American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

Filming an underwater scene. The camera is in the low tank attached, to the barge; baby elephant being persuaded to enter scene at lett, "Tarzan" family ready at right to dive into the scene. FILMING the underwater scenes for MGM'S latest "Tarzan" picture provided, both technically and in other ways, one of the most unusual locationtrips I have ever made. To begin with, Wakulla Springs, a secluded spot about 18 miles from Tallahassee, Florida, was chosen as the location — and it provided locationing deluxe! We lived in a beautiful resort-hotel, a very short stone's throw from the springs; going to work in the morning was a matter of prying ones' self away from a well-laden breakfast-table and walking perhaps a hundred yards to the shore. But once we reached that point, no matter which way we turned the camera above-water, it would be filming something that looked more like Tarzan's African jungle home than Africa itself! And a few feet below the water's surface we found what I am sure must be the world's finest "stage" for underwater movie-making. Wakulla Springs is really more like a lake or river than the conventional concept of a spring: it is more than 185 feet deep at its deepest point, and it flows about 225,000 gallons per hour of the clearest water I've ever seen. With a white sand bottom beneath, an almost tropical sun above, and this crystal clear water between, it is the ideal place for underwater photography. We did our camerawork from a specially-built underwater camera-bell attached to a barge. Quite properly, they J called the device "the hole in the water." lit consisted of a round metal drum, weighted at the bottom with concrete. 'Steps led down to the floor of the photographing chamber, and the cameras •looked out on the underwater scene through a thick optical glass port-hole , large enough to permit lens and finder a clear field of view but not, unfortunately, wide enough to permit much fanning. There was room in the camerachamber for about three people and the camera; but this made it rather crowded, ' so during most of the actual shooting Director Richard Thorpe and I usually stayed above, leaving Operative Cine'matographer A. L. Lane and Assistant Cameraman Harold Baldwin more elbowroom. Since as the depth increases, the pho 'jtographic light naturally falls off, and with it the distance to which the lens rjcan penetrate the water, the camera Jtube was designed to keep the lens about 8 feet below the surface. For the same Filming Underwater Movies From the Hole in the Water' By LLOYD KNECHTEL, A.S.C. reason we made most of our scenes shooting shoreward, to get the most pleasing background. A very important item in handling underwater camerawork is to be sure that no strong outside light hits the inside surface of the camera port-hole to cause reflections. To make sure of this we covered the top of the tube with black cloth, and also fitted the tube with a wooden top and a sliding hatch. Another very important matter is maintaining the proper temperature inside the bell. If the air inside grows too hot, the glass, cooled as it is by the cold spring-water outside, will steam up exactly as the windshield of a closed car does on a wintry day. We corrected this problem by placing electric fans inside the bell, powered by storage batteries, to circulate the air, while several hundred pounds of ice kept the inside temperature down to a point reasonably close to that of the water outside. Not so many years ago, in making the early talkies, we used to lock the Operative Cinematographer up in an almost air-tight soundproof camerabooth where he sweltered during each "take" while the Director of Photography took his ease outside, on a more or less air-conditioned stage. Bnt on our Florida location, the tables were turned. While Director Thorpe and I sweltered under the tropical summer sun on the barge, the operative crew inside the air-conditioned camera-bell did their work in cool comfort! The basic rules of good photography apply almost equally regardless of whether you are making a scene in the open air or under water. We found that we got the most pleasing results by shooting in a % -cross front-light. In the same way, we found it necessary to do our underwater work only on clear days, when there was a good sun and plenty of blue sky. In clear water it may be technically quite possible to make an underwater exposure on an overcast day, but the overcast, which diffuses the light (Continued on Page 397) American Cinematographer August, 1941 371