Howard Michelle Hall IMAX Films Underwater movie

UNDERWATER TECHNOLOGY and FILM MAKING
Director/cinematographer and production team Howard & Michele Hall and crew spent a total of 125 days on board the Undersea hunter throughout 1998. Over 2,000 dives and nearly 300,000 feet of film were needed in order to capture the stunning footage presented in this movie, “Island of the Sharks”. A new underwater IMAX camera housing and ultra light seaplane were designed and built specifically for this film. High-tech rebreather dive units, underwater communication systems, 3000 watt surface powered movie lights and many other technical devices were also utilized regularly.

The tremendous amount of work invested in this production has created a film that will be a lasting testament to Mother Nature´s most spectacular underwater show, reflected bigger than life on the colossal IMAX screen. The Director´s Cut. By Howard Hall
As soon as we rounded the Northeast corner of the island heading for the Alcyone Seamount in Undersea Hunter´s two dive skiffs, I knew I had made the right decision. Although it was rough and raining, it wasn´t as bad as I had suspected. More importantly, I could tell that the water rushing past our skiff was blue and not green. Visibility was going to be better.

We anchored our skiffs, and Bob Cranston, Mark Thurlow, Avi Klapfer and I descended down toward the bottom 100 feet below wearing our closed-circuit rebreather diving units. I was immediately thrilled with what I saw. Visibility was 70 feet or more, and I could see a large school of hammerheads passing over the seamount. I lifted my OTS communication device and called up to the camera skiff. "Send the camera", I said.