The Verzasca Dam is well known from the James Bond movie GoldenEye. Currently, the reservoir is empty due to maintenance works. We shot some footage of the fascinating landscape and lost places, normally covered by 200m of water.

Fascinating! Even the trees are still there.

Absolutely amazing footage Schwendi.   So cool to see what has been hidden for the last 50 years.  It's amazing how well preserved the trees are.  

Interesting to see it, fully empty!  And in photo here, same place, and for those with "hang" to some extra action!

Depp Posted at 2-22 04:36
Fascinating! Even the trees are still there.

thank you! Yes I was especially fascinated by how well the trees are preserved after 56 years under water. Really amazing...

DowntownRDB Posted at 2-22 07:29
Absolutely amazing footage Schwendi.   So cool to see what has been hidden for the last 50 years.  It's amazing how well preserved the trees are.

Thank you so much! It was really cool to be there and see all this uncovered now.

ebea Posted at 2-22 08:09
Interesting to see it, fully empty!  And in photo here, same place, and for those with "hang" to some extra action!

How cool is that! Is this you? I never made the bungee jump yet, but I may have to try it one day. I hope I have enough courage.

What incredible views! It must hold a monumental volume of water when full.

Schwendi Posted at 2-22 08:18
How cool is that! Is this you? I never made the bungee jump yet, but I may have to try it one day. I hope I have enough courage.

No, not me; I'm too old for that ;-) And I always have in mind, that the entire attachments to the Body, may fall off.

Blériot53 Posted at 2-22 09:16
What incredible views! It must hold a monumental volume of water when full.

Yes, it does. I was many times there, since I was a child. It's impressive, how large the lake is.

ebea Posted at 2-22 10:29
No, not me; I'm too old for that ;-) And I always have in mind, that the entire attachments to the Body, may fall off.

Yeah :-). We are not James Bond, haha

Schwendi Posted at 2-23 00:24
Yes, it does. I was many times there, since I was a child. It's impressive, how large the lake is.

Once the repairs and maintenance are completed, and the reservoir eventually refilled, I suppose it's unlikely ever to be seen so empty again in our lifetimes?

Blériot53 Posted at 2-23 00:39
Once the repairs and maintenance are completed, and the reservoir eventually refilled, I suppose it's unlikely ever to be seen so empty again in our lifetimes?

Well, I'm not sure about that. The newspapers exaggerated a bit about that point. In fact the lake was empty as well somewhen in the 90ties. So I think this will happen again in our livetime. But the special thing now is, that it remains empty for a pretty long time, i.e for few months. They say, it will stay empty until around Easter. I think this won't happen again in our lifetime, that it will be empty for so long. Currently they have a very dry period in Ticino...

Beautiful footage.   

DAFlys Posted at 2-23 01:08
Beautiful footage.

Thank you! I was very happy, when I watched the footage the first time. I really like my Mavic Air2, it's still a very good drone for this price.

Schwendi Posted at 2-23 01:27
Thank you! I was very happy, when I watched the footage the first time. I really like my Mavic Air2, it's still a very good drone for this price.

You're very welcome.

Nicely shot! The slow pace gives it really appropriate eerie feel.

Schwendi Posted at 2-22 08:17
Thank you so much! It was really cool to be there and see all this uncovered now.

My pleasure Schwendi.    Have a great day and a wonderful week.  

No Original Thought Posted at 2-23 02:19
Nicely shot! The slow pace gives it really appropriate eerie feel.

Thank you! In editing tutorials, I'm always told to cut every few seconds for a good pace. But I definitively didn't follow this rule here and I like the result. In my opinion it's much more immersive to cut longer scenes. Of course it depends on the type of video and the subject.

Most scenes I shot in the slow and smooth tripod mode, that way my poor pilot skills don't ruin the shot with too fast direction changes etc.. I increased the speed in editing then at some places.

Schwendi Posted at 2-23 04:38
Thank you! In editing tutorials, I'm always told to cut every few seconds for a good pace. But I definitively didn't follow this rule here   and I like the result. In my opinion it's much more immersive to cut longer scenes. Of course it depends on the type of video and the subject.

Most scenes I shot in the slow and smooth tripod mode, that way my poor pilot skills don't ruin the shot with too fast direction changes etc.. I increased the speed in editing then at some places.

You defintely made the right creative choices - it works so well for the subject mater.

No Original Thought Posted at 2-23 05:06
You defintely made the right creative choices - it works so well for the subject mater.

Thank you so much for this encouraging feedback, I appreciate!

Schwendi Posted at 2-23 00:49
Well, I'm not sure about that. The newspapers exaggerated a bit about that point. In fact the lake was empty as well somewhen in the 90ties. So I think this will happen again in our livetime. But the special thing now is, that it remains empty for a pretty long time, i.e for few months. They say, it will stay empty until around Easter. I think this won't happen again in our lifetime, that it will be empty for so long. Currently they have a very dry period in Ticino...

Just the opposite here. Torrential rain has saturated the high ground, and the run-off is overflowing from the rivers and causing localised flooding.  (Not here, thankfully).

Blériot53 Posted at 2-23 06:31
Just the opposite here. Torrential rain has saturated the high ground, and the run-off is overflowing from the rivers and causing localised flooding.  (Not here, thankfully).

Oh, take care...

Schwendi Posted at 2-23 06:37
Oh, take care...

No worries - I haven't even got my feet wet.

That's awesome, kind of scary that all the trees are still there.

Fred Fred Fred Posted at 2-23 17:19
That's awesome, kind of scary that all the trees are still there.

thank you. Yes, the trees look indeed strange. But fascinating, that they are so well preserved after 56 years under water...

Schwendi Posted at 2-24 00:06
thank you. Yes, the trees look indeed strange. But fascinating, that they are so well preserved after 56 years under water...

Wow 56 years! Seeing that was a once in a life time experience then, so cool that you got to shoot this.

Fred Fred Fred Posted at 2-24 00:10
Wow 56 years! Seeing that was a once in a life time experience then, so cool that you got to shoot this.

well, it was empty for a very short time in the 90ties, as far as I know. Not sure if it was completely empty. And I guess they will have to to do maintenance in future as well, so it will be empty again. But normally only very short and now it's longer (few months) and almost completely empty. So yeah, it's kind of a once in a life time experience, at least for me . Very special for me, because I was there many times since I was a child, I like the valley and the lake. And to see it now empty was amazing for me.

very nice video thanks for sharing

Nice shots!

ShiuRao Posted at 2-25 14:11
very nice video thanks for sharing

my pleasure! thank you for your appreciated feedback!

NeonOrange Posted at 2-25 14:57
Nice shots!

Thank you and have a nice week!

Impressive footage.
Those trees could make for some nice hardened lumber.

Montfrooij Posted at 2-28 04:52
Impressive footage.
Those trees could make for some nice hardened lumber.

Yes, indeed. A friend of mine talked about making a table from this old wood.

Schwendi Posted at 2-28 08:17
Yes, indeed. A friend of mine talked about making a table from this old wood.

Smart friend

Schwendi Posted at 2-28 00:34
my pleasure! thank you for your appreciated feedback!

You're welcome!