location management

Asia Film Location Fixer, Natural History filming, documentary

Filming fireflies in Borneo

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Did you know that the family of the Lampyridae, or fireflies, consist of around 2000 different species? Well, I also only found out about this when I was asked to scout locations to film fireflies for a high-end natural history production from the UK.

Most fireflies are nocturnal and produce bioluminescence to attract a mate. In large aggregations, this can result into an amazing light spectacle, especially on new moon nights. In the past, filming this spectacle was a frustrating endeavour, but modern digital camera technology has given us incredible sensitive sensors, picking up even the slightest amount of light. In fact, too much light in form of light pollution coming from urban areas, roads, airports, even offshore oil rigs, seems to be the bigger problem these days as many astrophotographers surely will confirm you.

Fireflies filming in Borneo

Scouting firefly locations sounded like an easy task, but I realised very quick that so many factors had to be right to provide the ideal conditions for that perfect “wow” scene.

Borneo’s fireflies move from one area to another; so the one tree with that very large aggregation you carefully scouted last month might not be suitable anymore by the time the production crew arrives.

Fireflies change their activity levels depending on temperature and humidity; one of the best conditions for filming I found to be right after a heavy tropical rainfall, just after sunset, on a new moon night!

There are some tricks to attract firefly males towards your camera using a small blinking LED lights imitating either a female or another male who has successfully mated (I’m not sure which one it is?). The problem is you have to get the blinking frequency, light output intensity and colour, as well as colour temperature just right, and every species (or even every population?) seems to have its own combination. But with a lot of different green and yellow filters and plenty of trial and error, you will eventually be able to fool them.

The best firefly locations in Borneo are in mangrove areas, which are known to be infested with mosquitos. You can’t use insect repellent as it will repel the fireflies too, so you have to cover every inch of your body or you will get eaten alive.

Some of these mangroves also are inhabited by crocodiles, something to keep in mind while watching over your day to night time-lapse just next to the river’s edge.

Eric Madeja / AsiaFixer.TV

Asia Film Location Fixer, papua, human skulls, tribes

Location scouting for extreme TV survival show

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Recently I was assigned to find a suitable location in the Coral Triangle for a new “survival show” to be produced for a major broadcaster. In each episode the presenter was to be dropped alone into a remote, “extreme” location, carrying little more than the clothes he is wearing and a camera to film himself. His challenge would be to navigate and survive a treacherous journey to an extraction point 10 days ahead without any direct help or support. During his journey, he will have to lean on his experience in survival to find water, forage, hunt and trap for food, find materials to make a fire, and find or build a shelter.

I was looking for a location which conformed to a number of requirements:

  • The location is to provide enough features to provide the presenter with a reasonable chance to complete his challenge.
  • The visual aspect of the environment is a major consideration. We aim for big vistas and visually different terrain; drop-off point and extraction point need to be visually very different.
  • The journey needs to be inspiring and possibly involve local myths and stories.
  • The terrain had to be accessible for a Medevac team with a guaranteed means of escape for safety and medical support in case of an emergency.
  • A “back-up and emergency crew” base needs to be within hours reach and mobile enough to adapt to the presenters’ movements.
  • The presenter should be in isolation and not encounter any people while on his journey.
  • All permits, including for the presenter to hunt and forage, needs to be cleared in advance.
  • It all has to be made possible within a given budget.

I have been living, travelling, working and most importantly building up a network of people throughout Southeast Asia for almost two decades, an asset which proves indispensable when scouting for new filming locations. As always, I started compiling a list of locations I had in mind and crossed off the ones which I knew would not be able to fulfil safety requirements or be within budget. For the remaining locations on the list, initial inquiries, discussions with local contacts and research on permits was made until I finally ended up proposing four different locations; one in Malaysia (on Borneo), one in the Solomon Islands and two in Indonesia.

The executive producer made up his mind in a matter of days and approved the needed budget to scout the location, and just two weeks later I’m sitting on an aeroplane bound for West Papua in Indonesia.

Meetings with provincial government officials, suppliers, transport operators confirmed that permits and logistics were feasible. We established possible Medevac solutions and inspected hospitals, checking for details such as the right anti-venoms in case of snake bites.

river, papua, filming, survival show,
Pristine Rivers in West Papua
Rainforest streams in West Papua.
cave, skeleton, bones, human, burial
Human remains placed in a small cave along the coast.

In addition to a comprehensive location scouting report, I always provide visual documentation in the form of videos and photographs to our clients. This also means that sometimes I have to try out myself the various challenges the location might provide.

After 7 exhausting days exploring pristine rivers and rainforest teeming with birdlife, beautiful mangrove forests and lagoons, scenic karst mountains, unique fjord-like bays, marine lakes and massive caves, I was convinced that we have found the right place for the program.

Note: Since the program hasn’t been announced yet by the broadcaster, we are not allowed to disclose the name of the program nor the exact location.

Eric Madeja / AsiaFixer.TV can be hired as a location scout in Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Vietnam and The Solomon Islands.