SANCTUM, a 3D action-adventure-thriller centered around cave diving, has been released today.

Since, as I pointed out in my previous post, I guess I’m now considered a journalist, here is my write up of the movie and press day.

I will try my hardest not to accidentally spoil any of the movie.

Alister Grierson, James Cameron and Andrew Wight – it’s interesting to note that James Cameron and Andrew Wight are avid SCUBA divers.

SANCTUM was inspired by producer Andrew Wight’s real life experience in 1988 when he was trapped with 14 other cave diving explorers after the entrance collapsed – all made it out alive thanks to a rescue party.

With that premise, and the addition of the risks and accidents that are known to happen in cave diving, emerges the theme of SANCTUM – but there’s a lot more.

What happens when a group of people are fighting for their lives to survive and one gets hurt, potentially jeopardizing the rest?

What happens when someone in that group slows the rest of the group down?

“What would one do in a survival situation? There’s a lot of very foolish decisions that we can make in very high stress situations…what we think we would do may not be what we actually do,” actress Alice Parkinson said.

Those questions are addressed in SANCTUM.

What impressed me about the cast is that most of them had to learn to SCUBA dive before the filming began, then they went straight to technical diving where they used rebreathers and full face masks.

The underwater cave sequences were all filmed at night in a large tank.

The actors also performed a lot of their own stunts – including a scene where two of the characters are buddy breathing from full face masks – something that seasoned commercial divers wouldn’t do

“We gradually built up the skills that we needed for the movie and kept up those skills… by the time we actually got to the diving, which was the last three or four weeks of the shoot, we were quite proficient. But we are actors making make believe, there was never any real element of true danger,” actor Ioan Gruffudd said.

The number one complaint that the cast had about using a rebreather is that you can’t take long, hard deep breaths, like you can on a simple regulator and tank – you can take a deep breathe, but it won’t let you exhale quickly; they all had to learn to relax and control their breathing.

“We started with SCUBA diving which was really quite nice, so I thought this would be a breeze. Then we had to learn to use rebreathers, which is really advanced technology… that was acting in it’s finest – pretending like we knew what we were doing.” actor Rhys Wakefield said.

What was the most frightening or tensest moment on the set?

“Personally, it wasn’t the diving or throwing myself off a cliff, it was doing that fight sequence with Rhys Wakefield, because emotions are high and we’re actually doing it for real. Rhys is literally trying to keep me under the water, I’m trying to struggle out of the water and we were exhausted fighting… when my eyeballs are rolling, it’s real because I’m gasping for air,” said actor Ioan Gruffudd.

Most of the cast that was asked said that they would continue to SCUBA dive recreationally.

“I look forward to SCUBA diving, where there’s warm water and you can always see the surface,” actor Richard Roxburgh said.

So, what did I think about SANCTUM?

Things I liked about SANCTUM:

– I’m not sure if little camera mounted remote controlled submarines are widely available, even though the technology exists, and I guess breathing directly out of an air bottle, sans the regulator, is probably possible, but SANCTUM was extremely technically accurate in the way it portrayed the equipment and dangers of cave diving. The verbiage that was used is accurate.

And yes, cave divers really do take off their equipment and shove it through narrow passages.

– It is not very predictable – some parts are, but for the most part it gets more and more unpredictable as the movie progresses.

– The 3D enhances the movie experience, and didn’t rely on any cheesy 3D gimmicks to make it better. 3D haters can enjoy the movie watching it in 2D.

The thing I didn’t like about SANCTUM:

– I’m not sure if I have a problem with Attention Deficit Disorder, but a lot of characters were introduced in a very short period of time, and it seemed that everyone was angry at everyone else when the movie started.

So when the cave started to flood, I was still trying to figure out who everyone was and exactly what was going on.

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Not only did I like the movie, but I plan on seeing the movie again, to catch the things that I missed the first time around.

During Press Day, I got to meet Mark from Neutral Dive Gear; we have been following each other’s blog for several years, but never met until now.

Sorry friends, enemies and lurkers for the lack of recent posts, but up until recently, we’ve had a lot of storms – and yes, I’m still trying to get an unwanted roommate out of my apartment.

Hopefully, things will be a lot better in February, and if so, I plan to do a lot more diving.

I checked out Veteran’s Park in Redondo Beach yesterday – it looked flat, and from the surface, it had a potential to have some good visibility.

I was planning to do a quick solo dive, however, in my haste to pack my dive gear and escape psycho chick, I had forgotten my compass.

No way was I going to dive the pretty much barren landscape of Vet’s without a compass.

After seeking asylum at an undisclosed Santa Monica location, I showed up today to finally get my first dive in for the year.

I asked Military Bob, “Do you have a compass?”

“Yes, that’s one of the things I remembered to bring,” he said.

“Good, I’m following you.”

Seems that everyone had forgotten something – fins, a regulator, etc.

Luckily, a regular diver opted out of the dive due to congestion issues, and loaned some of his equipment out to fill the voids.

The trail down was closed for maintenance, but the signs are easily bypassed until you get to the sandy beach – more on that later.

Five divers made an easy entrance off The Cove, with two others opting for The Point.

Logged SCUBA Dive #376

Off The Cove At Terranea Resort
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Dove with Military Bob, Not New Chris, Donna The Hot Biker Chick and SCJoe

In With: 2700 psi
Out With: 800 psi
Max depth: 40 feet
Waves: Slow moving, shallow rollers
Visibility: 10 feet
Water Temperature: 55 degrees – I think
Total Bottom Time: About 40 minutes

We all made a surface swim over 120 reef and submerged.

I believe we followed Military Bob most of the way, in a slow pace around the collection of reefs.

The kelp seems to have thinned out a bit since November, but the silt in the water made for a dim dive.

A sunstar and starfish.

Military Bob spotted a lobster too far in a hole to reach.

Maybe I should think about buying a fishing license and lobster report card for this year?

Donna floating in water – almost like an astronaut.

The arch at 120 reef – I only run in to it when I’m following other divers.

Now, I don’t know if I was narced or not – probably not at 40 feet – but when I saw Donna coming over the reef with a flashlight in hand, I had a flashback to my early childhood when I watched the NBC Mystery Movies of the 1970’s…

Hmmm… I really think of some weird crap when I’m diving.

A seal dive bombed the group – I was at the tail end, and didn’t get any pictures that turned out.

This was Donna The Hot Biker Chick’s first seal encounter – maybe it was a sea lion?

We came across a lobster trap…

There was a pretty good sized lobster in it that was bouncing against the walls in a panic.

The group kept going.

We followed Military Bob, hopefully back to the cove, but surfaced on the other side of the rocky finger next to the cave.

Oh well, it happens to everyone now and then.

We surface swam back to an easy exit – amazingly, with the 10 feet of visibility and five divers, we all stuck together throughout the dive.

The entire group of seven:

From left to right – Jordan, Military Bob, Nice Bob, Not So New Chris, Donna The Hot Biker Chick, SCJoe and Me.

Jordan and Nice Bob went off the point, and apparently experienced a very hairy entrance.

Now, to get to the water when the sandy beach is closed…

I’ve heard going to the left and across the shallow gully is easier, but we went to the right…

Take the right hand trail to the gully’s mouth and climb down to the beach.

Obviously, these pictures show us coming back – it’s good starter training for Honeymoon Cove.

Bob and Jordan came back with a scallop and treated everyone to some Ouzo flavored scallop sashimi.

Traditional debriefing ensued – we talked about some of the diving characters that have come and gone and some of the worst divers that we’ve met.

Let’s see – the 350 pound diver that was pulled off the rocks at The Point, who later strolled around the parking lot bare assed naked – this was when Terranea was nothing more than the vacant parking lot of Old Marineland.

Also, there was once a double tank “tech” diver who would hump his hundred pounds worth of gear down to the beach, only to be back in the parking lot when the regulars returned.

The stories continued, but eventually the beer ran out – and so, it was time to end another fun day of cheating death.