Belgium opens specialised water filming facility
A new production facility with specialised water filming resources has been opened near Brussels in Belgium.
By Nick Goundry 3 Apr 2019
A new production facility with specialised water filming resources has been opened near Brussels in Belgium.
Lites Water Stage & Film Studios is situated in Vilvoorde seven miles outside Belgian capital Brussels and offers producers five stages.
Facilities include a 30-foot-deep water tank with movable pool floors that enables space for set construction that can be constructed dry and lowered into the water to any desired depth.
Lites also offers an experienced underwater crew including a cinematographer, a camera operator, a team of assistants and all the necessary equipment.
The specialised nature of the water filming facilities have accounted for around 40% of the €23m cost of the overall studios, according to a Screen report.
“These effects are not new, but in most cases they are built for one feature film,” said Wim Michiels, CEO of Lites, in comments to Screen.
“We have built this to be a standard tool in our studio so more productions can use it in a more efficient way because it’s already tested and safe.”
Productions will start shooting at Lites later this year, with upcoming films including a story that involves a stricken oil rig and another focussing on the aftermath of an ocean plane crash.
Lites is set to complement Belgium’s existing water filming infrastructure at AED Studios in the northern town of Lint near Antwerp, which offers 16 stages including a 12-foot-deep water tank.
In the last couple of years the Lint facility has hosted scenes for Thomas Vinterberg’s film Kursk, charting the true story of the eponymous Russian submarine disaster of 2000.
International producers have various options for water-based stories, with filmmakers sometimes choosing a combination of tank work, visual effects and open-ocean production, depending on budget and artistic preferences.
High-profile recent productions have included the Warner Bros superhero film Aquaman that largely shot dry-for-wet, using visual effects and specific camera movements to simulate underwater environments on dry stages.
The recent TV drama Das Boot used water tank facilities in Malta in combination with limited open-water shooting, while James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels have advanced the use of motion capture technology to water tank work.
See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in Belgium.
Image: Lites Water Stage & Film Studios
Facilities include a 30-foot-deep water tank with movable pool floors that enables space for set construction that can be constructed dry and lowered into the water to any desired depth.
Lites also offers an experienced underwater crew including a cinematographer, a camera operator, a team of assistants and all the necessary equipment.
The specialised nature of the water filming facilities have accounted for around 40% of the €23m cost of the overall studios, according to a Screen report.
“These effects are not new, but in most cases they are built for one feature film,” said Wim Michiels, CEO of Lites, in comments to Screen.
“We have built this to be a standard tool in our studio so more productions can use it in a more efficient way because it’s already tested and safe.”
Productions will start shooting at Lites later this year, with upcoming films including a story that involves a stricken oil rig and another focussing on the aftermath of an ocean plane crash.
Lites is set to complement Belgium’s existing water filming infrastructure at AED Studios in the northern town of Lint near Antwerp, which offers 16 stages including a 12-foot-deep water tank.
In the last couple of years the Lint facility has hosted scenes for Thomas Vinterberg’s film Kursk, charting the true story of the eponymous Russian submarine disaster of 2000.
International producers have various options for water-based stories, with filmmakers sometimes choosing a combination of tank work, visual effects and open-ocean production, depending on budget and artistic preferences.
High-profile recent productions have included the Warner Bros superhero film Aquaman that largely shot dry-for-wet, using visual effects and specific camera movements to simulate underwater environments on dry stages.
The recent TV drama Das Boot used water tank facilities in Malta in combination with limited open-water shooting, while James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels have advanced the use of motion capture technology to water tank work.
See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in Belgium.
Image: Lites Water Stage & Film Studios
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