Lights under water
Lights under water is the world's first colored underwater film. The documentary silent film shows the research and scientific results of the Austrian Tyrrhenia Expedition in 1952 . It was the exploration of the caves of the seabed on the rocky coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
production
Idea, script and editing: Rupert Riedl
Recordings and construction of the underwater cameras: Kurt Schaefer
Made with the support of the Federal Ministry of Education and the Zoological Institute of the University of Vienna.
Expedition leader: Rupert Riedl. Other expedition members: Kurt Schaefer, Erich Abel, Kurt Russ and Ferdinand Starmühlner.
The premiere of the film took place on December 16, 1952 in the Auditorium Maximum of the University of Vienna. Among the guests was the mayor and governor of Vienna Franz Jonas .
The film was to be shown as an Austrian contribution to the Venice Film Festival in 1953 . However, this was then dropped for cost reasons.
action
The film first shows the romantic rocky coast of the expedition area, drives down to the water, shows the first marine animals such as crabs and worms, explains life in the flood lakes and then goes below sea level. Fish take the lead on the voyage of discovery, slide back into the depths, show the landscape of the algae forests. The camera follows a fish through the algae forests to a cave entrance. This is where the first people come into the picture: two divers examining the cave entrance and taking flash photos of the vegetation. The two divers bring their collection up to a waiting boat. In a fast drive it goes to the main camp on the shore, where the corals are placed in seawater aquariums. The finds are studied through the pane of glass. A number of researchers decide to go further into the cave. Self-made underwater lights, generator sets, diving equipment and cameras are loaded onto the boat, which heads back to the cave. The research team descends into the depths and penetrates the cave with large underwater lights. Research is carried out and the variety of colorful corals, sponges and mosses is captured on film and photo. Samples are collected. A very long sequence shows the colorful growth of the cave walls, partly with macro shots of polyps .
The documentary has no sound throughout. It was shown during lecture events, where the lecturer explained the film simultaneously.
Technical specifications
Recorded on Kodachrome positive 16mm film (total about 500 meters).
Playing time 35 minutes, including the title.
literature
Jung, Michael: Kurt Schaefer - A pioneer of UW film and photography. In: DIVEMASTER-Magazin, Stuttgart, No. 61, (2009), pp. 55–59
Individual evidence
- ^ A pioneer of underwater photography , Unser Düsseldorf.de, from January 25, 2010, accessed August 24, 2015
- ↑ OUR ADRIA - OUR FISH , Gerwin Gretschel, lecture at the Institute for Zoology of the Karl-Franzens-University Graz, January 22, 2015., accessed August 24, 2015
- ↑ Even more sea . In: Die Welt from January 26, 2010.