Volcanic material is the core of Malaʻe Productions' Hawaii stock footage library: active eruption sequences at Kīlauea shot on RED 8K S35, lava ocean entries filmed from the air, week-long volcanic eruption time lapses and volcanic lightning, all gathered on the Big Island where the company is based. The same archive supplied stock video to National Geographic / PBS's Wild Hawaii: Land of Fire and Discovery Channel's Sharkcano.
What is in the library
The volcanic archive is built around Kīlauea. Eruption sequences were shot from the ground on RED 8K S35, with a Ronin 2 rig working the lava field for stabilized moves. From the air, lava ocean entries — molten rock meeting the Pacific — were filmed on the DJI Inspire fleet under FAA Part 107 with the coastal airspace authorizations those flights require. Time lapse is its own discipline here: week-long eruption sequences run on high-sensitivity full-frame cameras and programmable motion control, alongside midnight time lapses of active lava flows and volcanic lightning.
Beyond the eruptions themselves the library covers the volcanic landscape: lava rock coves and the Big Island's volcanic shore from the air, and storm fronts over the Pacific along the coastline. Stills from the same fieldwork — Lava Ocean Entry, Volcanic Lightning, Volcanic Landscape and Lava Rock Cove — are in the photography portfolio, and the moving-image versions of those subjects are what a licensing inquiry draws on.
The library is described across this site as 4K and 8K, and the RED Digital Cinema systems we shoot on record in 8K. For any specific clip we confirm the resolution, frame rate and delivery format before quoting, rather than promising a specification a particular shot does not have.
Typical licensing uses
Broadcast natural history is where this material has already been used: Wild Hawaii: Land of Fire, Sharkcano and Sharks of the Fire Goddess all grew out of the Big Island's volcanic and marine subjects. Documentary features and series license eruption sequences, ocean entries and time lapses as establishing and sequence footage. Commercial and brand films use lava as a Hawaii signature without mounting a shoot on an active lava field. Editorial and news use follows the volcano: when Kīlauea is in the headlines, a newsroom can license established eruption footage rather than wait for a crew to reach the island.
How licensing works
Licensing runs in four steps. First, an inquiry: send the lava or eruption sequence you are after, the production it is for and how it will be used, through the form below or to sales@malaeproductions.com. Second, clip selection: we pull the candidate clips from the archive and send you a selection to review, with the resolution and format of each confirmed. Third, a quote: pricing follows the use — broadcast, documentary, commercial or editorial — along with territory, term and the number of clips, and we reply with availability and pricing, typically within one business day. Fourth, delivery: once the license is agreed, the selected clips are delivered at the resolution and format in the quote.
If the sequence you need is not in the archive, the Big Island is home: the crew, the RED fleet, the Part 107 drone operation and the UTVs and 4x4 trucks that reach the lava fields are already on the island, so new volcanic footage can be shot to order, subject to what the volcano is doing.
Lava footage questions
Is the Kīlauea eruption footage 8K?
The active eruption sequences at Kīlauea were shot on RED 8K S35. Aerial lava ocean entries and the eruption time lapses come from the drone fleet and the time-lapse cameras, so their resolution differs by clip. We confirm the resolution and format of every clip in the selection before quoting.
Can you shoot new lava footage if the library does not have the shot?
Yes, subject to volcanic activity. Malaʻe Productions is based on the Big Island, with the RED cameras, Part 107 drone fleet, motion control and the UTVs and 4x4 trucks that reach the lava fields already on the island. Send the shot list and dates and we quote a shoot alongside the licensing option.
How does the license differ between broadcast and commercial use?
The quote follows the use, the territory, the term and the number of clips. Tell us whether the footage is for broadcast, a documentary, a commercial or editorial use and where it will run, and the quote is written for that use.
Are the eruption time lapses delivered as finished sequences?
The week-long volcanic eruption time lapses exist as sequences, and we confirm the length, resolution and format of any time-lapse clip during clip selection so you know exactly what is being licensed.
Credits that drew on this subject
- Wild Hawaii: Land of Fire (National Geographic / PBS)
- Sharkcano (Discovery Channel)
- Sharks of the Fire Goddess (Discovery Channel)
More stock footage subjects
License lava footage
Describe the eruption, ocean entry or time-lapse sequence you need, the production and how it will be used. We reply with availability and pricing, typically within one business day.
Related
- All stock footage
- Big Island video production
- Cinema — Malaʻe Productions has filmed Hawaii's natural world for broadcast since 2003 — as Directors of Photography and cinematographers on PBS Nature's Sharks of Hawaii, National Geographic's Wild Hawaii: Secrets of the Deep and Wild Hawaii: Land of Fire, and Discovery Channel's Sharkcano and Sharks of the Fire Goddess.
- Contact — Tell us about your production, rental or stock footage needs anywhere in Hawaii. We reply with availability and pricing, typically within one business day.