Documentary production in Cornwall – what we’ve been doing as Shark Bay Films

Documentary production in Cornwall is how we started out. Trading as Shark Bay Films we have been delivering documentaries to the worldwide television market for over 30 years. Through agents – including National Geographic  and Disney – these sell to international television stations. Both national broadcasters and global companies screen our films. Check this link to see the principal sales of our films over the years.

But our latest project is probably our most ambitious ever. Under the working title “Remains of War” we are producing a 3 part documentary series. The concept is to tell the story of the war in the Pacific through the tangible wreckage that is still there.

And there is plenty to film!

Wrecks of ships of all types still contain their cargoes and have tales to tell. Some are partly beached where they landed invasion forces and supplies; others lie deep below the waves where they were sunk by air attack or in sea battle.

Bridge of Japanese shipwreck Truk Lagoon

Wreckage in the jungle

Artillery pieces still aim where they last fired 80 years ago. Japanese tunnel complexes that could house thousands of soldiers. Abandoned tanks, vehicles and weapons litter the jungle. An undersea military scrap yard where the US forces dumped all their equipment rather than taking it home. The biggest liner sunk in the Pacific war.

Japanese wartime tunnel system

On land and under the ocean lie all types of aircraft, from large bombers to small fighter planes – often intact. Tragic tales are linked with many. More obscure and intriguing remains, such as a line of one-man Japanese tanks sitting perfectly upright on the sea floor, submarines, barges in caves… Wildlife has made the debris its home. Jungle and forest have absorbed it.

Tank Palau

Not only are the films a visual journey through the scrap yard of war relics in jungle, on mountain, and under the sea. They also tell fascinating and often forgotten tales of the war and the people involved. Archive footage from the time will give immediacy to the narrative.

Filming has taken us to some intriguing places in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Palau and Chuuk Lagoon.

So now the hard work starts – editing three hour-long documentaries! But that’s all part of the fun of documentary production in Cornwall!