American cinema of the 1930s and '40s may be revered as golden, but by today's standards, the technology of the era was anything but. In 1946, Hollywood was abuzz with new underwater filming techniques that let audiences experience big-screen shark encounters and beautiful coral reefs.
By placing an air-tight plastic box over a standard-size 16-mm camera, operators could finally film in so-called "fish-view." "External controls on the case permit the camera to be started and stopped with ease," PM wrote in the May issue.
The camera box, attached to a wooden board long enough for the operator to lie on, was lowered from a boat, with cameramen opting for either oxygen-providing diving helmets or sea-dive masks and a high lung capacity for the shoot, PM reported.
Today, even more advanced underwater cameras are helping film crews take video to new extremes, and The Discovery Channel's Shark Week later this month is just the tipping point for the future of Digital Hollywood. Check back later this week for more from the frontier of filmmaking, including how third-generation cameras and projectors will reshape going to the movies as we know it. —Allie Townsend