LOW LINE | Beneath Our Streets

LOW LINE:

At SALT STREET PRODUCTIONS we specialize in adventure sports videography. Focused on producing original content for the big screen and viral success on Low Line .
FORGOTTEN BY ALL WHO WALK ABOVE, The Victorians constructed an engineering masterpiece. In the 1860s work began on a huge underground storm drain known as THE MEGATRON. Its job was to prevent the City of Sheffield, UK from flooding year after year and disrupting the steel industry for months at a time.

The flood waters now rest below the city in huge tunnels waiting to be explored by the Sheffield people. We took two of Sheffield’s wakeboarders beneath the rock to see what they could put together.
THE LOCATION: Forgotten by all and waiting to be discovered Beneath the city of Sheffield UK lies series of storm Drains known as the Megatron. Designed to hold Back the Flood Waters and released it back into the south Yorkshire rivers. Building in 1860s out of brick archways by the Victorians the aim was to prevent this growing city from flooding year after year and disrupting the fast-growing steel industry.
WHY WE SHOT THERE: At Salt Street pro specialize in the unique. We are always on the look out for stunning

LOW LINE: THE TEAM
4 CAMERA OPERATORS
2 WAKE BOARDERS BORDERS
2 WINCH OPERATORS
1 PRODUCER / HEALTH SAFETY OFFICER 1 DRONE PILOT

WHAT WE NEEDED:
Our aim was to was never to damage or disrupt the Megatron so everything we needed we had to bring down and take away. The biggest piece of equipment we had to engineer into place was the wake boarding Winch, buy using a series of pulleys and an access Hatch we managed to move the equipment beneath the surface. Used a blow- up boat which had to be assembled in cramped conditions to move equipment up and down the flooded tunnels. Safety equipment, fresh water and co2 detesters where essential to the success of the project. We placed personnel beneath the surface to looking after the first aid equipment and to helped to manage the camera equipment. The rail was constructed from materials found floating or stuck in the river. The white borders I had to build something they could hit.
THE RIDES:
Josh Tomlinton, Brad Beech As Megatron it so embedded into the city of Sheffield we want to use riders similarly devoted to the Sheffield wake boarding scene. On the Scouting mission two riders down there and from the word for excited to make it work.
HOW IT WAS FILMED:
The first and biggest challenge was lighting. As being underground there was no natural light. And being flooded full of water we could not use a generator to power a huge lighting equipment. We opted for 50w battery powered construction LED lights which we placed around the tunnels. With the light sorted we could use small but effective hand-held cameras such as gh4, fs700 and a7. In total we had one recce day, one practice and construction day and finally a filming day. The aerial footage was captured using an DJI Inspire raw for above ground shots and the small

FAQ
We have many awesome locations ideas to come not just in wakeboarding. Keep your eyes peeled on our social networks.
Was the water clean?
The storm drains are only used for flood water, sewage is not allowed to be released into the river system and in the 1960s a sewage plant was built to confirm this.
How did you keep the camera equipment dry?
The camera operators were all wearing waders which are waterproof up to the shoulders however the water would frequently be deeper then your chest there was a bit touching go at some point. We would hold are cameras above our heads to keep the equipment dry.
Will you be releasing a making of Film?
We also simultaneously shot behind the scenes so we hope to be releasing a making of video shortly.
Did you have permissions to film in the megatron?
Sheffield is known as the outdoor city and everyone is extremely accommodating and go above and beyond for Salt Street Productions adventure documentaries.
How difficult was it to fly the drone in the tunnels?
Obviously been deep below the ground we couldn’t use GPS tracking. As a result the drone had to be flown on complete manual and then completely still there is really shoots around. Bit we experienced drone flyers and had no wet disasters.
Where can I get the Music?
Soon to be avalable from Alex Hill on itunes and http://www.alexhmusic.com/

More Infos :
www.vimeo.com/saltstreetpro
www.instagram.com/saltst/
www.twitter.com/saltst
www.salt-street.com