Into Water

Over the course of the last two years, The Sherpas are incredibly honoured to have worked with National Geographic, Google, YouTube and four of the most amazing humans we’ve ever met. The end result is ‘Into Water’, a collection of four Virtual Reality episodes that follow four National Geographic explorers whose work is based on one of our planet’s greatest miracles: water.

We’ve been working in Immersive Media for the last few years now, and the technology is getting better every day. As a viewer, if you watch these episodes through your phone, the YouTube app will give you the 360 experience. But if you’re looking for the true 3-Dimensional VR experience, hit up YouTube VR on the Oculus Go headset.

Enjoy!

Iceland’s Glaciers – 360 | Into Water

Episode 1 takes place in Iceland, and  follows M Jackson, a PhD Glaciologist who has found a way to bridge the gap between scientific data collection and real human beings.

“If there is one thing that my work continues to show me it’s that ice influences us just as much as we influence ice,” she explains. “What happens to ice, happens to us.”

Check out the episode here:

 

Indonesia’s Coral Reefs – 360 | Into Water

For the second episode, we had the privilege of working with Shannon Switzer Swanson, a marine social ecologist whose work takes her into the traditional fishing villages of Indonesia’s Banggai Archipelago. Her intimate relationship with those fishing communities allows her to explore the complexity of their relationship with the sea, and how those relationships affect the health of the local marine ecosystems.
Shannon’s also a surfer, a pastime that enriches her powerful connection to the ocean.

Check out the episode here:

 

Canada’s Wild Rivers – 360 | Into Water

The third episode follows Dalal Hanna, a Freshwater Ecologist, through the stunningly beautiful rivers and lakes of Quebec. The health of these ecosystems represents the current state of our planet, and Dalal’s work provides crucial information about how human activity is impacting the bodies of water upon which our survival is so dependent. “To protect fresh water is to protect life,” says Dalal.

Check out the episode here:

 

Deep Sea Exploration – 360 | Into Water

The fourth episode follows the work of Kakani Katija, the lead engineer at the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). “The ocean’s midwaters are one of the least-explored places on earth, full of creatures that defy imagination,” says Kakani.

Those waters are home to massive jellyfish, otherworldly worms, Giant Larvaceans, Vampire Squids and countless other species that look like they’d be right at home in outerspace, but are actually just a few thousand metres below the surface of the ocean. “We have better maps of the moon and mars than we do of our seas,” explains Kakani.

Check out the episode here:

 

Creative Director: Dave Mossop

Cinematographer: Steve Henderson

Producers: Mitchell Scott, Steve Henderson

Post Production Supervisor: Ryan Clarke

Executive Producers: Mitchell Scott, Malcolm Sangster, Dave Mossop, Eric Crosland

Writer: Mitchell Scott

Spatial Sound/Mix: Daniel McNamara

Composer: Jacob Yoffee

Colour: David Tomiak

Drone Pilots: Danielle de Leon // Birds Eye of Big Sky, Jeff Patterson // Revered Cinema

Photographer: Jake Dyson

Underwater Cinematographer: Casey Sapp

Assistant Editor: Terry Cousineau

3D Rotoscoping and VFX: Forrest Brenna 360 Labs, Stasha Stanojevic, Jeremy Kenning,

For National Geographic

Producer: Kaitlyn Mullin,

Executive Producer: Jenna Pirog, Whitney Johnson

For Google

Producers: Sarah Steele, Nicholas Cicchetti

Supported by YouTube VR

Special Thanks // Iceland: Jonathan Marshall, Porvadur Arnason, Sigrun Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Guōny Svavardóttir, Ingvar Ingvarsson, Vatnajökull National Park, The Town of Höfn, Birds Eye of Big Sky, Fusion Cine, Anna Dís Olafsdótti, Local Icelander

Special Thanks // Indonesia: Lakuha Filming, Pusat Pengembangan Perfilman, Coastal Community of Bone Baru, The fishing families of Popisis and Toropot, National Geographic Society, Universitas Hasannudin, Universitas Tadulako, Andrea Reid, Mikayla Wujec, Caleb Cruise, Emmet Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, STanfor School Of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, LINI, Kedonganan Fish Markey, Bali Double C, Sumba Surf Resort, Acho Akina Chowji, Papa and Mama Yadi, Papa and Mama Adam, Papa and Mama Kia, Ben Swanson, Uce Pakaya, Hamid Pakaya, Deny Fabregas, Ramdhan Lanuso, Erwin Wuniarto, Lady Diana Khartiono, Sarah Azzahra, Gayatri Reskodiharjo-Lilley, Khalis, Dwi, Surya Risuana, Ismu Istyarto, Dr. Nicole Ardoin, Dr. Larry Crowder, Dr. Abigail Moore, Dr. Jammaluddin Jompa, Dr.Samliok Ndobe, Samudera Dive Operator, The Harvest Star Crew, Dr.Erika Woolsey, Cameron Coram, VRTUL

Special Thanks // Québec: Ellorie McKnight, Parc Régional du Poisson, Pac National de la Jaques-Cartier, Jérémie Gravel, Aglaé Jobin-Miller, Benoit Dubeau, Louis-Étienne Picard, Riparia, Andrea Reid, Mikayla Wujec, Sofia Smeja, The Bennet Lab at McGill University, Québec Centre for Biodiversity Science, Fusion Cine, Revered Cinema

Special Thanks // California: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Helen Cullen, Nancy Jacobsen-Stout, Susan Von Thun, Andrew McKee, Knute Brekke, Bryan Touryan-Schaeffer, Ben Erwin, Mark Talkovic, Randy Prickett, Dale Graves, Todd Walsh, Diana Li, Alison Sweeney, Alana Sherman, Joost Daniels, Kim Fulton-Bennet, Casey Sapp / VRTUL, Birds Eye of a Big Sky, Fusion Cine

#NatGeoWomenOfImpact

M Jackson

Shannon Switzer Swanson

Dalal Hanna

Kakani Katija