The underwater eye : how the movie camera opened the depths and unleashed new realms of fantasy /

In The Underwater Eye, Margaret Cohen tells the fascinating story of how the development of modern diving equipment and movie camera technology has allowed documentary and narrative filmmakers to take human vision into the depths, creating new imagery of the seas and the underwater realm, and expand...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cohen, Margaret, 1958-
Published: Princeton University Press,
Publisher Address: Princeton, New Jersey :
Publication Dates: [2022]
Literature type: Book
Language: English
Subjects:
Summary: In The Underwater Eye, Margaret Cohen tells the fascinating story of how the development of modern diving equipment and movie camera technology has allowed documentary and narrative filmmakers to take human vision into the depths, creating new imagery of the seas and the underwater realm, and expanding the scope of popular imagination. Innovating on the most challenging film set on earth, filmmakers have tapped the emotional power of the underwater environment to forge new visions of horror, tragedy, adventure, beauty, and surrealism, entertaining the public and shaping its perception of ocean reality. Examining works by filmmakers ranging from J. E. Williamson, inventor of the first undersea film technology in 1914, to Wes Anderson, who filmed the underwater scenes of his 2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou entirely in a pool, The Underwater Eye traces how the radically alien qualities of underwater optics have shaped liquid fantasies for more than a century. Richly illustrated, the book explores documentaries by Jacques Cousteau, Louis Malle, and Hans Hass, art films by Man Ray and Jean Vigo, and popular movies and television shows such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Sea Hunt, the Bond films, Jaws, The Abyss, and Titanic. In exploring the cultural impact of underwater filmmaking, the book also asks compelling questions about the role film plays in engaging the public with the remote ocean, a frontline of climate change.
Carrier Form: xviii, 303 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-285), filmography (pages 282-285) and index.
ISBN: 9780691197975
0691197970
Index Number: TR893
CLC: J418
Call Number: J418/C678