Projects
A TALE OF TWO SEAS Underwater cameraman Michael Pitts put the EX1R through its paces on this challenging nighttime shoot
Icon Films has made an hour- long film for National Geographic comparing the flora and fauna of two of the Middle East’s best known seas. Desert Seas, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, compares the outstanding marine life in the Arabian Gulf to the pristine marine environment of the Red Sea. Shot by specialist underwater cameraman
Michael Pitts, the film stood out because of the number of extensive nighttime sequences filmed using rebreather
technology, which allowed the
cameramen to stay down longer. In preparation Pitts tested a variety of cameras
in the confines of a disused, water-filled quarry and soon realised that the best camera for the low light conditions was the PMW-EX1R coupled with the Gates underwater housing. “The EX1R is so much more light sensitive. It performed brilliantly in low
26 theproducer Summer 2011
light with minimal extra illumination. To glide past light sensitive basket stars and to achieve the moody feel of a reef at night required the best camera available. The EX1R fulfilled this roll admirably.” The EX1R’s long battery life was a critical factor,
adds Pitts, because the camera needed to cope with dive times of two to three hours. As was the EX1R’s record time, with two 16GB SxS cards giving nearly two hours of high quality HD. “These factors are seemingly unimportant on the surface but they take on another dimension when filming a shipwreck in 60 meters of water,” says Pitts. “All in all the EX1R combined with the Gates
housing and the Fathom optical glass port punched far above their weight and the images of
this
completed film speak for themselves.” See The Making of at
http://vimeo.com/22736750
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36