The Blue Ocean in RED from Howard Hall on Vimeo.
Of course, the RED we are speaking of here is the vaunted RED ONE camera, introduced in 2007 and since upgraded to the ONE M-X. The RED ONE is considered a digital cinema camera (as opposed to a HD video camera), resembling a RAW file-based still DSLR that offers a frame rate of 1-30 fps at 4K and up to 120 fps at 2K.
The Blue Ocean is filmed by Howard Hall with the RED ONE camera using Nikon lenses. Locations include the Maldives, Alaska, California, Cocos Island Costa Rica, and Mexico. There is a picture of the light rig they use underwater at their Vimeo page. Music was composed by Shie Rozow.
In case you’re wondering who Howard Hall is, or maybe the name sounds familiar to you, here is the bio from Vimeo:
Howard and Michele Hall are natural history filmmakers specializing in marine wildlife and marine environmental films. Together they have produced numerous films for television including several episodes of the PBS series Nature, a National Geographic Special, and the five-part PBS series Secrets of the Ocean Realm.
Today the Halls are best known for their IMAX films. Howard has directed four IMAX films including Into the Deep, Island of the Sharks, and Deep Sea 3D (the later two films were produced by Michele). Howard has been director of underwater photography on several other IMAX features including the MacGillivray Freeman IMAX feature, Coral Reef Adventure. Howard and Michele also appear as stars in the film.
The Hall’s most recent IMAX 3D feature, Under the Sea 3D, was released in IMAX theaters worldwide in February 2009.
The ecosystem is so visibly apparent in the oceans with each sea creature dependent on one or more of the other creatures for their well-being. And I’ve never seen so many sword fish gathered in one place.
I know the beautiful music score adds to the enjoyment of the film, but after I’ve enjoyed a video, I like to do this: replay and watch the video again, this time with the sound muted. As a photographer, I like to imagine myself behind the lens. In this case, it’s a pretty quiet world underwater and by turning the music off, I try to gain a better appreciation of the film-making process underwater: what the photographer chooses to film, how and when he switches to something else. Of course, there’s a lot of editing and cutting in post production.