American Cinematographer - June 2006 - 59

Opposite:
Professional

gambler John

Dylan (Josh
Lucas) aids
fellow
passengers
Conor (Jimmy

Bennett) and
Elena (Mia
Maestro) as they
escape a flooded
corridor in the

sinking U.S.S.
Poseidon. Built

onstage at
Warner Studios,
many

such sets

were

built in

duplicate to
render both
normal and

flooded, upsidedown looks.

Note the

illumination

coming from the
floor beneath the
waves,

motivated

by

"ceiling"
fixtures. This

A
primary setpiece
page, top:

in the film, the

ship's immense
ballroom is the

plunge to the bottom of the sea.
The ambitious project reunit¬

Patient

ed Seale with German director

Mountain

Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Air
Force One, Troy), with whom he pre¬
viously made waves on The Perfect

comed the obvious

Storm

(see AC June '00). The two
filmmakers, accompanied by a

hard-working cast and
chose

crew,

wisely

wade into their latest

to

Mr.

(AC Jan. '97), The Talented

Ripley (AC Jan. '00), and Cold
(AC Jan. '04)

-

wel¬

challenges of
shooting Poseidon. And despite the
project's blockbuster-scale budget,
the cinematographer found the
need for production efficiency and
speed to be as overriding as it might
be on a far more modest picture.

"Wolfgang worked very hard to
keep this film on schedule and on
budget," says Seale. "That put some
of the

onus on me

to

be very pre¬

pared and to use our time on set
effectively. The camera depart¬
ment really does set the pace for
production shooting, so it was our
responsibility to keep everything
moving. I suppose that's where my

very

oceanic

odyssey on the relative safe¬
of the Warner Bros. lot. Like the
100' waves seen in Perfect Storm, the
deadly water in Poseidon will be ren¬
dered digitally; Seale and specialeffects director John Frazier provid¬
ed the in-camera magic, while visu¬
al-effects supervisor Boyd Shermis

backdrop for

a

lavish New
Year's Eve

celebration.
Bottom:
as

Serving

masters of

ceremonies
were

cinematographer
John Seale, ASC,
ACS (in

celebratory hat)
and director

Wolfgang
Petersen.

ty

marshaled

BWaroconuserft.esy
Phot s

an

armada of effects

houses, among them Industrial
Light & Magic, Moving Picture Co.,
CIS

Hollywood and Hydraulx.
Seale, whose extensive credits

include Dead Poets

Society, Gorillas
(AC April '87),
(AC July '93), The English

in the Mist, Witness
The Firm

American

Cinematographer 55



American Cinematographer - June 2006

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