Yes, they do shoot underwater stills for movies! In After The Sunset, for example, one of the key elements to the caper happens while Max (Pierce Brosnan) is involved in a jewel theft while supposedly diving on a sunken ship.

 

“Usually an underwater film is shot either in the ocean (second unit) or in a large tank (first unit),” says still photographer Richard Foreman, Jr. “On this film, I was lucky enough to work both units since I wasn’t the primary unit photographer. While Glen Wilson was covering first unit in the Bahamas, I was seven time zones away in Hawaii.”

 

For the second unit work in Hawaii, Foreman shot stunt doubles and wide establishing shots, working with underwater cinematographer Peter Zuccarini and his crew on a wreck sitting at a 90-foot depth. “Most underwater cinematography takes place no deeper than 30 feet, so that shooting time will not be limited by nitrogen being absorbed into body tissues,” Foreman explains. “Since the dive in the story takes place at night, Peter needed low ambient light levels, hence the deeper than normal depth. Those of us on the camera crew who were not Nitrox certified took a class to be able to utilize a lower nitrogen to oxygen ratio gas blend, allowing us longer dive times at the depth required, and shorter surface intervals between dives. That’s dedication.

 

“One of the best things about shooting second unit is the bonding of the small crew into a cohesive team,” continues Foreman. “Add to that the trust formed by everyone watching out for each other in a potentially life threatening situation, and you have a recipe for creating long lasting friendships.”

 

First unit for Foreman consisted of diving at the somewhat shallower depth of 14 feet in the submerged sets built from referencing photos that he shot in Hawaii. “Most scenes were interiors of the wreck and were lit primarily by the actors’ flashlights, necessitating fast negative film,” he explains.

 

What is it about shooting underwater that fascinates Foreman? He has shot underwater stills for such films as The Abyss, U-571, Hard Rain, Point Break and The X-Files, just to name a few. “I was a diver long before I became a still photographer, so it has been wonderful to be able to combine two passions,” he says.

 

When pressed to name his favorite aspects of underwater shooting, he laughs. “When I slip into the water, all my gear becomes virtually weightless, and the actors can’t see well enough to find me in their eyeline.”

 

Weightlessness applies to the housed motion picture camera as well, making it easier to move and, according to Foreman, “resulting in each set up becoming like a Steadicam shot.” This constant camera movement often times determines his equipment usage. While he prefers a housed motor-driven camera, “they tend to be unwieldy in tight situations,” he admits.

 

“So, usually I load up my Nikonos-V’s, one with a 15mm lens and the other with a 20mm lens. They allow me to boom my right arm in next to the motion picture lens and shoot one handed Hail Marys pre-focused on the actors. Since underwater action usually takes place very close to the wide lens on the motion picture camera, I believe the versatility of these cameras outweighs their inherent slowness.

 

“While I always keep in mind my “guest status” on a set (be it below the water or above), I’m hired to capture and create images that are representative of the film. The only way to do that is to get in close and work with the camera crew as best I can. Usually, after the first few takes, the operator and assistant understand how I’m trying to work with them and they become very cooperative.

 

“All in all, the underwater shooting of After The Sunset was a lot of fun. Some of us were in the Bahamas; some of us went to Hawaii. And we all ended up working long hours in an overly chlorinated tank in the Valley. Guess that’s the reality of showbiz.”