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IMAX Underwater Documentary Features San Diego Filmmakers

West Papua is a province of Indonesia and is part of the Coral Triangle, considered the global epicenter of marine diversity, and the setting for the IMAX® film Journey to the South Pacific.
2014 IMAX Corporation and MacGillivray Freeman Films / Photographer: Barbara MacGillivray.
West Papua is a province of Indonesia and is part of the Coral Triangle, considered the global epicenter of marine diversity, and the setting for the IMAX® film Journey to the South Pacific.
IMAX Underwater Documentary Features San Diego Filmmakers
GUESTS:Howard and Michele Hall, Filmmakers, owners of Howard Hall Productions

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: This is KPBS Midday Edition, I am Maureen Cavanaugh. Nature documentaries are often difficult to photograph, on the subject is underwater all five when the subject is underwater like the difficulty increases exponentially less. In doing for twenty-five years, Delmar residents Howard and Michelle Hall have dated a career out of studying underwater photography photography and studying underwater creatures. The movie is called journey to the South Pacific, Greenwood recently I spoke with Howard and Michelle, here is that interview. [ [ AUDIO FILE PLAYING ] ] MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Let us talk about your work, you do some work in Papua New Guinea, how long of a journey has that continued to be? HOWARD HALL: It essentially is a long overnight in a day, we get on an airplane and do it drink or two and we wake up the South Pacific and is usually couple of short airplane flights. MICHELE HALL: That is just the start of it, then we get on the road and travel for hours to get the location or the village we will be filming at. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: How much equipment do you use? MICHELE HALL: We shipped 25,000 pounds of equipment to execute this entire project, not all that was underwater equipment where focus was, but I would say probably about six that the 8000 pounds for the of agreement for underwater shoot. HOWARD HALL: We had a 40 foot teams working at the simultaneously one doing the real work during aerial work and there are about four underwater camera systems and there was in a number of water camera system and it is a lot of equipment. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Are you assigned certain aspects of this shoot? HOWARD HALL: Our job is to do the underwater stuff, Greg and I have worked on underwater films throughout the past, he recently asked me what I would like to do in a particular area and night give them a list, and he said okay, it's really pretty easy and can often defers to what I suggest, we have been in company of your Papua New Guinea that I was familiar of the places we were going to and that was usually helpful what great defense to a film ever, but exactly what we wanted to get help we showed him some footage of video that we captured there and it was amazing. MICHELE HALL: A big focus for us was the manual behavior sequences but we also support a great storytelling. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: He sort of leads viewers through this visual tour of the region and Indonesia, both on the ground and in the water. MICHELE HALL: Exactly, we do get to work with him and he was on the both of your portion of the time and Howard films filled the sequences that people will see where he was free diving and she's great freedom ever, and is such a dynamic personality of and where work with him. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Give us an idea of the kinds of natural wonders that will going that we're going to be seeing in this film. HOWARD HALL: We will we have the center of the coral triangle and that is renowned for its extreme biodiversity, it has the highest concentration of biodiversity on the planet and so there is lots and lots of different animals there, and the animals in different areas of the biodiversity that tend to be really unusual, there's over 500 species of corals, and is a place you go to see some of those beautiful places in the world the sum of a stunning, the research of different kinds of coral the colors are quite kaleidoscopic. MICHELE HALL: You find the colors are beautiful and the fish that live on the reefs are beautiful and there reefs which are so spectacular that have a special place for swimming with whale sharks. Whale sharks which are really huge, we had quite an experience with whale sharks. HOWARD HALL: The interesting thing is there is a symbiotic relationship between whale sharks and fishermen, and fishermen have learned that if they feed them, the whales will hang around and tourists will pay them to swim with whale sharks, and it has become a very popular spot for people traveling to Indonesia to dive, fishermen benefit from it and whale sharks get a free meal, and you can go to the dock where the fish clean the catch is that you can see twenty will sharks in a small area. MICHELE HALL: He was told that he could go to debate the dive with these whale sharks, and he heard the word shark and was really concerned, and really upset, and other kids in the village had been hurt by shark bites, and so he was nervous about this whole thing, what is fun in the film to see how he overcame that, in his relationship and interaction between [ [ CHECK AUDIO ] ] and the whale sharks. I want to give too much of the wake is I want people to see for themselves but it's really sweet. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: The photography and especially the colors are really unbelievable, have you get that kind of clarity? Is it difficult? HOWARD HALL: It is certainly difficult, good underwater work is what I do, and is very and very comfortable with it but there's still challenges working in the environment, in Asia has powerful currents and you are very isolated need to have everything you need with you all the time, but we did not have any great divulges, there is no great surprises, and you really can't go wrong. The animal life is just amazing, the diversity of fish is incredible, is easy to get beautiful images. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Easy for you, Howard Hall. Does it go underwater to the feed colors all? In these films that you ñ the colors of jump out at you. HOWARD HALL: As you descend the warm in the spectrum is held down and is you get down to 60 feet or so there's no bread or oranges, yellows are muted and by the time you're done hundred feet it's almost all blue, to take down powerful lights with us that just to light things up but to put the colors back to our attention to just use lights that the traditional way, just to put the warm end of the spectrum back on the reef, that in combination with different filters allow us to get it. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: You've been doing this for five years, have the advances in technology helped your filmmaking? HOWARD HALL: That is great question, digital official this is not, to the standards of IMAX film, this is the first film that Craig has produced which is incorporated digital footages of the footage came from our stock library and some from our location and digital is so good now it is hard to tell the difference between it and send a millimeter film, I love shooting film and I have for my my whole life, but the days of shooting film is numbered, great to the writing on the wall and he is finally pleased with the quality of a finger with digital cameras. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: The kind of agenda that you have in touring the world, regardless different shirts and contribute to other films, so the people like a dream come true, remind us of the kinds of places that you're gone to photograph and is a dream come true? MICHELE HALL: Yes, this has had dream come true mice for his first career was it as a nurse in a shirt joined the business in 1991 and is a dream for me to be of the work with Howard in this business, we have to travel to Costa Rica and [ [ CHECK AUDIO] ] sophistry the and screen very reef, Fiji, Howard was in Norway at the North Paul pulled working for great couple of years ago. HOWARD HALL: All to Mexico certainly all throughout Indonesia, the Philippines, there are numerous places. MICHELE HALL: The real work is the office. Eating ready to get out the location, it was we're there and we see Oliver could has arrived, that is always nerve-racking but with another crew are safely and location that is with the joy comes, and in a sense that is from the filming starts, but it, I had to cringe a little bit to say that I'm going to work by going diving and take still photos and document what is happening behind the scenes, because the work term can have a native competition for but I love it is a labor of love. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: In the years that you have been doing this filming and diving, are there changes in the oceans that you have noticed firsthand that concern you? HOWARD HALL: Certainly, and everyone is aware that coral reefs are on the decline and their old me 10% of the large fish in the ocean that we had fifty years ago, the environment is in dramatic decline, there's a lot more awareness concerning that today, and I think there is hope that things like protected areas and doesn't be played by her film and other things curtailing fishing and ocean pollution, those things are making a difference and in California we have seen the number of species come back at twenty years ago they would never see and they are, now, and other presidency in some cases more sea turtles and more trying group there and so forth, but in general the environment is declined in those the function of overpopulation there somebody people in some of the pressure on additional resources not just fish that white resources and housing, things that require development when we develop lands on sure the pollutants damage the reefs, and in places like Indonesia there's a lot of hungry mouths to feed and many the way that is catching fish, and there are so many people that the number of fish has usually declined. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: It seems like a larger message of this movie is what we have to lose if we don't take care of it. MICHELE HALL: Absolutely and that is one of the ultimate goals of making this film getting it out there to fillers viewers around San Diego and around the world so that they can see the beauty and the potential loss and part of that mission, because he saw things that he'd never seen before, and for him to take that information back to this in his village and know where he's going to go, talking about having these experiences like to do his life, he would potentially become a tremendous messenger. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: I want everyone to know that the new IMAX adventure journey to the south Pacific is playing at the Reuben H Fleet science center, I have been speaking with underwater photographers Howard and Michele Hall, thank you so much for being with us.

Nature documentaries are often difficult to photograph, but when the subject is underwater life that difficulty increases exponentially. Unless you've been doing it for 25 years.

Underwater director of photographer Howard Hall in West Papua with the IMAX camera and underwater housing, which together weigh 250 pounds.
2014 IMAX Corporation and MacGillivray Freeman Films / Photographer: Shaun MacGillivray
Underwater director of photographer Howard Hall in West Papua with the IMAX camera and underwater housing, which together weigh 250 pounds.

Del Mar residents Howard and Michele Hall have been filming marine life for television and the movies for many years. Their latest effort is the stunning underwater photography in the new IMAX film running at the Reuben H Fleet Science Center, called "Journey to the South Pacific."

Journey to the South Pacific