Emphasis on reality is adventure of its own

Press, 11 August 1977, Page 10

Emphasis on reality is adventure of its own

One word above all has characterised the production of "The Deep,” which begins tomorrow at the Regent cinema — and that is “reality.” The filming of the adventure based on Peter Benchley’s best seller became an adventure in itself, involving innovative production techniques developed to capture the suspense, the beauty, and the terror above and below the surface of the ocean.

Nearly 40 per cent of the film takes place underwater, another 15 per cent on the surface of the water and the other 45 per cent on land or at interior settings. The stars of the film — Robert Shaw as Treece, Jacqueline Bisset as Gail, Nick Nolte as David. Louis Gossett as Cloche — had to learn to dive, and then had to learn how to act under the water. (The fifth star, Eli Wallach as Coffin, had all of his scenes above the water.) Director Peter Yates, producer Peter Guber, and the director of photograp h y , Christopher Challis, also learned to dive, joining the most experienced and versatile underwater team of cinematographic experts ever assembled. The underwater crew, headed by Al Giddings and Stan Waterman, comprised 80 per cent of the best underwater talent in the world. “The Deep” was filmed in four oceans, at depths of 60ft to 100 ft, on locations in the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The film’s stars, production team and supporting players made a total of 9895 dives, 10,780 manhours beneath the surface, and consumed 1,054,000 cubic feet of compressed air in shooting the underwater portion of the movie.

Filming of “The Deep” began on July 5, 1976, between Salt Island and Peter Island of the British Virgin Islands. The “set” was an actual shipwreck — the Royal Mail ship, Rhone, which sank tn a hurricane in 1867 with 125 of her crew of 135 lost.

Although it is split into

sections and angled from 30 to 90 feet, it is a perfect example of a coral-en-crusted iron wreck and offered the film company its first opportunity for exceptional realism.

The waters off the British Virgin Islands are noted for their colour and clarity, another prime consideration for the selection of the site.

Shaw, Bisset, Nolte and Gossett began their diving lessons at home before flying to the British Virgin Islands. Upon arrival, personal instruction began again under the supervision of Al Giddings. Within days, each of them was diving in the ocean, an experience that was totally new. In order to utilise the wreck of the Rhone exclusively, the film company obtained the co-oper-ation of the British Virgin Islands Government and all sport diving around Rhone was halted during production. This year, with the release of the film, the Rhone will become a favourite for scuba divers the world over. The islands anticipate a tourist upsurge. The generally accepted account of the discovery of the British Virgin Islands is that Columbus found them in 1493. Their first recorded history, however, was in 1559 when Sir Francis Drake passed through the string of islands located near Puerto Rico.

The company filmed in the British Virgin Islands throughout July. Every frame was underwater. The British Virgin Islands gave Al Giddings his first test of the special camera equipment designed for “The Deep.”

The action required movement and flexibility that would match the effectiveness of the best cameras on the surface — reflex viewing, inter changeable lenses, and total mobility. The state of the art had not yet advanced to that point. Giddings is responsible for these tremendous advancements in the art of underwater cinematography. He designed and built the camera systems for the 35 mm Panavision cameras that enabled him, Waterman and their team to bring heretofore un-

equalled beauty and realism to aquatic filming. This was made possible primarily by Giddings’ design of convex glass portholes on the camera housing.

In Jacques Cousteau’s underwater work, the cameras involved are 16 mm, and the porthole glass has a flat surface which reduces considerably the more three-di-mensional qualities possible with Giddings’ equipment.

In addition, although the Panavision company has camera housings for this purpose, virtually a crane is needed to lift them in and out of the water.

Previously, such cameras weighed 225 lb; Giddings’ cameras weighed but 8 oz in the water. With reflex viewing, a vast array of lens systems and monitor controls, the three camera set-ups reached far beyond anything in use.

Coincidental with the development of the cameras, the team developed revolutionary lighting techniques that would cover larger areas with greater flexibility. The development of the cameras was so complex that the first test was made just two days before the start of production, but thanks to the craftmanship of Giddings and his associates, they worked perfectly, with not one leak or difficulty throughout the shooting of the film.

Never in motion picture history had a director, cinematographers, lighting men, sound men ana prop men functioned underwater for so many hours. Never before had a dramatic story been photographed so extensively in and under the water with stars. Because of these conditions another “first” was acquired for “The Deep.” Geri Murphy became the first underwater script continuity girl, complete with underwater writing tablet fastened to her wet suit. In the British Virgin Islands and in the ocean dives in Bermuda and Australia, the depth of the dives limited the number of hours of actual filming. In the British Virgin Islands, for example, there

was an average of three dives per dav, consuming, however, the entire day. Before each dive, Yates and his team reviewed the action on a blackboard, carefully outlining the scene and its movements. After many days of filming, the team often would have to decompress to avoid the "bends.

This often meant hanging onto a mouthpiece feeding compressed air some 30ft under the boat. On the boat, a surgeon and decompression chamber were always at the ready.

There were close calls. Nolte was 90ft deep and far into the wreck, wearing a Descomask attached to 200 ft of air hose that led back through the ship up to the surface boat’s compressor.

Suddenly, the word was transmitted by the underwater speaker that the onship compressor had broken down. Everyone was ordered to the surface.

The underwater experts had been stationed at key points throughout the wreck for just such an emergency. They quickly moved to Nick’s assistance but, as one of them said later, he had kept his composure and it was his control in the face of danger that averted a tragedy. The knowledge that security experts were always in the water filming and watching gave the entire company a sense of safety that overcame their initial fears and hesitations.

They were able to concentrate on the dramatic requirements, knowing that others were ready to handle an emergency.

Sound too, was not overlooked in the search for realism. The sea is not silent. More than just the hollow ringing of one's bubbles are heard, once the diver is acclimatised.

The morphine ampule* and the glass container* tinkle about, the ship rolls and groans, tanks bang against the meta) and coral, munitions explode. The trailer dredge has its own roar, the ambiance of the sea itself, in terms of the sound, had to be achieved. (Continued on page 12)