Swimming in circles around the camera, the calf splashed and played
in the waves while the film rolled. Co-Director and Director of
Photography, Al Giddings floated gently in the surf, breathing
shallowly through a snorkel. As the calf dove, Al quietly trailed
after it, holding his breath and pushing the specially equipped
250 lb. underwater camera ahead of him to a depth of 70 feet where
the calf's mother waited.
An award-winning producer/director and cinematographer, Al's work has been featured in EMMY-winning television specials and feature films including The Abyss and The Deep. Since the noise of bubbles disturbs the whales, Al drew upon his extensive underwater experience and dove without benefit of scuba gear.
It was a fantastic technique that produced extraordinary results.
From a technical standpoint, this was perhaps the toughest shoot
I've ever done, but it provided unbelievable encounters. As a
whale would come close, the voltage of the moment was high. The
calf would nestle in under the mother's chin and I could see the
relationship between the pair.
After filming as long as he could, Al would leave the camera and
sprint to the surface for air. The camera, with a slightly positive
buoyancy, would then rise to the surface about a minute later.
A rich variety of encounters with whales occurred in the Hawaiian
waters. The on-site scientists, Mark and Debbie Ferrari said it
was one of the best years for whales they have experienced in
20 years. Al Giddings described the filming conditions as
In all sincerity, one of greatest underwater moments of my career
. . . Thirty years ago I did Gentle Giants. In three months
we had only 12 encounters with whales. This time in 30 days I
was with whales 107 times . . . I've done so many films that I
keep thinking I've seen it all. But in Hawaii I was frequently
so knocked out by the experience that I would have to get back
to the boat and look at my flippers for two or three minutes before
I could even talk about it.
To films dolphins, the crew designed a specialized bow mount. The underwater camera was fastened to the front of the moving Odyssey to recreate a dolphin's POV. Dave Clark reported the success of this innovation:
We had an entire day with pods of up to 200 dolphins all around
us. In a makeshift camera darkroom with a video tape and monitor,
Al watched as the animals swam in front of our underwater camera
and would pull the trigger when it looked best. We shot incredible
footage of spotted and spinner dolphins swimming underwater in
the bow wake of the Odyssey. At times there were layers of up
to ten dolphins in our shot.
Besides the whales and dolphins, amazing footage of other marine
animals was obtained in Hawaii, including manta rays with wingspans
of 8-12 feet. Shot at night, the footage shows the mantas feeding
on abundant swarms of krill, flying 360 degree loops and coming
out of the night with their mouths agape heading right for the
camera.
Copyright Whales, LLC 1996.