stock footage Archives -

Stock Footage from Palau hits milestone

Stock Footage Palau and Tropical Pacific

Over the course of the last 10 years I have been uploading stock footage from Palau to one particular agency.

In the last week I hit a landmark number of files in my portfolio of 1000. Whilst this may not seem a lot compared to many other contributors it is significant for two reasons.

In the early years the very slow internet in Palau meant that progress of uploads was similarly slow. This made me particularly choosy when it came to which clips I would send to them as I obviously wanted the greatest chance of sales per clip. This produced a portfolio smaller than others but of a higher quality.

Huge variety of stock footage subjects

Palau has an enormous range of subjects to film so the diversity of the portfolio is similarly diverse.

Living in Palau also has given me the advantage in that access has been provided by Government departments to extremely inaccessible sites or rare/unique situations. This results in one-of-a-kind footage, unrepeatable and invaluable.

I have also not limited myself to just Palau. Filming trips to Yap, Philippines and Kiribati have also yielded incredible stock footage.

The Nature Footage agency provides a variety of licenses for all different types of media applications from small format internet to international Cinema releases. Rights managed or Royalty Free. This means that whatever your product, they can provide you with the right license for your release.

The internet in Palau is vastly better than it ever was (100kb/s upload…) but this has not changed my approach to quality. Only the very best clips are uploaded but instead of it taking 3 days, it now takes 12 hours. Whoop whoop right?

Stock footage for every application

If you are interested in subjects from Palau or the Pacific region but don’t find them in the Portfolio here,

please feel free to contact me here to discuss what may be available but not yet online or if there are specific needs for your project.

For further reading on what it has taken to get this many clips together over this many years read here.

Cheers

Richard Brooks

Film Palau 2018 Show Reel

Why Film Palau?

Are you a production company looking to film Palau? The Republic of Palau continues to provide great opportunities for Underwater and Aerial Media Production.

As an introduction to the many opportunities available for filming in Palau, I would like to take this opportunity to show you what Lightning Strike Productions has been doing over the course of the last year.

Lastly our show reel will share some of the highlights and our hopes for the future.

New media techniques and projects in Palau

Over the last 12 months we have continued to diversify our filming techniques.

Aerial filming in Palau

Aerial filming with Drones and Aircraft mounted action cams have provided great footage for our clients.

For this particular project we used a host of external and internally mounted action cams. Each aimed to catch the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Surveillance plane as it hunted for illegal fishing in Palau’s EEZ.

Underwater Time-lapse for Cinematic Documentary

Exciting 6K B-roll from Time-lapse techniques have also added to production value of a number of projects over the years.

Chasing corals. Filming Palau — Chasing corals movie poster

Of particular note is the underwater time-lapse work we shot for the Netflix original documentary Chasing Corals. This involved returning to the same locations 6 times over the course of a few months. Each time positioning the camera with the aid of multiple references in exactly the same place as before.

360 VR filming in Palau

We have embraced 360 VR and continue to develop this new and exciting form of media. Mosaic panoramas provide a new and artistic form in addition to producing very high resolution images for printing. The beginning of the year saw us filming for a VR project here in Palau which ran in conjunction with a second project by the Economist magazine.

Drone filming Palau — Kayangel Atoll Aerial Panorama

Underwater filming in Palau

Underwater filming in Palau is still incredible. New behaviors and environments were documented in greater detail this past year. Spawning aggregations of species previously undocumented in Palau as well as insights into the migrations of Manta Rays and Shark species were gained.

Our underwater cameras can output 4K Raw footage. This means we get the very best colors possible through post production techniques using the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of programs. Read more on underwater filming here.

Wildlife and conservation in Palau

Wildlife and conservation topics are still very close to our hearts. A large project on migratory shorebirds was completed in the Autumn. This milestone project commissioned by Palau Conservation Society raised local awareness for the need to protect certain coastal environments in Palau. It appears to have reached it’s desired audience and the proposed developments have thankfully been halted.

Plastic Pollution has become an incredibly damaging aspect of our world in this century. This film was our first venture into raising awareness of this issue. Plastic use continues to be one of the biggest problems facing us today and into the future. We take every opportunity to reduce our usage and impact in this regard.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support into 2018 as we venture to new horizons. We have 2 filming expeditions planned. One to the remote South West Islands of Palau, and one with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. This second trip takes us to the even more remote Phoenix Islands of Kiribati.

Together we can make Lightning Strike Productions grow further. We aim to provide more innovative and educational media for Palau, Micronesia and the world.

Here’s to a productive and imaginative 2018!

For more information find us here

For further reading on drone filming try this article

Thank you and Enjoy!

film palau underwater film palau aerial film palau nature film palau film palau

Palau Stock Footage and High Speed Internet!

Stock footage from Palau

Stock Footage is often vital for a production to stay within budget and after 10 years of diving and filming in Palau we have accumulated a huge library of HD and UHD stock footage for just that purpose.

Previously in Palau, uploading at 3kb/s was about all we could hope for on a wobbly internet and this made sending any large files almost impossible. Palau now enjoys high speed internet from an undersea fibre optic cable and with this we have been uploading stock footage to our agents with unprecedented speed.

Palau Stock Footage subjects

Spawning Aggregations

Check out these categories and others. With over 1000 clips now available at a variety of stock agencies you can be sure that you will find something to suit your needs.

Royalty Free or Rights Managed portfolios can be found here:

If you don’t see what you need give us a shout here and we can discuss options for acquiring footage for you.

Check back often as our portfolios will now be rapidly expanding. See here for our latest show reel.

We are filming on an almost daily basis so will always have new content coming. See the Stock footage page on our website here.

Cheers

Richard

Filming in Palau. Professional Media Production, things you need to know.

Filming in Palau

Are you thinking of filming in Palau? Are you looking for a reliable and professional media production company to assist with your project?

Lightning Strike Productions has over 20 years filming experience. We have been filming in Palau for over 12 years. We can help you with all aspects of your production. Filming permits, accommodation, land transport. Underwater camera operator, boat hire, rental camera equipment. Interviews, drone pilots, on camera talent…..

Over the last 12 years we have filmed everywhere in Palau. From the far northern reefs of Velasco, to the far south and it’s remote islands of Helen, Tobi and Sonsorol.

Filming in Palau. Underwater wildlife of Palau — Underwater icons found on almost every dive in Palau

How Lightning Strike Productions can help you

Lightning Strike Productions has worked with numerous broadcast entities in Palau over the years. Clients include the BBC, CNN, Arte, Thalassa 3, ABC, Channel 9 Australia, Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery Channel. It’s also a regular contributor to online news media through it’s stringer services.

Our cameras, both underwater and drone mounted output Raw footage, ensuring the very highest in 4K 16 bit quality.

aerial photography palau — Postcard perfect Palau

Because of our long experience filming in Palau we can help you organize filming permits, arrange transport, accommodation, rental equipment, interviews and talent.

Whilst things have improved, Palau is still remote and does not have a huge amount of media production resources. There are no dedicated camera stores and spare parts etc need to be ordered in from overseas, which can take at least a week at best.

It’s regional and national government structures can be tricky to negotiate for filming permits and site access. We can help you navigate and succeed in this local arena.

If you are considering filming in Palau it’s well worth contacting us to find the lay of the land and get a bespoke solution for success.

Location Palau

The Republic of Palau has a huge variety of healthy and almost pristine ecosystems. Palau provides a huge wealth of opportunities for content. It is visually stunning with tropical islands, coral reefs, jungles and plentiful iconic species.

There are numerous conservation stories available. Tuna Fisheries, Marine enforcement, mangrove protection, migratory shorebirds, climate change resilience.

We have WW2 wrecks, their de-mining and recovery of human remains. Extensive underwater caverns and of course the many marine lakes with their millions of Jellyfish.

filming in palau underwater filming — A huge range of underwater environments……

Additionally the other side of the coin is also available. Stories on illegal fishing and the black market trade in protected species. The need to balance tourism and development with conservation. Tuna economics, Climate Change, Ocean acidification, renewable energy, coral bleaching….

There are stories waiting to be told and new technologies waiting to tell them with and since we are based in Palau we can start production quickly.

filming in palau aerial filming — Drone filming services expand shot range with a reasonable budget

Palau Stock Footage library

If you need footage quickly or something specific but time consuming, there is always the option of stock footage. As a result of filming here for over 12 years we have a huge stock footage library available.

Almost all our work has something to do with the environment. It’s well worth seeing what we can offer in stock footage.

See our latest show reel here

Filming in Palau with Lightning Strike Productions

Lightning Strike Productions has the experience and the expertise to help you with any element of your filming in Palau. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Cheers

Richard

Aerial Drone Stock Footage

Aerial Footage Palau

When it comes to Aerial Footage and the stock companies that represent me and my work in Palau, I can be very picky about who I send material to. After all, I am sending them my artistic content and there needs to be both a level of trust and commitment to the future representation from them in their site design and business plan.

So it’s not often I can say that I have decided to sign up with a new agency and have them represent my Stock Content.

The resource for quality Aerial Stock Footage from Palau

Aerial Entertainment Studios though is one and my initial submissions have impressed them enough to add me to their Exclusive team of artists.

My profile page is here:

I’ll be adding to it over time so if you are interested in aerial content check back for new material.

If you want to find other stock footage subjects a bit closer to the ground or even underwater, check out this link for alternative agencies or contact us for the latest.

Alternatively my Youtube channel has new clips uploaded regularly so hit that subscribe button for updates as they happen!

Read more on the many uses for Drone technology in Palau here

Cheers

Richard