Construction documentary video we produced for an offshore public works project for the LA Dept of Water and Power and for L3 Harris MariPro, the contractor.

It was quite an honor to be a part of this project. The work that the teams from the LA DWP and from L3 Harris did was unbelievable. They truly are masters at their job. As a team of construction videographers and photographers, it was fascinating and a joy to see their work. The project finished on schedule with no safety issues whatsoever. Quite a success!

What was the project for?

The project increases the capacity of the City of Los Angeles power grid which now, with the completion of this project, allows for 50% of the city’s electricity to provided by green renewable energy sources. The LA DWP and the City of Los Angeles are looking to increase that percentage eventually to 100%.

The project was very complex and involved. It involved placing 36 concrete vault structures that weighed 25 tons each on the ocean floor in the Santa Monica bay about 2 miles offshore.

Related article: construction videographer.

The vaults were loaded into the ocean from the barge. Each vault contains 4 electrodes and the 36 vaults are connected to each other and through a massive amount of cabling that runs from their offshore location two miles out, to an onshore node in Pacific Palisades where it connects to an electrical system that originates in Oregon and to the electrical grid for the city.

Sophisticated video and diving gear enabled the underwater crew to monitor and to precisely place each vault on the ocean floor and to make sure all cable connections were in place. Wildlife monitors oversaw all the steps of the process to ensure all marine life and birds were safe.

What did the construction video documentation involve?

We were hired to film and photograph all the stages of the installation over a 4 month period. It included approximately 41 days of filming offshore on the installation barge in the Santa Monica Bay and about 8 days in the port of Long Beach and onshore in Pacific Palisades. The project included aerial drone footage and timelapse shots as well as photography.

After all the documentary filming and photography was completed, the 8 minute Highlight Reel was edited. Since there were hours and hours of footage, it was quite a challenge picking the shots for the Highlight Reel.

Related article: construction video production.

The goal of the reel was to tell the story of the installation from start to finish. The final shots selected were chosen on that basis and they represent the main steps of the project. Keeping the goal in mind while editing made it easier yet there were a lot of great shots that didn’t make the final edit as it was impossible to include everything in an 8 minute video.

Gate5 filmed a two camera interview with a representative of the LA DWP to give a brief introduction to the project and the video and that intro was inserted at the beginning of the Highlight Reel for the full longer version.

For more info on the shoot, read our post, Construction Photo Documentation.

Construction documentary video production by Gate5

Gate5 is a creative video agency and full service video production company in Los Angeles producing high quality video content for the web, social media outlets, public kiosks and broadcast TV. Our clients are large corporations, small businesses and advertising agencies.

Our construction videography and video documentation services include filming crews with aerial drone footage, time-lapse capture and still photography. We offer story consultation and development, scriptwriting, single and full filming crews, video editing, animation and visual graphics and voice over talent.

We conceptualize, write scripts, direct, cast, film and edit product and explainer videos, branded films, promotional and training videos, web and TV commercials, episodic content and live video streaming production.

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