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In Issue 93 of Australian Geographic...
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Lights, camera, potato cod A new IMAX 3D film dives deep to capture marine life. Reef, 20 m below the surface, four divers point a huge camera at the coral rubble and wait for a stonefish to attack its unsuspecting prey. “Normally there’s some sign; a dilation of the animal’s pupil, an increased movement of the gills…something that gives me a clue,” says Howard Hall, who after a lifetime of diving believes he’s able to anticipate a fish’s behaviour. The impracticality of “directing” such unwitting film stars is an everyday challenge for California-based Howard and Michele Hall, who are just completing their latest IMAX 3D film, Under The Sea 3D – the product of more than five months of underwater work in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Great Barrier Reef and southern coastline of Australia. Diver and underwater photographer Mark Spencer, a regular AG contributor (A Solitary Life, AG 86), was part of the team involved in the August 2008 Great Barrier Reef leg. His job as “launcher and recoverer” was to ferry the hefty camera between boat and ocean floor for film changes. “We would take one or two scooters [underwater propulsion vehicles] to recover the camera and tow it back,” Mark says. The process of raising the camera out of the water by crane, changing the film and lifting it back into the ocean took about 40 minutes. The four-member film team – two cameramen and two technical divers – spent an average of two hours under water for each three-minute sequence. The day they filmed the stonefish, they were immersed for six hours. Fish such as the potato cod were better ‘talent’ because, curious by nature, they had no fear of swimming right up to the camera.
PHOTOS: MARK SPENCER
O
N THE FLOOR of the Great Barrier
Wet film set. Diver Brendon Robinson (above, at le�), stabilises the 570 kg camera and housing for Je� Wildermuth, who’ll tow it to the sea floor using an underwater scooter. Once there, cameramen Peter Kragh (le�, at le�) and Howard Hall switch on the lights – powered via cable from a 110 V generator aboard the boat – and roll camera.
“They also wanted to get a shot of turtles eating jellyfish,” Mark says. “While that wasn’t amazing in itself, it looks really good in IMAX. “Howard explained to me that the ideal 3D effect was obtained when the subject was about 0.75 m from the camera. It creates the illusion that it’s off the screen: right there in front of the viewer’s face.” MARTHA TATTERSALL
Under the Sea 3D is due for release in March 2008.
THE IMAX 3D CAMERA IMAX = Image MAXimum Weight: 570 kg (including the underwater housing) Film stock: 600-plus m (two 303 m film spools running simultaneously) of 15/70 mm colour-negative film provides three minutes of footage IMAX 3D cameras worldwide: six Cost: $3 million when first developed Cost of underwater housing: $416,000
Take them out of the classroom... …and into the fascinating world of science, environment, adventure, history with Australian Geographic, packed with informative articles, spectacular photography and state-of-the-art illustrations and diagrams. They won’t even know they’re learning.
LIFT DRAG
HEAD FLYING IN A WINGSUIT
LEGS
SHOULDERS
THE SUIT is made from 300 panels of zeroporosity nylon. It has a wing-shaped pocket from each arm to the torso, and a similar pocket between the legs. With a total wing-surface area of up to 16 sq � (1.5 sq m), the amount of drag and li� the wings create requires immense body strength and fitness to hold it in flying position.
Legs are kept apart without stretching the wing. The legwing controls the speed. The straighter the legs, the faster the flight.
Rolled forward. Steering is achieved by dipping the le� shoulder to turn le� and vice versa.
ARMS Always open, but wings are not stretched. Elbows are rolled forward so they are the leading edge of the armwings.
Facing down. Li�ing the head creates extra drag and causes a loss of horizontal speed. Dropping the head sends the flyer into a dive.
THE WINGS act as air foils, directing the airflow in such a way that the pressure above the wing is less than the pressure below, thus generating li�. This allows the pilot to fly forward 3 m for every 1
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