cdiver2
Contributor
Underwater wonders of PNG captured for the world to see on IMAX
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Filming in and around Linden Harbour in New Britain, Papua New Guinea, world renown Director/ cinematographer and production team Howard & Michele Hall and crew have completed their first underwater location shoot for their new large-format IMAX film "Under The Sea 3D".
This film follows on from the success of their other IMAX films "Deep Sea 3D" (one of only five other 3D films produced by IMAX to have passed $60 million in box office receipts) and "Into the Deep", made in 1994.
The team is operating from onboard the specialist PNG based dive boat Star Dancer, with Howard Hall praising the professional operation: "Much of our success during this first expedition must be credited to the extraordinary logistical performance provided by the wonderful people who operate the Walindi Resort and the Star Dancer live-aboard dive boat. Max Benjamin and his staff at Walindi went to great lengths to help us solve major logistical problems. Alan Raabe, who operates Star Dancer, did a stellar job preparing the boat to handle our 8,000 pounds of gear including the 1,300-pound camera. In addition to all the logistical help, the Star Dancer provided wonderful food and service".
During fifteen days of diving, Howard logged 76 hours on his rebreather and shot 44 braces of 70mm film (a brace being two 1,000-foot rolls of film, one roll for each "eye" and weighing 20 pounds).
The Hall's and their team now move on to Milne Bay, linking up once again with Star Dancer in Alotau to continue their underwater filming of PNG's finest.
Howard and Michele Hall are natural history film producers specializing in marine wildlife films. Howard has received six cinematography Emmys for films produced for television. Michele has received one Emmy award.
Howard made his directorial debut in the IMAX format in 1994 with "Into the Deep," an IMAX 3D film - the biggest film format that exists - and subsequently produced the stunning footage presented for the movie, Island of the Sharks which utilised a new underwater IMAX camera housing built specifically for the film.
Papua New Guinea offers 45,000 sq kilometres of world-class barrier reefs, coral walls, coral gardens and fringing reefs, attracting scuba divers from around the world who come to enjoy the variety of diving in these clear, tropical waters, teeming with marine life.
Facilities include numerous dive resorts and specialist live-aboard dive vessels catering to all standards of divers who come to PNG to enjoy magical drift dives, drop offs and pinnacles, schools of pelagic fish and sharks, hulking World War II wrecks of ships and planes and (like the Howard and Michele Hall) outstanding underwater photography.
More information available on the Papua New Guinea Divers Association site for links to the following dive specialists:
Loloata Island Resort (Port Moresby), MV Golden Dawn, Tawali Resort (Milne Bay), The Dive Centre (Port Moresby), Tufi Dive Resort (Oro Province), Aquaventures (Madang), Kabaira Dive (Rabaul), Lissenung Island Resort (Kavieng), MV FeBrina (Rabaul area), MV Star Dancer (Rabaul area), Scuba Ventures (Kavieng) and Walinde Plantation Resort (Kimbe Bay).
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Filming in and around Linden Harbour in New Britain, Papua New Guinea, world renown Director/ cinematographer and production team Howard & Michele Hall and crew have completed their first underwater location shoot for their new large-format IMAX film "Under The Sea 3D".
This film follows on from the success of their other IMAX films "Deep Sea 3D" (one of only five other 3D films produced by IMAX to have passed $60 million in box office receipts) and "Into the Deep", made in 1994.
The team is operating from onboard the specialist PNG based dive boat Star Dancer, with Howard Hall praising the professional operation: "Much of our success during this first expedition must be credited to the extraordinary logistical performance provided by the wonderful people who operate the Walindi Resort and the Star Dancer live-aboard dive boat. Max Benjamin and his staff at Walindi went to great lengths to help us solve major logistical problems. Alan Raabe, who operates Star Dancer, did a stellar job preparing the boat to handle our 8,000 pounds of gear including the 1,300-pound camera. In addition to all the logistical help, the Star Dancer provided wonderful food and service".
During fifteen days of diving, Howard logged 76 hours on his rebreather and shot 44 braces of 70mm film (a brace being two 1,000-foot rolls of film, one roll for each "eye" and weighing 20 pounds).
The Hall's and their team now move on to Milne Bay, linking up once again with Star Dancer in Alotau to continue their underwater filming of PNG's finest.
Howard and Michele Hall are natural history film producers specializing in marine wildlife films. Howard has received six cinematography Emmys for films produced for television. Michele has received one Emmy award.
Howard made his directorial debut in the IMAX format in 1994 with "Into the Deep," an IMAX 3D film - the biggest film format that exists - and subsequently produced the stunning footage presented for the movie, Island of the Sharks which utilised a new underwater IMAX camera housing built specifically for the film.
Papua New Guinea offers 45,000 sq kilometres of world-class barrier reefs, coral walls, coral gardens and fringing reefs, attracting scuba divers from around the world who come to enjoy the variety of diving in these clear, tropical waters, teeming with marine life.
Facilities include numerous dive resorts and specialist live-aboard dive vessels catering to all standards of divers who come to PNG to enjoy magical drift dives, drop offs and pinnacles, schools of pelagic fish and sharks, hulking World War II wrecks of ships and planes and (like the Howard and Michele Hall) outstanding underwater photography.
More information available on the Papua New Guinea Divers Association site for links to the following dive specialists:
Loloata Island Resort (Port Moresby), MV Golden Dawn, Tawali Resort (Milne Bay), The Dive Centre (Port Moresby), Tufi Dive Resort (Oro Province), Aquaventures (Madang), Kabaira Dive (Rabaul), Lissenung Island Resort (Kavieng), MV FeBrina (Rabaul area), MV Star Dancer (Rabaul area), Scuba Ventures (Kavieng) and Walinde Plantation Resort (Kimbe Bay).
