For more than 20 years, Mark Sharman has worked beneath the surface as an underwater cinematographer, filming for broadcast, documentary and commercial productions around the world.
Now, underwater cinematography is entering a new era….
In July 2026 Mark completed his specialist training to operate the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera underwater, using the Gates Immersive Housing. He is now one of just 21 operators globally trained to work with this system underwater.
It opens up an entirely new creative discipline: underwater immersive cinematography.
Instead of simply watching the underwater world through a conventional frame, immersive filmmaking has the potential to place the viewer inside it — surrounded by the environment, movement and atmosphere of the ocean.
Taking immersive underwater
Immersive filmmaking is not simply traditional underwater cinematography in a different format.
The Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive has been designed specifically for Apple Immersive Video, capturing stereoscopic 180-degree footage at very high resolution and frame rates. Combined with the Gates Immersive Housing, the system can take this new generation of spatial filmmaking beneath the surface.
For an underwater cinematographer, that changes the creative possibilities considerably:
“A conventional camera asks the audience to look at a scene. Immersive cinematography gives them the feeling of actually being there.
The technology makes that possible, but the technology itself isn’t the story. What interests me is what happens when the audience feels truly present inside the world you’re filming.
For me, this is the natural evolution from underwater cinematography to immersive storytelling”
A new generation of immersive filmmaking technology:
“My experience underwater has always been about more than simply operating a camera. You have to understand the environment — the movement of the water, the light, buoyancy, wildlife behaviour and the way all of those things come together visually.
It also takes patience. Knowing when to move, when to wait, and when to let a moment unfold naturally.
Immersive filmmaking adds another dimension to that craft. The viewer has a much greater sense of space and presence, so movement, composition, proximity and pacing all become part of the experience in new ways.
For me, it isn’t a departure from underwater cinematography. It’s the natural evolution of it.”
The creative possibilities extend far beyond traditional natural history filmmaking. Immersive underwater cinematography can open new opportunities for:
Documentary & natural history
Bringing audiences closer to wildlife, environments and stories that are difficult or impossible to experience in person.Brands & commercial productions
Creating distinctive cinematic experiences
Underwater cinematography • Luxury brands • Human stories • Advertising • Experiential • ArtImmersive cinema & installations
Creating large-scale experiences
Museums • Galleries • Immersive venues • Hotels •Spas • Exhibitions • Public spacesSpatial media
Developing content for Apple Vision Pro and the growing ecosystem of premium spatial experiences.Education & exploration
Giving audiences an entirely new way to experience marine environments, scientific research, exploration and underwater heritage.
For Mark, underwater immersive cinematography represents the next chapter in an already established career. With more than two decades of experience filming underwater around the world, he brings the practical knowledge of working in challenging underwater environments together with specialist training in one of the newest forms of cinematic capture.
The result is a rare combination:
Underwater expertise
Immersive technology
Cinematic storytelling
Mark is available for underwater immersive productions, documentaries, brand collaborations, installations and experimental projects worldwide.
If you're a production company, creative agency, brand, filmmaker or immersive experience developer exploring what underwater immersive could bring to your next project, please feel free to get in touch.
Mark +44 (0)7779 227307 mark@sharmancam.co.uk
