Challenges of Filming at the Salton Sea

Filming in nature presents a unique set of challenges, from unpredictable weather to unpredictable wildlife encounters. Amongst the many critters that can disrupt a shoot, flies certainly take the prize for being the most annoying. Despite their small size, these pesky insects can cause quite a buzz on the set, adding an extra level of difficulty for filmmakers striving to capture that perfect shot.

I was recently filming a video for The California Natural Resource Agency at the Salton Sea. The video covers what work is being done at the Salton Sea to help the local wildlife thrive in that area, as well as help mitigate some of the dangers to the local community in terms of dust and sediment.

While filming, we quickly realized that the flies in the area were out of control that day. Even though I was going to be using B-roll to cover most of the speeches, the flies would go right for their mouths or eyes which just caused a huge distraction.

Not only was it interrupting their speech patterns, but it interrupted their train of thought. So we were constantly resetting on what they were saying.

The only way we might have been able to control some of the problem would be the use of fly repellent, screens, and netting around the set. But that wasn’t an option that day unfortunately. This was definitely a lesson learned about filming in these locations.