movie, but I can hope to build in a sense of ocean advocacy,
and the reach of these movies is enormous.
SF
//
Watching you work with your crew suggests real
synergy. How do you manage that?
Pz
//
A lot of it is simple familiarity. My assistant, Peter Manno,
and I have been working together for nearly 20 years. When we
communicate using hand signals underwater, it isn’t random
charades — he knows what I want. Also, we use communications
systems, among ourselves and with the director, who is watching
the action live on the boat (either through my camera or a
separate “witness” camera). So much expense rides on every day
of production, we have to be very efficient, and we plan each shot
well in advance, from basic aesthetics to the mechanics of how we
can achieve the right look.
SF
//
What kind of gear does it take to shoot a major
motion picture these days? I assume it is transitioning
from 35mm Panavision to digital.
Pz
//
You’d be right except there are famously outspoken
advocates for film, including Christopher Nolan, director
of The Dark Knight Rises. The first three Pirates of the
Caribbean movies were all shot on film, as was the Lord of
the Rings trilogy. I have a project that we’ll shoot on film this
year as well. But the fourth Pirates was shot digitally, and The
Hobbit was as well, so clearly a trend embracing digital has
emerged. It may not be as universal as in still photography,
but in the film business digital has the momentum.
For my underwater projects I work with Steve Ogles of
Watershot on my housing designs, and lately I am using the Arri
Alexa for much of my theatrical work. My housings have custom
multicoated parts (both flat and dome), a milled aluminum
front module and a carbon-fiber rear section. I make sure to
find the tool that the shot requires. When I was working on Act
of Valor, a film depicting the exploits of real-life Navy SEALs,
we shot almost the entire film with Canon EOS 5D Mark II
cameras. A heavy camera like the Arri couldn’t be mounted to
SEALs’ helmets as they
deployed down a line
from a helicopter onto
a moving submarine.
The small form factor
of the 1080P digital SLR
was the right solution,
and now the 5D Mark
III is everywhere in
Hollywood. Whenever
an “expendable” camera
is called for to be
mounted to the frame
of a moving motorcycle
or the hood of a car
going off a bridge into the water, they would be more inclined
to risk a 5D Mark III than a $70,000 Alexa with a $30,000 lens.
And the smaller cameras are conducive to movements with
marine mammals or quickly swimming around talent on breath-
hold dives. The big cameras and housings do offer mass though,
which is important on a movie like Life of Pi, in which the
camera has to hold steady as a tiger leaps into the water above
me, creating a buffeting wave. The housed 3-D Alexa rig moved
as if it was on a dolly — smooth and clean, the inertia holding
the tracking shot steady. The barrier the big housing offers
against hazardous marine life is often welcome as well.
Cameras are getting better and smaller, which makes 3-D
image capture easier, too. But it’s still all about the story and
communicating visually with a large audience. The specific
tool will always evolve, but the ability to tell a story that
involves the underwater world is the core of what I do.
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