American Cinematographer - January 1997 - 80

scarab

A scarab beetle
wrestles with

instinctively shaped its
feeding of sheep droppings into a
large ball to be rolled back towards

a

large ball of
sheep dung
caught on a

its home. "We shot for about

three weeks with this beetle,"

thorn. The

says Nuridsany, "And every
he transformed this sheep dirt

Microcosmos'

day
into
a new pellet, which was a little
different each day. We had to
modify the diameter of every pel¬

diminutive

let

predicament
added

a

genuine
moment of

slapstick to

that it looked like the first

so

[for continuity's sake]."

one

dramatics.

The beetle
coaxed into

a

was

even

moment of genu¬

inely funny slapstick, although its
quick learning curve forced the
directors to

period. Hughes Ryffel and Thierry
Machado served

as camera

opera¬

intermittently for a few
months throughout the schedule,
but all of the close-range photogra¬
phy was done by Nuridsany and
tors

Perennou.

The

primary location of
open-air stu¬
dio, approximately 100 square

Microcosmos

was an

meters in area,

that

was con¬

which

tric motor that allowed the film¬

ows

various

habitat was rigged with a custommade motion-control system that
afforded Nuridsany and Perennou

specially transformed Zeiss and
Leitz microscope lenses. A very
narrow, high-definition probe lens

continuous

"fly on the wall" cover¬
age. "The goal was to be flexible
enough to be able to film the insects
as they were," says Nuridsany,
who notes that existing equipment
was not
up to the infinitesimal task.
In order to modify the
equipment, Nuridsany had to col¬
laborate with an engineer, as it
"was very difficult to avoid the
little vibrations that you normally
have. This [particular] motioncontrol system had to be entirely

was

created [for the macrocinema¬

was

camera

(in this case, a modified Arriflex 35
III, with a special Nikon mount)

smoothly along five axes:
right-left, forward-backwards;
top-bottom; pan and tilt; plus fo¬
cusing." The computer-controlled
system was operated from a spe¬
cial desk
complete with a digi¬
tizing table, fluid head, and foot
very

makers to follow their

manner

we

couldn't touch the beetle, be¬
it's dangerous to the animal,

cause

so we

ball

The movie employed all
of macros lenses, including

[intentionally] made shad¬

to make the beetle go toward
the thorn. When he tried to get his

the thorn, it got stuck. He
looking for solutions, and it

over

was

took him about three minutes to
find the

right way. So every other
day, in order to have a new take,
we
again put the pellet on the

created from scratch. Due to

needle, but after the first time it

down-and-dirty-nature of the
shoot, specially designed snap-on

only took him about three seconds
to figure out how to get it off."
Sometimes the magic of

lens hoods became standard tools.
In

delving into this minute

world, Nuridsany and Perennou

sought to present the insects' envi¬
ronment from the closest possible
vantage point without physically
disrupting their natural behavior.
In truth, the filmmakers' technique
could be described as "staged

cinema reveals hidden

Amsterdam," the director says.

verite." Since the insects' universe

"He's been

immediately altered, and per¬
haps compromised, by the pres¬
ence of cameras and crew, the
bugs
were often
guided, or directed, into
performing acts known to occur
naturally in their habitat. Thus was
the case with two specific players

cades, yet he never ever saw them

-

the scarab beetle and the

rare

Argyronet spider.
The beetle

was

sent to the

studying them for de¬

[actually] make the air bubbles [for
eating process]."

their unusual

Microcosmos rectified that
with
the

spellbinding footage of
Argyronet that Nuridsany be¬
some

lieves has

never

corded with

a

scenes were

shot

terrarium until his "call time." Also

its house with

with the motion control

rig,

known

as

January 1997

a

"dung beetle," the

before been

35mm

camera.

re¬

"[The

spider is] a very rare species, but its
activity is so magical that you can¬
not overlook

Cinematographer

as

Nuridsany's numerous
"casting directors" found out
with his prized performer the
Argyronet, or "water" spider.
"The person who brought it to us
is a university professor in

set by a scientist friend, says
Nuridsany, and was kept in a large

American

truths,

of

one

that adjoined the stu¬

-

dio. Numerous

78

subjects at

speeds.

the

-

pedals

the first take.

Having previously observed
many of the beetle's counterparts
encountering difficulties in trans¬
porting the (comparatively) giant
spherical pellets, Nuridsany strove
to inject some humor into the
scene. "At one
point there was a
thorn sticking out of the ground;

structed right next to the film¬
makers' house. A home away
from home for much of the eclec¬
tic "cast" of the film (about 28 dif¬
ferent species), the life-sustaining

tography]. It moved the

use

Nuridsany says was indis¬
pensable to the production.
A completely new camera
movement system had to be de¬
vised for certain scenes, including
one that shadowed a
procession of
caterpillars. The camera hung close
to the ground from a special rail
supported by two tripods. The unit
tracked the caterpillars with the
help of a remote-controlled elec¬

it," he says. "It's a
spider living under water, building
air,

a

material which

is immaterial, as you

well under-
American Cinematographer - January 1997

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