Written by Mountain & Water Safety Specialists on Dec 19, 2012. Posted in Contributors

Filming on location: Mountain Water Safety Specialists

Filming in remote and extreme locations offers the audience a view into an often unseen environment. But capturing all the potential of the action and the location can mean putting the cast and crew into seriously risky situations. The challenge is how you manage these risks.

Working closely with qualified experts can open and deliver dramatic possibilities. Filming on snow-capped mountains, sheer rock faces, in deep ravines or in the wilderness are just some of the locations where you might begin to wonder where you would find the technical expertise to manage the risks in such dynamic environments.

You can never eliminate the risk, but with a qualified safety team risk can be managed very effectively.

It’s often easy to scout a location one day and return the following to discover the weather has changed and it is a totally different place, or to completely underestimate the seriousness of a location and all its risks. As an employer or employee we all have a responsibility to make sure our place of work is as safe as possible.

"I wouldn't put my own safety, or the safety of others, in anyone else’s hands," was the opinion of Production Designer Tom Barker, who we’ve worked with many times over the years.

You can never eliminate the risk, but with a qualified safety team risk can be managed very effectively.

The UK has a robust collection of National Governing Bodies (NGBs) who regulate, train and assess to the highest standards in mountaineering, canoe sports, swift water rescue, snow sports, mountain biking, sailing and powerboat driving. Underpinning all of these qualifications is personal skill and experience, and with that comes the ability to make safe judgments and decisions. These qualifications are evidence of expertise to operate in remote and challenging locations and to manage risk accordingly. The UK’s NGBs are highly regarded worldwide and not restricted for work solely in the UK.

A safety team on the mountains to look after a crew is of paramount importance as rock fall, avalanches, getting lost and poor weather are just some of the risks.

It’s one thing having the correct levels of qualifications in place, but it’s another to have a professional team who have experience working alongside TV and film productions and who understand their aspirations and requirements. Combining the skills of a safety team with the aspirations of the production can create endless possibilities for filming in these remote and extreme locations.

Recent work has seen us lowering camera operators down cliffs to be suspended just above raging torrents, providing training and safety cover for stunt men leaping off waterfalls, rigging ‘challenges’ for children’s TV shows over fast flowing gorges, on deep lochs and up cliffs, moving equipment over ravines using technical rope systems, managing large crews on remote wintery mountain tops, and working inside studios designing and building high rope systems for game shows.

A safety team on the mountains to look after a crew is of paramount importance as rock fall, avalanches, getting lost and poor weather are just some of the risks. Accessing summits, rock faces and icefalls, and putting camera operators and contributors into these extreme locations requires technical expertise and experience.

Operating in and around fast-flowing rivers, steep-sided gorges and deep canyons has obvious risks, but with the right team of experts, managing people in these locations is possible.

Filming around coastal fringes often involves steep sea cliffs, complex tides and open water, which can require powerboats, radio communications and skilled safety teams to keep everybody safe.

As is the nature of filming work we have found ourselves being drafted in at short notice as the seriousness and challenges of a location become understood.

As technical experts in mountaineering, canyoning and water rescue, we know what’s required in any given location worldwide to keep people safe and to allow them to do their work. We produce risk assessments and safety management plans, provide safety equipment and rigging, and have the ability to pull together a team of the highest qualified guides.

Knowing when to get a safety team on board is important too. As is the nature of filming work, we have found ourselves being drafted in at short notice as the seriousness and challenges of a location become understood.

While this is fine, seeking advice at the planning stage or during location reconnaissance can give you more confidence about your locations, allow you to get more from them and be more cost effective.

Over the years we have worked with production and design teams in the planning stages to help develop their concepts and to create safe but exciting programs. As executive producer, Simon Parsons commented "they can see the opportunities and control the risk to open up new possibilities".

Our friendly and professional approach aims to complement any production by providing a dynamic service that allows you to film in challenging locations safely using our technical expertise. We’re always happy just to give advice if you are unsure about where you are filming.

Click here to visit Mountain & Water Safety Specialists' website or email Liam for more information.