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Underwater Cinematography
From islands in the Pacific to the coastline of Alaska; and from the Magellan
Straits to the Red Sea, giant screen audiences have toured the world's
oceans through the lens of MacGillivray Freeman Films. At least one-third of
their nearly two-dozen large-format films contain sequences on or in the ocean.
For Dolphins and their other underwater film projects, MacGillivray
Freeman mounted the large-format camera on boat bows, sterns and masts. Film
teams also mount cameras on the front of "scooters," torpedo-shaped
vehicles steered by a camera operator. The scooters, which travel about three
miles per hour, are narrow, so the camera can move through tighter spaces and
get closer to the surface of reefs, giving audiences the feeling that
they're "soaring" through the water environment. Most of the
underwater camera movement in any one film, however, is accomplished by the
cinematographer himself. And to the cinematographer and his crew, the
large-format camera is affectionately named, "the pig."
Large-format cameras weigh 100 pounds. Filming underwater adds another 150
pounds for the camera's waterproof housing. True, filming underwater
lightens the load, but the sheer bulk of the camera makes it very difficult to
maneuver. Size generates momentum and currents and waves buffet the camera,
making it harder to control than smaller cameras.
The film magazines, which each weigh 10 pounds, contain only three minutes of
film. Greg MacGillivray, the Producer/Director of Dolphins, chose to film
several of the underwater sequences in slow motion to capture the beauty of
dolphin physiology and movement. This actually speeds up the film going through
the camera. Instead of 24 frames per second, the film charges through the camera
at 48 frames per second. A three-minute film magazine now yields just 90 seconds
of action.
Those logistical nightmares are present no matter where a large-format
cinematographer is shooting. Dolphins complicate everything. MacGillivray
Freeman cinematographer and technology director Brad Ohlund says, "Dolphins
are fast-moving, elusive animals. Filming them means you're in a situation
that requires rapid deployment of the camera." Normally, large-format
cinematographers use winches to get the 250-pound camera in and out of the
water, but a winch is too slow for dolphin photography, so the film team built
ramps on the boats to push the camera into the water.
One of the most memorable moments for cinematographer Bob Talbot was not when
he photographed a beautifully poised dolphin in dramatic lighting; it was when
the camera and housing slid down the boat transom, into the water, narrowly
missing the waiting cinematographer's head! "I could only
think...wow, wouldn't that have been a classic way for me to go," he
later joked (much later).
Another challenge for the underwater film team in the Bahamas was to be in
clear water with cloudless skies so there would be enough light for the scene.
"We were jumping in holes between clouds," described Talbot.
Fortunately, most of the cinematography for the film occurred within 30 feet of
the ocean's surface. Because natural lighting extends to those depths,
artificial lighting was not necessary. Dolphins would be virtually impossible to
track with light beams anyway, as their movement through the water is quick and
unpredictable.
Off the coast of Argentina, another experienced underwater cinematographer,
Paul Atkins and his sound recordist, producer and wife Grace Atkins, declared a
new-found respect for the large-format underwater camera: Miss Piggy.
"Filming in the large-format is dramatically different than 16mm or
35mm," shared Grace. "The bulkiness of the format requires more than
twice the cases and equipment than the smaller film formats. When you're
traveling to remote locations and filming underwater, the details of the shoot
become mind-numbing."
After searching twelve hours each day for wild dolphins, and battling
"Miss Piggy" in 90-second increments, the crew then spends four or
more hours each evening cleaning the salt and sand off of all of the equipment
to prepare for the next day. Film teams followed this routine for four weeks at
each location in the film. They'll all say it's worthwhile. Each
underwater cinematographer knows that their exquisitely beautiful images will
appear on the biggest screens in the world, immersing audiences in an
environment that these cinematographers love, want to share, and have dedicated
their lives to help preserve.
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