Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron successfully completed a solo dive to the South Pacific’s Challenger Deep, the deepest point on the planet. The preparation and dive are documented in the National Geographic film James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D. stage of the expedition. With a tight window of opportunity for the dive, a new cinematographer and co-director were needed. Producer John Bruno (Ghosts of the Abyss; AC July ’03) took Wight’s place at the helm, and Jules O’Loughlin, ACS’s camerawork on another Cameron- produced 3-D project, Sanctum (AC Feb. ’11), made him the ideal candidate to take the cinematography reins. “John knows how to cover sub launches and recoveries, and the various activities on the ship deck, and Jules knows how to shoot good 3-D,” says Cameron. “Between the two of them, we were covered.” Deepest-Sea Explorers ing the bottom would make Cameron one Much of Stokes’ crew, including I By Iain Stasukevich of only three human beings to do so, after gaffer/key grip Aaron Walker, stayed on for explorers Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard the expedition, sailing aboard the multipur- There are two narratives at play in made their descent in the Trieste some 50 pose vessel Mermaid Sapphire. O’Loughlin the National Geographic documentary years earlier. and camera operators Chris McHattie and 3D. Challenge and Deepsea Geographic of National courtesy Thiessen, by Mark photos James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D. The film’s main focus is the expedi- Justin Hanrahan employed multiple plat- One tells the story of the young Cameron, tion, from its early development to the forms across an integrated 3-D system child of the ’60s and avid viewer of The construction and launching of the manned designed by Cameron-Pace Group’s Vince Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, Deepsea Challenger submersible. Cine- Pace, ASC. Stereographer Manning Tillman developing a keen interest in ocean explo- matographer John Stokes, ACS spent a year pulled focus and set interocular and conver- ration. The other is a document of filming the construction of the submersible, gence for a handheld Red Epic MX Fusion Cameron, the Oscar-winning filmmaker but departed the project in the wake of co- rig from CPG, while 3-D camera systems and explorer, preparing to make an historic director Andrew Wight and U.S. underwa- engineer John Turner set convergence and descent to the deepest point on the planet, ter cinematographer Mike deGruy’s deaths interocular for two Sony HDC-P1 Fusion rigs the South Pacific’s Challenger Deep. Reach- in a helicopter accident during the testing (one on the upper deck and one on the 3D Challenge Deepsea Cameron’s James Bruno. and John ACS O’Loughlin, by Jules provided images Additional 30 September 2014 American Cinematographer Top: The one-man deep-submergence vehicle Deepsea Challenger rests aboard the Mermaid Sapphire before carrying Cameron underwater. Bottom left: The crew conducts the first 2.5-mile test dive off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Bottom right: During a test dive off the Ulithi atoll, the Deepsea Challenger is photographed 1,100 meters below the surface by an unmanned lander built by Scripps Institution of Oceanography/ University of California, San Diego. Guinea, the expedition plan was to perform a series of test dives near the township of Rabaul in the relatively shallow New Britain Trench (26,791') before descending 35,787' into the Challenger Deep. What would happen along the way was anyone’s guess, so it was up to O’Loughlin to prepare the ship and equip his crew to capture any unexpected critical moments. “One of the big challenges of the expedition was taking a feature-film mind- set and adapting it to the documentary mindset,” says O’Loughlin. “We can make a rough plan based on the day’s schedule, but running and gunning with heavy 3-D rigs is still challenging and takes longer to set up, and — on a documentary shoot — time can make the difference between getting a great shot or just an okay shot.” The Fusion rig’s beam-splitter config- uration allowed for variable interocular settings, enabling the camera to get in close to the action. The Epic Fusion was equipped (one on the upper deck and one on the Challenge in 3-D was always a given. “It’s with synchronized Angenieux Optimo 15- main) with the assistance of focus puller more of an immersive experience for the 40mm T2.6 or Optimo 28-76mm T2.6 Sam Winzar, who also took on the duties of audience,” O’Loughlin remarks. “Let’s put zoom lenses and recorded 5K Full Frame a 2nd AC and data manager. the audience right there in the drama, expe- (with a 1.9:1 aspect ratio) at 5:1 compres- It was a small roster for a 3-D riencing it on the boat, in the water and in sion (6:1 when extended recording times production — 10 out of an overall expedi- the sub with Jim.” were needed) to onboard magazines, tion crew of 40 — but shooting Deepsea Once assembled in Papua New making it the most versatile option aboard 32 September 2014 American Cinematographer Cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin, ACS (bottom and top right, wearing plaid shirt) operates a Red Epic Fusion rig. He is flanked by gaffer/key grip Aaron Walker (in beige jacket) and 1st AC/stereographer Manning Tillman. were positioned about the vessel, including mile descent to the bottom of the Mariana atop the crane hook that lowered the Trench. For this journey, the filmmakers Deepsea Challenger into the water. “The needed a specialized 3-D camera system GoPros were great because we could put that could operate at full ocean depth, them in places where our full-sized 3-D rigs where the pressure reaches 16,500 pounds didn’t fit, but they were also limited by their per square inch. No system yet existed, so size, fixed interocular and image quality,” Cameron, Pace, submersible co-designer O’Loughlin explains, noting that no GoPro Ron Allum, electrical engineer Blake Henry footage made it into the Imax version of the and imaging technical lead Adam Gobi film. “There’s some in the TV release. On created one, turning the Deepsea Chal- television it’s easier to get away with mixing lenger into an integrated stereoscopic imag- different cameras.” ing platform. Submersible dives and recoveries “Our goal was to create a small, were also covered by aerial-unit director of lightweight camera no bigger than the size the Mermaid Sapphire. The HDC-P1 rigs photography Ian Thorburn, ACS and under- of your fist,” says Cameron. Henry designed used Fujinon 6.3-101mm f1.8 zooms and water camera operators Simon Christidis, the camera electronics out of his lab in Cali- recorded 4:2:2 at 23.98p to a single SR tape ACS and Charlie Arneson. CPG manufac- fornia, while Gobi led a development team for both eyes via tethered HDCam-SR VTRs, tured a custom underwater housing for the in Sydney, handling the imaging workflow, which limited movement to their respective Epic Fusion, and a single-eye Canon EOS 5D optics and housing design. The product of decks, although independent cables Mark II was used in an underwater rig for this research and development is the “mini- running to different parts of the vessel additional coverage. cam,” a solid-state HD imager built around allowed the crew to reposition the cameras Operating with limited resources in a 1/2.3" 10-megapixel Aptina CMOS with minimal wrangling. A self-contained an unpredictable environment meant the sensor inside a 2-pound titanium housing. ENG-style Sony PMW-TD300 was O’Lough- filmmakers couldn’t afford to be precious During the dive, four external and lin’s most maneuverable 3-D option, but its about technical perfection. Consequently, two internal imagers output a 24-frame 10- fixed interocular meant keeping a distance the film contains more stereo post-conver- bit 1080p signal over 1.5G HD-SDI single- of at least 8' from the subject. sion than initially planned. “We didn’t plan mode fiber multiplexed with camera control “Dry equipment” included an SI-2K for any,” says Cameron. “But then we from the pilot sphere. Stereo pairs were in a side-by-side configuration on a ended up converting about 20 percent of fixed at a 55mm interocular with conver- Steadicam for specialty shots, and a single- the film, which I think is perfectly valid for a gence at 6'. Outside the submersible, clear eye Arri Alexa Classic. (The SI-2K recorded to documentary. The most important thing is acrylic domes protected the mini-cam’s S- a 1 Beyond Wrangler Mini 3D using the to get the shot.” mount optics, a combination of Evetar and CineForm Raw codec, while the Alexa After waiting out days of inclement Lensation lenses, the 35mm-equivalent of footage was recorded in ProRes 4:4:4:4 to weather, on March 26, 2012 the Deepsea which were approximately 28mm at f2.0. SxS cards.) Several GoPro Dual Hero kits Challenger was finally ready to make its 7- Inside the cramped 43" pilot sphere, the 34 September 2014 American Cinematographer focal length was approximately 24mm at designers never got around to measuring its f1.6. Focus was remotely controlled via a native ISO. Signal gain was adjusted from piezoelectric motor. the pilot-sphere based on a built-in “With these types of lenses, which histogram. “It’s a compromised image are mainly used for CCTV applications, the compared to what you can get with the only focus control you have is back focus,” dynamic range of a Red Epic,” says says Gobi.