to sell tickets- just like in "The Big Blue".

We need some more happy movies about diving that go beyond "Finding Nemo".

Jon

[Weston]

Yet more feed back on the film, this is not going to help the scuba imiage at all...

Open Water, a low-budget independent production shot in the Bahamas using real sharks, has earned rave reviews at the Sundance and Seattle film festivals.

Reviewers described it as Jaws meets The Blair Witch Project;. One described it as the most scary movie he had ever seen.

A Lions Gate Films spokesman said an Australian release date had yet to be confirmed, but probably would be in time for our summer.

See entire article at:

Weston:

[FreediveWI]

New Film OPEN WATER Strives For Authenticity
Wednesday Jul 21, 2004 @ 05:07
Submitted by DiveNewsWire

The new release from Lions Gate Films, Open Water, is not only based on true events, but the film is also created with an eye for authenticity and a commitment to creating images that are as true to life as possible.

According to Director Chris Kentis and Producer Laura Lau, the desire was to create a film that would "take" the audience into the water. "We made this film because we found the actual incidents upon which the movie is based to be important and moving stories," Kentis says. "Like most great stories, this one is based on a rare occurrence - that's one of the reasons it's so shocking and special."

"Open Water" is based on real events and follows a vacationing couple scuba diving in tropical waters who are mistakenly abandoned in the middle of the ocean. As the hours pass, the couple realizes they are not alone as a shark's fin breaks the surface.

"The film was developed and shot differently than most feature films," Lau points out. "With the advent of digital technology, we decided we wanted to make a digital video feature. We felt the story would benefit from the aesthetic of digital video, which impacts a sense of realism. The intent was to capture the feelings that we felt when we read about these true stories."

Unlike previous movies that involved sharks such as "Jaws" and "Deep Blue Sea", "Open Water" does not use special effects or computer generated images. Instead, actors Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis spent over 120 hours in the water amid a variety of sea life, including real-life sharks, which give the film its chilling authenticity. Every scene in "Open Water" with a shark was shot on location in Nassau, Bahamas.

Both active scuba divers themselves, Kentis and Lau worked together with industry professionals to insure the film's accuracy. "We wanted to make the film as real as possible, so we hired an actual dive boat. When the instructor is providing a dive briefing in the film, it's an actual real dive briefing," Kentis says.

According to dive industry professionals who have screened the film, "Open Water" is successful in its desire for authenticity and accuracy. "I felt like I could have been on the dive boat with them. It was that real," said one dive industry pro after viewing the film.

"We knew right from the start that we wanted to work with live sharks. Safety was paramount for us, so we worked with Stuart Cove in Nassau, who is one of the few people in the world who works with sharks in film production," Lau explained. "We could not have made this film without the help of professionals in the dive industry. We hope that our film will get people to think about being better, safer divers," she added with emphasis.

"Open Water" premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and will debut in limited release on August 6, 2004 with a wide release in the United States on August 20th.