American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 61

my

shooting the

Shatner,

so

the

sequence

with Bill

had

be built

set

to

Above: 30-foot
whale
at

and around this edifice. Prob¬
lems this created in changing the
over

set

were

ready to dive
Huntington Beach.

Below: Under side
a

minimal, but the place¬

whale at NASA

tank.

of the cinematographer and
his camera became a major one!"
ment

Lighting the sets in the pit
done with both surface and
underwater units. Scaffolding was
erected away from and around
three sides of the pit for lights and
the immediate area was tented in
so it would be possible to work
was

during daylight hours. The result
black structure resembling a
shed jutting up from the middle of
was a

the man-made "ocean." Colored

gels and light diffusers were used
extensively during the sequence.
Cooperman praised the
crew which assisted him, most of
whom had worked with him be¬
fore. "My gaffer at both locations
was Brad Sargent, whose best boy
was Karen
Rosemont," Cooperman noted. "My key grip at Para¬
mount was Tom Prophet, who
had worked with me on Raise the

Titanic, War Games and others.
Tom's

ingenuity and enthusiastic
speed have always been assets to
the needs of the specialized pho¬
tography and limited schedules
that usually confront us. Assembly
and maintenance of my two un¬
derwater housings and the video

assist, which
back

shot,

to

was

used for play¬

Leonard of what had been

was

handled by

my

first

as¬

sistant camera technician, Hanne
Deshan. Her ability to maintain

equipment, change lenses and
load

re¬

rapidly

was vital."
An examination of the

numerous dif¬
used in surface
cinematography. The camera
housings have fully reflex viewing
and full control over focus, aper¬
ture and cranking speeds, with ca¬
pability of making changes for
going to high speed or crystal from

equipment reveals

ferences from gear

the exterior. The viewfinder per¬
mits either squeezed or un¬

squeezed anamorphic viewing.
highly modified Arriflex cam¬
eras used in these housings employ
anamorphic lenses as well as Arri
and BNC mount primes. The PanThe

aflex anamorphic lenses selected
for the Star Trek IV sequences
were

30mm,

35mm,

50mm,

and 100mm. Eastman
with normal developing by

75mm
5294,

Technicolor,

was

used

throughout.
The action of the pit
called for Capt. Kirk

se¬

to
leave his crew above the waterline
in the submerging spacecraft and
dive down through an open door¬
quence

and work his way under,
through and around the wrecked
compartments. Upon entering the
compartment that contains the
way

manual controls he releases the
bomb bay doors and frees the en¬

trapped whales. The
cludes

scene con¬

Kirk swims out from
beneath the bomb doors to sur¬
as

December 1986

face and watch the whales swim
away.

"Bill Shatner was able to
do this sequence in four long sec¬
tions which were shot from many

angles," Cooperman revealed. "I
certainly applaud his ability to
adapt to difficult situaltions by
swimming through that cluttered
set and clouded water for long pe¬
riods of time. He had

no

mask,

no

air

supply, and the turbid water
was deliberately backlit to flare
out.

"Although longer lenses
used for inserts and closeups,
most of our shots were made with
lenses wider than 1 normally
would have selected due to the
fact that there .was no place to
were

back up

American

off the

sets

Cinematographer

because of the
59

Oi
American Cinematographer - December 1986

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