NOVA Online | Everest Quest | The Making of an IMAX/IWERKS Film (1)

The Making of an IMAX/IWERKS Film
by Liesl Clark and Audrey Salkeld

"I think it'll be one of the more epic and incredible achievements in Himalayan film making if we actually succeed."—David Breashears

With a camera that is the heaviest ever carried up the slopes of Everest, the MacGillivray Freeman IMAX/IWERKS 1570 large format film, "Everest," is not only a story about a climb on Everest but a dramatic filmmaking expedition to one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Large format film making is a challenging medium, to say the least. The standard IMAX camera, which weighs 92 pounds, has had to be adapted, simplified, and reduced, so that it is now down to 38 pounds. But in high winds and thin air, this is going to be no easy load to manhandle to the top of the world.

climber with rope

Although film maker David Breashears, two time summiter of Mount Everest, is perhaps the best person for the job, the shoot is fraught with potential problems. "The difficulty with the IMAX camera is mobility. It takes a lot of people to move the camera and equipment around the mountain. It takes time to set up. One has to be careful of how you execute the shots because a 500 foot roll of film which weighs 5.5 pounds lasts only 90 seconds. The IMAX camera uses 6 feet of film per second. So you just don't pick up the camera and start shooting. One has to be very careful in the composition of the shots as to what will or won't work on IMAX or OMNIMAX screens. So altogether it's just logistically much more difficult."

The camera was designed specifically for this project, to make it light enough. The body is made out of magnesium, a lightweight metal. The fly wheel has been removed and the electronics simplified. "It's like comparing a '56 Chevy to a '96 Chevy," says assistant cameraman Brad Ohlund. Because of the simple design of the camera, problems can be rectified immediately at Base Camp by Brad.

seting up an IMAX camera

The 500 foot loads of film are 5.5 lbs each. Each load shoots 1.5 minutes of film, passing through the gate at a rate of 336 feet per minute, four times the speed of 35mm. "It's pretty amazing that the film gets through the gate at all," says Brad "it stops 24 times per second," that's 24 still frames per second. What makes the film different from other formats is its horizontal design, which is simply a wider width of film. It's actually shot on 65 mm film and projected at 70 mm. In order to withstand the extreme cold on Everest, the camera was tested at -40 degrees Fahrenheit "so that you know you'll be able to turn it on time after time at altitude," says Ohlund.

With cold weather testing and the development of lighter weight materials behind them, Breashears and his crew have a daunting task to undertake in order to reach the summit and capture 70 mm coverage. Breashears says it'll take 12 people to get what he needs on the summit day: "There'll be Robert Schauer and myself—there's 2 film makers—ideally. Four western climbers, ideally, so that's 6, 4 Sherpas with the film gear, that's 10, and 2 Sherpas in support because the Sherpas who are carrying the camera gear will only be carrying a single oxygen bottle. But they will need 2 oxygen bottles to reach the summit. So the support Sherpas will carry oxygen for the camera Sherpas. So that's 12 of us, which is a rather large summit team."

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Photos: (1) Liesl Clark; (2) courtesy Sumiyo Tsuzuki; (3) Liesl Clark.

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