Red Earth & Reptiles
Kimberley, Australia Expedition Day 2 of 14
Written by Scott David Martin | April 30, 2023
The Dash [ - ] goes behind the scenes of a WABU filmmaking expedition in the remote Northwest region of Australia, The Kimberley. In this 14-part series, we’ll share the highs and lows, from marathon shoots aboard luxurious yachts to heart-stopping encounters with nature's fiercest creatures.
Greens, oranges, & blues driving to Roebuck Bay
I was squinting at the GPS in the front seat.
Dave was behind the wheel, Chris & Marc in the back.
Drone cases stacked between us like Jenga blocks.
We were supposed to be halfway to Roebuck Bay by now.
The GPS had other plans.
"Uh… where are we?" I asked, watching the little blue dot do donuts in the middle of nowhere.
We’re not lost… we’re in Australia.
Roebuck Bay 18.0858° S, 122.2831° E
The road to Roebuck Bay
Mars on Earth
By the time we arrived at Roebuck Bay, we’d lost two hours of scouting light.
BUT the moment we touched the sand, everything else evaporated.
The ground beneath us glowed orange.
It looked like someone painted the shoreline with ochre and set it on fire.
The orange bled into the sea. The color shifted as far as the eye could see.
I was standing in the middle of a color palette no camera could ever fully capture.
We did what we always do in moments like this:
Stopped talking. Started shooting.
WABU Producer Marc and WABU Director Scott on the road near Roebuck Bay
Aerial view of Roebuck Bay ©SEABOURN
WABU DIT Captain Ernest Puppleton
BUT despite the beauty, despite the magic, I could barely enjoy it.
I hadn’t eaten in over 36 hours.
I’d maybe slept a few.
My brain was buzzing, my stomach churning.
Still, I thought:
This is the scene. This is the moment.
It was a gut punch when, weeks later in the edit, we cut it.
Another reminder of Story first. Always story first.
Crocs & Deadlines
The next stop was the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park.
And we were behind schedule.
We had one goal:
Scout a close-up of a crocodile’s eye opening.
Simple in concept. Ambitious in execution.
Months earlier, we debated how to get it:
Do we camp out in the wild and wait for the perfect shot?
Or do we simulate it in a controlled environment to save time and budget?
We chose the second option.
As I walked past the enclosures, the tension built.
BUT Day three with the crocs would really surprise all of us.
Dinosaur Footprints at Low Tide ©SEABOURN
Scouting into Prehistoric Time
The midday sun didn’t care about our call sheet.
And the heat punched us in the face.
103 degrees Fahrenheit.
No wind.
Just sun, sweat, and silence.
We kept moving.
One of the most intriguing discoveries during our entire pre-production phase:
Dinosaur footprints.
Ancient. Perfectly preserved.
BUT they only reveal themselves at low tide.
Miss that moment? Miss the shot.
A cool, 103 Degrees Fahrenheit
The storyboard called for a close-up of a human hand in a dinosaur footprint.
We called in an expert.
A local paleontologist who could walk this prehistoric coastline in her sleep.
She met us at the edge of the reef, pointed to the rocks, and said:
"You’ve got about an hour before the tide comes in. Let's go."
We rushed to the spot.
I crouched down and ran my hand over the imprint of a dinosaur’s foot.
The sand was warm.
The texture, rough like coral.
I thought:
I am touching a ghost.
It felt like a handshake 130 million years in the making.
That night, we laid out the gear.
Battery charging. Cards dumping.
I stared at the tiny red sand grains still stuck to the tripod legs.
We were already deep in the story.
On the next Dash [ - ].
Does the crocodile eat our drone?
