Harold "Doc" Edgerton » Search Results » back+dive

HEE-FV-181

Claire Calcagno — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:11:29 +0000

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION
00:00:01 Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:08 Film begins. High-speed (slow motion) film footage of a piano hammer striking a piano string, showing the resulting vibrations. Footage is quite shaky, as though the camera is resting on the piano.
00:02:01 High-speed footage of a mousetrap being set off by a pencil.
00:02:42 Harold E. Edgerton arranges a deep-sea camera in his laboratory at MIT, and poses next to it.
00:02:48 Edgerton arranges another deep-sea camera on a yellow frame in his lab and poses next to it; the film runs faster than normal speed.
00:02:59 Detail of the yellow frame camera assembly with two cameras mounted side by side (for stereo photography).
00:03:03 Still b/w shot of Edgerton and an unidentified young man looking at a display of underwater photography equipment.
00:03:12 Still b/w shot of a deep-sea camera with its back removed, exposing the internal film mechanisms.
00:03:23 Still b/w shot of the sea bottom taken during an expedition in 1961 with Edgerton, John B. Hersey and [Alex?] Johnson on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) research vessel CHAIN (likely expedition #19) [see HEE-SC-06199].
00:03:47 Annotated sonar graph of a deep-sea expedition survey conducted aboard CHAIN (#17) dated 5/6/1961, showing a graph recorded at a depth of 2230 fathoms.
00:03:58 Diagram illustrating how a sonar ‘pinger’ device (designed by Edgerton) is used to track the location of a submerged camera being towed by a ship.
00:04:01 Bradford W. Luther makes markings on a map of the coast of Massachusetts relating to the Vineyard Lightship wreck search project.
00:04:16 Luther pours liquid (gasoline?) on board a small motorboat.
00:04:22 Film clips of boats on a river, including a floating barge, a motorboat and Navy ships Intrepid and Preserver. Filmed from the dock.
00:05:05 Two men in uniform converse on a dock next to the ship Preserver.
00:05:11 The Preserver is untied from the dock and begins to move away.
00:05:33 The two officers continue their discussion.
00:05:41 The Preserver leaves the dock area.
00:05:52 A fishing boat (?) moored to a wooden dock.
00:05:57 Two men, one with a moustache and a pipe, work on some equipment on board a boat.
00:06:02 Several views of a military ship and TRIESTE bathyscaphe (white and red vessel) filmed from aboard a boat that is motoring around them.
00:06:35 Close-up view of the TRIESTE bathyscaphe.
00:06:49 Two men lower an underwater sonar probe into the water from the side of a boat.
00:07:00 Harold Edgerton (left) and another man work with sonar recording equipment on board the boat.
00:07:05 Cylindrical instruments (likely deep-sea cameras?) lined up on the deck of the TRIESTE; an officer and another man stand by the vessel’s ‘sail’. A sonar instrument attached to the vessel’s side (yellow and black) can be identified. As the cameraman’s boat moves around the TRIESTE there are more views of the stern with several cylindrical instruments on the deck, and men at the stern.
00:07:20 Divers in and out of the water next to the TRIESTE.
00:07:30 Officers watch while crew members move underwater equipment (cameras?) off board the TRIESTE.
00:07:37 A detail of sonar boomer equipment on board TRIESTE.
00:07:45 A man monitors a sonar recorder on board.
00:07:52 A man raises an underwater (sonar?) instrument out of the water onto TRIESTE.
00:08:12 A sonar instrument attached to the side of the TRIESTE is shown, filmed from another vessel.
00:08:22 The MIT Sailing Pavilion on the Charles River; camera pans from a view looking west towards Harvard Bridge, across to the southern (Boston) bank of the river.
00:08:34 Sonar equipment arranged on the dock of the MIT Sailing Pavilion next to a motorboat named QUEEN (Harold Edgerton’s boat?).
0:08:40 Close-up scan of sonar recording equipment, weights, lines, floats and other devices arranged on the dock.
00:09:01 View across the Charles River to Boston and moored sailboats.
00:09:12 Moored ships (one named W33).
00:09:18 The shoreline of Boston harbor (looking at the Customs House).
00:09:25 A large dredging barge.
00:09:31 Four men cross Memorial Drive towards the MIT Sailing Pavilion, holding underwater equipment: two orange and black spheres (buoys).
00:09:40 A spherical buoy with a probe attached to it by a cable is lowered into the Charles River from the sailing pavilion dock.
00:09:47 A boat with a sonar boomer attached to the bow side motors out into the harbor.
00:09:51 Several men assist in lowering the sonar boomer into the water.
00:10:02 View of a dredging boat at work, and other ships on the water.
00:10:11 The sonar data recorder prints out a sonar graph; it appears to be a side-scan sonar record. A person points out particular details on the graph.
00:10:18 A harbor lighthouse.
00:10:25 A man with multiple cameras around his neck clambers on board the TRIESTE and takes pictures while a crew member assists a diver surfacing alongside the vessel.
00:10:51 A diver on board TRIESTE; another diver climbs up the side. The diver crosses a walkway off TRIESTE.
00:11:09 A large sand ‘feeder’ is swung over with a crane to the deck of TRIESTE.
00:11:26 A diver in the water next to TRIESTE.
00:11:33 Crew members maneuver and monitor sand ‘feeder’ used to fill ballast on board TRIESTE. Detail of the sand sieve. The ‘feeder’ is lifted away from the vessel and back to the dock.
00:12:12 Men on the deck of TRIESTE stand by the vessel ‘sail’.
00:12:17 Sand bags on the deck of TRIESTE.
00:12:24 Divers jump off of TRIESTE’s walkway into the water.
00:12:39 Film ends.
00:12:41 © 2010 MIT credits.

HEE-FV-035

Claire Calcagno — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:10:23 +0000

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION
00:00:01 Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:23 CBS News broadcast clip: voice-over by reporter Bruce Hall provides some historical background to the maritime conflict of the American Civil War, while viewing a black-and-white image of the Civil War battle at sea between the ironclad USS MONITOR and Confederate ship MERRIMAC.
00:00:44 Film footage of a research expedition at sea in August 1977 at the wreck site of the USS MONITOR, two weeks into the expedition, off Cape Hatteras, NC. It is a joint civilian and government expedition, with NOAA and the Navy, to photograph the wreck site and remove artifacts.
00:00:58 The JOHNSON-SEA-LINK submarine research vessel, from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, pulls close to the main research vessel from which the footage is being filmed.
00:01:17 Divers in a small rubber dinghy wait on the surface to retrieve an artifact being brought up from the MONITOR wreck site below, using an inflatable lift bag.
00:01:22 Hall’s voice-over: “The iron plate [piece of the vessel’s hull] was brought to the research vessel where research scientists say it should provide a great deal of information about the ship and the durability of the metal.”
00:01:32 A ship lantern retrieved from the wreck site is displayed on the deck; Hall comments that it is “believed to have been one used as a distress signal by the crew when it was sinking.” Crewmembers and researchers are shown taking pictures of the lantern.
00:01:50 Harold Edgerton examines the lantern find.
00:01:58 Archaeologist Gordon P. Watts, Jr. (with mustache) examines the ship lantern. Hall states that if the wreck is to be raised, the first attempt will probably be made in three to five years.
00:02:02 Portion of hull is displayed and examined on deck.
00:02:10 The CBS NEWS transmission ends with “Bruce Hall, CBS News, off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.”
00:02:11 Shots of artifacts being examined by crew members on board the research vessel. The lantern is shown in a bucket of seawater.
00:02:32 Good shot of the lantern held out of bucket.
00:02:37 Off-camera someone says, “What a prize!”
00:03:05 Edgerton is shown taking pictures of the ship lantern; other team members also take pictures.
00:03:33-7 [film is distorted]
00:03:46 Edgerton asks, “Is there a strobe light in it?” as he takes more snapshots.
00:04:23-8 [film is distorted]
00:04:24 Edgerton talks about a little fish that had been living inside the lantern while it was still on the wreck site. They retrieve the fish from inside the lantern and dump it in a bucket.
00:05:37 Comments about the lantern: “that’s gotta be the anchor lantern, Roger;” “the top is all brass.”
00:05:58 [There’s a] “little crab inside lantern – thinks we can’t see him;” “squid/octopus in the bucket, too.”
00:06:50-1 [film is distorted]
00:06:58 “That glass is in perfect condition after 100 – 150 years.”
00:07:20 Shots of a metal hull fragment lying on the deck.
00:07:22 Edgerton is shown in the pilot house, and then he goes out on deck. Several images of people maneuvering deep-sea equipment off the side of the vessel, with a small rubber dinghy hovering nearby.
00:08:01 Another research vessel approaches.
00:08:32 A snorkeler in the water assists in maneuvering marine-encrusted camera apparatus [Edgerton's deep-sea camera that was lost during a previous fieldwork expedition to the wreck site in 1974] being recovered and hoisted on board.
00:08:54 Edgerton observes from the side of ship. Then he speaks to a person (off-camera). Edgerton describes the item as “kinda rusty.” To a question, “You didn’t know you’d get it up did you?” Doc answers, “No – well, sure, I’ve been working on it persistently, but it’s taken longer than I thought it would take. The next question is, is the film any good. Can it be repaired and used again […]” [voice is unintelligible due to background motor noise].
00:09:35 Edgerton’s lost camera equipment is raised; it is partly covered in a deflated yellow lift balloon. At 00:10:37 someone exclaims, “The camera’s recovered!”
00:10:41 Edgerton and others take pictures of the recovered deep-sea camera.
00:10:57 Edgerton looks more closely at the salvaged deep-sea camera and gives instructions on how to maneuver the camera equipment from the deck position.
00:11:17 The camera apparatus is lifted into a vertical position by Edgerton and the crew.
00:11:22 Edgerton says, “I can tell you right now, the resale value of this is pretty low… Wouldn’t you say this camera has had it?”
00:11:35 Close-up of camera detail.
00:11:38 Film snow.
00:11:51 Film ends.
00:11:55 © MIT 2010 credits.

HEE-FV-120

Claire Calcagno — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:08:48 +0000

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION
00:00:01 Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:08 Film begins.
00:00:23 Sound and image starts. A b/w photograph is picked up as the voiceover introduces: “Boston University Television presents ‘Photographic Instrumentation Under The Sea’ by Dr. Harold E. Edgerton. Presented by the program host E. Harrison Rideout [spl?], Chairman of the Boston Section, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.”
00:00:59 Harold Edgerton is introduced by Rideout to Dave Nolan, student chairman of the student chapter of Boston University Television.
00:01:16 Rideout (right) with Dave Nolan plan to show and discuss Edgerton’s photographs of recent research trips to the Caribbean.
00:01:31 Edgerton describes a deep-sea camera and the electronic flash lamp that makes deep-sea photography possible: “The camera is designed to fit into a cylinder; it carries 100 ft of film, 35 mm type, pulled by a small motor. It takes three hours to go through. Everything on the back of the camera is out in the open so that it’s easy to get to. A special lens on this particular camera. […] There’s no light around, so there’s no need for a shutter, so we eliminate it. The lens on this camera was designed by Prof. Robert E. Hopkins, Department of Optics, University of Rochester […] it cuts distortion under water.”
00:02:35 Edgerton, seated with host Rideout and student Nolan, explains how the camera’s special lens is designed to work under water without causing distortion. Nolan asks about the need for a very large aperture.
00:02:54 Edgerton explains that the camera aperture is set at f11 and he uses 100 watt-seconds of light. He is shooting the new ASA 160 color film with this lens.
00:03:24 Close-up of cylinder camera. “Film normally runs through the camera at a speed of one image every 10-15 seconds. When the camera is used inside a dive machine [submersible] then it is at the command of a push-button by the man who’s running it. […] This particular camera is of great interest to me [Edgerton] because it’s been to the deepest point in the Mediterranean, 14,000 feet and –”
00:03:56 Focus on Edgerton: “– down to 25,000 feet in the Atlantic and to shallower places many times.”
00:04:05 Edgerton sits with his two hosts, one of whom asks: “ there’s something ticking in there – is there a bomb about to go off?” Edgerton explains that there is a clock inside camera that can be set for 2 hours, needed because it can take two hours or more to reach the bottom of the sea from the ship at the surface.
00:04:35 Edgerton explains the structure that the camera is mounted on, and shows a photograph of the heavy casing that the camera fits into.
00:04:45 Edgerton describes the casing as a straight cylinder of steel, made thick to withstand great pressures at depth in the deep sea.
00:04:57 View of hosts. Edgerton describes the casing thickness: 3/8 of an inch of hard steel.
00:05:03 Close-up of thick but ordinary stainless steel cylinder sample crushed during a pressure test to 8,600 psi [pound per square inch], equivalent to ca. 17,000 feet depth.
00:05:26 Edgerton faces his host while holding a test sample of a steel cylinder; oceans are twice as deep as the test pressure. He explains that the test sample was developed for a flash tube for the bathyscaphe (submersible). “We built all the cameras and lights for the bathyscaphes […] [They were] very anxious that the equipment would not implode with the men in it. So we tested it to destruction.”
00:05:57 Edgerton sits with his hosts and is asked question about gaskets. Nolan asks, “With camera mounted in a steel tube, isn’t it as weak as the gasket would be? What do you use to seal it?” Edgerton explains the use of steel against steel with an O-ring in the crack [?]. As soon as the pressure comes on to steel, the O-ring serves no function. The O-ring only serves to protect the pressure when at shallow depth. “Frankly the only time we have leaks is when the camera is brought up from great depths, the steel relaxes a bit and the springs don’t completely take up the slack.”
00:06:36 Edgerton explains that some winches are quite slow; it takes time to retrieve a camera from great depths: e.g., during a project at the Puerto Rico Trench the previous summer [1958?] it took the camera 3.5 hours to go down, the camera ran for 3 hours, and it took 7 hours to come back up to the surface.”
00:06:51 Host questions the type of frame that camera is mounted on.
00:06:55 Edgerton show a photograph illustrating one type of steel framework used currently on display at NIRAM [?] Show.
00:07:03 Close-up of the camera and flash mount illustration. Edgerton describes so-called “sled” camera mount used originally with Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
00:07:10 Cousteau wanted to be able to drag the camera across the ocean floor.
00:07:14 Close-up of small model of mount for two cameras (used to take pictures in stereo). Edgerton explains the sonar device on camera mount and the issue of being able to control the location of the camera mount which needs to hover (e.g.) 6 feet from the sea floor so as not to sink into the floor mud, but not too high such that light from the camera lamps is insufficient to light the intended subject.
00:07:52 Edgerton explains sonar (‘pinger’) device that “sends very intense short pulses of sound; it sends one signal up and at the same time another one down. The one that’s reflected off the bottom of the ocean follows the other one up. And at the surface you can hear ‘tic-tic, tic-tic’.” Nolan surmises that the difference between the two sounds can be measured and indicates the depth from the camera to the sea bottom. Edgerton concurs, and describes it as lasting 1/1,000 of a second, making it necessary to use an oscillograph or recorder. Instrumentation helps us to get the pictures. Rideout asks about the type of lighting used on this camera.
00:08:34 Edgerton explains the electronic flash used on the deep-sea camera. “A very short flash stops all motion; it is very efficient, so the battery case doesn’t have to be too large: energy is stored and used only when you need it.” Despite the glass lamp looking fragile, Edgerton says it can withstand 17,000 psi of deepest ocean.
00:09:04 Focus on Edgerton.
00:09:09 Nolan asks about the sturdiness of the glass flash lamp and its specific construction.
00:09:18 Close-up of glass flash lamp. Edgerton explains that the glass is very strong in compression.
00:09:25 Focus on Edgerton.
00:09:32 Nolan asks about new device for looking that he had heard about earlier from Edgerton.
00:09:47 Focus on Edgerton: he shows photographs of the two-man submarine developed by Cousteau in the early 1950s [called SOUCOUPE = French for ‘saucer’], with two portholes for passengers lying inside. Edgerton points out the location of his cameras and electronic flash tube on the exterior of the vehicle. The equipment is operated by a pushbutton by the person inside. He describes taking nine dives on it during preliminary tests, and explains how they achieve precise maneuvering by using jets of water operated by a row of batteries that power an electric pump.
00:11:20 Nolan asks more details about the jet propulsion systems.
00:11:30 Focus on Edgerton: he discusses the vessel’s extreme maneuverability. “This is what you need when you want to study the bottom of the ocean.” Breathing air is supplied by a tank of oxygen [?] with a regulating valve.
00:12:01 “There is an absorbing material in the sphere that cleans out the carbon dioxide as it accumulates, and new oxygen is supplied.”
00:12:17 Focus on Edgerton: he describes the motion picture equipment used on board SOUCOUPE, with a 5,000-watt tungsten lamp, water-cooled, powered by the same batteries. Almost no batteries are inside the vessel; control is by means of electrical wires.
00:12:46 Nolan: comments that the purpose of the submersible is to get closer and have more maneuverability than you can just by lowering a camera and taking shots.
00:12:55 Focus on Edgerton: he explains that with a camera they can take 800 pictures entirely at random – it becomes a matter of chance what is captured on film. With SOUCOUPE a passenger can shoot exactly what is desired at the right moment. “Man can observe and see everything, but the camera enables him to record more than he can remember, and bring it back and show other people.”
00:13:22 Rideout asks how the sub is deployed from the ship’s deck into the water.
00:13:30 Focus on Edgerton: he explains the process of deploying and retrieving the sub, which weighs 3.5 tons and is lifted by a special hydraulic crane, while showing a photograph of SOUCOUPE hanging from a crane on the stern of the vessel.
00:14:02 Nolan asks how long the submarine can stay under water.
00:14:04 Focus on Edgerton: he says he doesn’t know precisely, but the tank of oxygen used when he was working lasted for days and the sub is quite roomy inside. The longest dive he witnessed during preliminary tests was four hours, and when the men came up they said it had seemed like a short dive to them.
00:14:34 Rideout asks if color film had been shot at depth in the Caribbean during his last trip.
00:14:42 Focus on Edgerton: he explains that 16mm color film was used with electronic flash, running at 24 seconds, high-speed film; excellent quality. “Cousteau puts his movie camera on the sled and drags it around at the speed you would walk: it’s fascinating to watch a half-hour of film watching things as you go by – you can run it backwards if you see something particularly interesting and want to take another look.”
00:15:16 Nolan asks about the extent of the viewing range at the sea bottom: 6 or 10 feet?
00:15:25 Focus on Edgerton: he describes how Cousteau uses a very strong light beam to light up the center of field, so it provides good vision.
00:15:49 Rideout asks Edgerton about experimental 3-mill[imeter?] base film [?].
00:16:01 Focus on Edgerton: he describes his successful experimentation with 3-mill base [?] that almost doubles your operating time – so that the chance of getting a good picture is made that much greater.
00:16:28 Rideout asks about photographs that were taken during expeditions.
00:16:37 Focus on Edgerton: his effort was sponsored by the National Geographic Society Research Committee and he notes that a series of articles have appeared in the magazine. The latest is an article by Commandant [Georges] Houot, French captain of the bathyscaphe [FNRS III] that goes down to 13,000 ft. [See: Houot, Georges S. “Four Years of Diving to the Bottom of the Sea,” National Geographic Magazine (May 1958, Vol. 113), 715-731]. Edgerton notes that the previous week the Americans made a dive to 18,000 ft in the Pacific.
00:17:22 Close-up of image in National Geographic Magazine of a bathyscaphe on the ocean surface [TRIESTE]. Edgerton explains one photograph that illustrates the interior of the bathyscaphe and the operator’s work area, operating two cameras with wide-angle lenses on either side of his porthole. He then shows a photo of a tripod fish captured on film for the first time, and explains how that image had revealed the function of previously enigmatic filaments the fish actually used as legs to ‘stand’ on.
00:18:31 Focus on Edgerton: Edgerton flips through more pages of National Geographic Magazine and talks about sharks photographed at depth.
00:18:48 Close-up of a magazine photograph of a shark presumably attracted by the noise and/or lights of the bathyscaphe.
00:19:00 Edgerton sits with Nolan and Rideout and talks about the noise of the bathyscaphe caused by the motor and two propellers. He states, “Noise may scare or attract some subjects – no one really knows; this field is still so new that every time that we go out to try to find some particular thing or learn, we usually find we never find a straight answer and then we always come back with ten other questions.”
00:19:37 Edgerton with hosts: Rideout draws the interview to a close.
00:20:02 Film fades out, and theme music starts.
00:20:56 Out-takes of students disassembling the studio interview area (with SPRC banner in background). Boston University production. A young man makes a statement about “joining Geoff Miles for further discussion on the problems of TV kinescope recording.”
00:22:06 Film fades to gray.
00:22:29 © 2010 MIT credits.

HEE-FV-175

Claire Calcagno — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:08:05 +0000

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION
00:00:01 Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:08 Film begins.
00:00:11 British guard walks back and forth on horseback at the gates of a royal building.
00:00:22 British guards shown on horseback.
00:01:08 British guards dismount from their horses.
00:01:16 Esther Edgerton, by the family VW van, crosses the street.
00:01:24 A street sign identifies the place as the Royal Burgh of Inveraray, capital of Argyll.
00:01:33 Street sign: “To the castle.”
00:01:36 Views of Inveraray Castle in the distance.
00:01:42 Close-up of the castle and parking lot: the Edgerton VW van arrives and is parked.
00:02:09 Harold Edgerton examines a bronze cannon placed outside the castle entrance.
00:02:19 Esther Edgerton examines a crest on the bronze cannon covered in fleurs-de-lis.
00:02:28 John D. Mills (left) and the Duke of Argyll chat in the castle parking lot.
00:02:32 A view of a sailboat moving past the castle in the background.
00:02:41 A view of a small motorboat (ferry)?
00:02:49 People disembark from the ferryboat.
00:02:52 A view of a pub sign: “Galleon Grill.”
00:02:58 The Edgerton VW van parked near a news agent: John Mills (left) greets two men by the van.
00:02:11 Two men row a boat past the ferryboat.
00:03:22 John Mills inflates a rubber dinghy with a foot pump in a parking lot. Children watch.
00:03:57 Mills rolls equipment on a dolly across the street, with another man’s assistance.
00:04:02 Mills and another man roll dolly with equipment down to a motorboat by the water’s edge.
00:04:08 Mills and several men assist in bringing equipment and loading it onto the motorboat.
00:04:16 A man assists, with Edgerton boomer equipment in background.
00:04:23 View of harbor with children playing at a beach.
00:04:28 A large ferryboat steams away.
00:04:33 Sailboats and a motorboat in the harbor.
00:04:37 A scuba diver deploys a line off the side of the motorboat; Mills is in the stern.
00:04:43 Mills and another scuba diver on rubber dinghy leave the motorboat.
00:04:55 The rubber dinghy motors away; views of Tobermory seaside and harbor station in the background.
00:05:27 Views of sailing boats (in a regatta?), the motorboat, and a large ferry in Tobermory harbor.
00:05:41 Focus on a red buoy in water (decoy for scuba divers under water?).
00:05:48 A large jelly fish can be seen from the boat.
00:06:11 Sailors for HMS Malcolm approach the dive boat on a launch; they pull up to boat with gaff.
00:06:32 Scuba divers, including John Mills with moustache, are back on the motorboat with dive equipment; they shake heads, and look discouraged.
00:06:46 Divers jump in water before diving.
00:07:08 A sonar graph of a sub-bottom profile is shown (likely a page from a printed book).
00:07:18 Mills (mustache) on the dock next to the moored vessel holds a round object (thick cylinder: porthole? tire?) retrieved from the sea.
00:07:33 Mills is assisted as he takes off his scuba suit, with lots of people watching from roadside above.
00:07:56 Esther Edgerton stands by the Edgerton VW van, filled with instruments in cases. Two little boys in kilts watch her and climb into the van.
00:08:21 Film ends.
00:08:27 © MIT 2010 credits.

HEE-FV-019

Claire Calcagno — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:05:46 +0000

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION
00:00:01 Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:08 Film begins.
00:00:19 First images: MIT Alumni Pool, underwater camera and lights equipment dangling under water. Man jumps in and swims to camera [Stuart A. Nelson, Jr.?] and starts taking pictures. Voice-over by TV reporter John T. Fitch ’52 introduces the subject: underwater photography.
00:00:49 [Titles] NET presents / Science Reporter / Underwater Photography / reporter John Fitch M.I.T.
00:01:11 Fitch introduces himself.
00:01:23 Harold Edgerton is shown by the edge of the swimming pool holding underwater camera lighting equipment. He is introduced as Professor of Electrical Measurements in the Department of Electrical Engineering and as the inventor of modern high-speed photography.
00:01:35 Fitch gives a general background to Edgerton’s work.
00:01:52 Edgerton, by the edge of the swimming pool, holds underwater camera lighting equipment.
00:02:00 Fitch presents the program topic: discussing equipment that Edgerton uses in deep-sea research.
00:02:09 Edgerton hands equipment to the swimmer in pool. Fitch approaches and asks question about camera he’s holding: how does water stay out of it?
00:02:24 Edgerton explains that his hand-held camera [NIKONOS type] is ordinary except that –
00:02:28 [Close-up of camera] “– its case is water-proof. It was developed in France by Capt. Jacques-Yves Cousteau; it’s now made in Japan.” Edgerton removes lens to show protective O-rings. He explains knobs to control focus and aperture.
00:03:05 Edgerton and Fitch look at the camera equipment.
00:03:08 [Close-up of camera] Edgerton shows how to replace lens on camera.
00:03:15 Edgerton explains to Fitch how to open camera and get access to 35mm film inside, and how to trigger camera.
00:03:27 [Close-up of camera] Edgerton shows trigger to take picture. [pan backwards] and shows underwater flash lamp attachment.
00:03:47 Edgerton explains to Fitch the importance of color film use; he explains that one challenge is that color is absorbed in water within a distance of 10 feet, beyond which the color red is “killed,” leaving images only green and blue and “very unsatisfactory.” He shows Fitch the flash lamp (50 watt/seconds) mounted on a frame attached to the camera base; a lamp directed close to the subject provides color. Edgerton then shows Fitch a 200 watt/sec. lamp unit that would be operated by a second diver holding the unit of to the side.
00:04:40 [Close-up] Edgerton explains how a photo-electric tube is triggered by the flash of a primary flash attached to the camera, which allows the operator to get a synchronized light flash without the need to run wires between two divers. Fitch does a test to show how lights from camera-mounted flash and the hand-held flash go off simultaneously. As many secondary lights can be used as desired. Camera lamp has been tested for 300 ft., within scuba-diver range. The deepest ocean is about 7 miles deep, so a depth of 300 ft is just scratching below the surface. Edgerton expands on issues that accompany camera work at greater depths.
00:05:43 [Focus on Edgerton] Edgerton explains: problems are exactly the same in shallow and deep water: you need a case to keep out salt water; need a window, need electrical connections to operate lamp; camera also needs protection from great pressures. Pressure in deepest part of the ocean reaches 1,700 lb per square inch (more than 8 tons per square inch).
00:06:14 Fitch asks about cables to send signals between deep-water cameras and surface ship.
00:06:20 Edgerton explains: most equipment has batteries and automatic gear so it does not require any electrical connections to the surface.
00:06:46 Fitch invites Edgerton to show some additional equipment. A deep-sea camera (300 lbs) is pulled out of the pool. Heavy steel cables are used to pull up the entire frame.
00:07:15 Two men use block and tackle to pull camera gear out of pool. Edgerton points out specific features: two cameras at one end, water-tight plugs that carry electric power from battery in strobe, and wire carrying synchronizer connection to operate shutter. When the shutter operates, it closes the circuit that flashes the strobe. Two cameras allow stereo pictures.
00:08:15 [Close-up of back of camera] Hardened steel is about 1 inch thick. Edgerton points out the O-ring that seals against the steel. He points out the internal clock and the pressure gauge that are photographed on film to fix the exact instant and the exact depth at which the photo image was captured.
00:08:59 Fitch and Edgerton discuss details. Edgerton explains the placement of a card at the back of the camera; it is very important not to mix up different films, so the card will record location and project information: date, research vessel name, longitude, latitude, etc. The information becomes a permanent part of these pictures.
00:10:43 Close-up as Edgerton removes camera from cylinder case. A cylinder shape is used to withstand great pressures. The lens on front looks to bottom through a glass lens that is 1 inch thick. The corrective lens was developed by Prof. Robert E. Hopkins (University of Rochester) to avoid aberrations caused by looking through glass and water, to ensure that photographic images are as clear as possible. A standard reel of 35mm film is used. The back of the camera is open for ease of access.
00:11:26 Close-up as Edgerton replaces camera inside cylinder; Fitch comments about being impressed with the thickness of the steel casing. Edgerton warns, “Be careful: don’t bend that!”
00:11:42 Edgerton illustrates the effect of great pressure in the deep sea by displaying a cylinder camera case that didn’t survive the descent, and was crushed flat. The camera case failed at a depth of 4 miles.
00:12:12 Edgerton explains the other end of the camera equipment where the control mechanism is located: strobe light. He explains about the battery that can take 1,000 images (allowing spare capacity). He notes the efficiency of using the light only when you are illuminating the scene to take a picture.
00:12:53 Edgerton describes the automatic clock used to schedule a delay before the camera begins to take pictures, needed because of the time it takes to deploy the camera from the ship and have it reach sea bottom. He emphasizes the importance of testing equipment before deploying it in the field, in water.
00:13:32 Edgerton and Fitch introduce the next phase of film: showing examples of fieldwork.
00:13:54 Edgerton offers commentary while footage is shown of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute research vessel ATLANTIS II on a mission at sea; the pictures were taken by Samuel O. Raymond ’50 in Spring 1963 at the site of the THRESHER submarine disaster. Camera gear on deck is taken to the wreck site. There are two sets of camera gear available, so that one could be serviced while the other one was deployed on site. WHOI researcher Alex Johnson is visible.
00:14:27 Dr. John B. Hersey (WHOI scientist) appears at right, helping to maneuver deep-sea photographic equipment (nick-named “Big Jenny”) on deck. Edgerton explains that the equipment is rigged on the mount at a tilt so that the lights can be closer to the bottom when deployed; equipment is designed to work 30-40 feet from the sea bottom in order to cover more area. The ship was allowed to drift very slowly so that overlapping pictures could be taken, allowing for continuous coverage of everything on the bottom within a 20-foot wide strip.
00:15:17 The camera gear is shown on its way down; it took about a half-hour for the camera to reach bottom.
00:15:28 The winch operator watches a gauge that indicates the length of cable being let out.
00:15:33 A sonar instrument is deployed over the side of the ship, used for reading the sea bottom.
00:15:47 A map is shown indicating the trail pattern of where the cameras were towed across the THRESHER search site. Often, a towed camera might be located a mile away from the ship because of the current; it was a significant technical problem to determine exactly where the towed camera is.
00:16:03 Camera equipment is shown being retrieved from the sea, illustrating how difficult it can be to haul in the equipment, particularly in rough seas. “It gives the equipment good shock tests,” says Edgerton.
00:16:29 Edgerton notes that “quite a few of these cameras are lost at sea due to accidents that occur and breaking the cables, cameras get caught on something, or rigging… Practically every ocean of the world has one of these cameras at the bottom. I usually put my name and address on the ones I got out to sea with, and hope some day they will be found.”
00:17:02 A group of men crowd in around the continuous processing machine on board to see if cameras have taken pictures; Dr. Hersey stands at left.
00:17:22 Edgerton describes how hot water is poured on cold cameras when they first come up to warm them up, to prevent damaging moisture condensing in the interior.
00:17:31 Edgerton describes several photo still prints, and points out the data chamber on the left side of each print (that conveys information on location, time, depth, etc.) as described earlier. Some images reveal fragments of the THRESHER debris field.
00:17:50 Fitch and Edgerton at MIT Alumni Pool.
00:17:58 Edgerton explains how to position camera equipment in relation to bottom of the sea using a sonar device he designed (‘pinger’). The camera is lowered on heavy cable until the camera is 20 ft from the sea bottom. The cable length is often considerably longer than the distance to the bottom because the camera drifts sideways due to currents and tides. “It is essential that we get a measurement from the camera to the bottom.” Edgerton explains details about the ‘pinger’ sonar instrument.
00:18:35 Edgerton points out the sonar transducer (pinger) mounted on the center of the camera instrument frame, and explains how the instrument works: It sends out pulses of sound that last about 1/5000 of a second, at one-second intervals, at a 12 kilocycle frequency so it sounds like little pings. As the camera approaches the bottom the sounds come from the transducer to the ship; at the same time the sound is reflected off the sea bottom and also returns to the ship. The time difference between two pings (direct ping and bottom-reflected ping) is recorded on board the ship by a sonar recorder, which indicates the distance between the camera and the sea floor.
00:19:28 Edgerton illustrates the pinger device with a large diagram. He then moves over with Fitch [at 00:20:12] to show a sonar recorder instrument that documents the sound on a tape. He demonstrates the sonar pinger in the swimming pool by putting a transmitter on the edge of the pool that emits a signal that will travel ca. 75 ft and return to the pool wall, and thus be recorded on the sonar recorder. Close-up of sonar graph [at 00:20:37]. Edgerton explains how to read the sonar graph.
00:21:04 Edgerton and Fitch monitor the sonar recorder as it records sound signals in the pool. A swimmer, Stuart A. Nelson, Jr. (the MIT sailing coach) jumps in and intentionally uses a splashy swim stroke to produce lots of bubbles; these appear on the sonar graph as signal disturbances.
00:21:29 Nelson jumps in the pool and swims slowly and noisily across.
00:21:41 Edgerton and Fitch monitor the sonar recorder as the swimmer (off camera) proceeds across the pool; Edgerton explains what the sonar recorder is documenting in real time.
00:21:50 Swimmer in pool.
00:22:06 Edgerton and Fitch stand by the sonar recorder as Edgerton explains how the tape is run more slowly when used with a deep-sea camera.
00:22:10 The swimmer reaches the end of the pool.
00:22:15 Edgerton and Fitch stand by the sonar recorder as Edgerton pulls out the record and points out the signals of the “noisy” swimmer moving across the pool.
00:22:29 [Close-up of sonar graph] Edgerton explains specific signals recorded. The slope of the signal line on the graph is proportional to the velocity at which the swimmer moved across the pool. Each individual stroke can be discerned.
00:22:43 Edgerton and Fitch discuss why the pinger is placed directly on camera being lowered to the sea bottom (rather than being kept on the ship and used to monitor the camera’s depth). Edgerton explains that is how the process was done in earlier days when they only worked to depths of about 1,000 feet. Beyond that depth the signal becomes too weak to record because the camera is too small a target. Instead, the camera is made to be a source of the sound. Even so, the signal is very weak and would be lost on a normal oscilloscope because of various background sea noises. By using the sonar recorder tape you can “see” through the noise and pick out the faint dots belonging to the camera.
00:24:09 Scene: office room. Edgerton shows Fitch a series of black-and-white photographs of what has been documented by his camera at great depths.
00:24:19 Photographs of the Romanche Trench in the mid-Atlantic Ridge (WHOI project): mud and also small animals.
00:24:30 Photograph of rocks on sea bottom. Edgerton: “We go out to find what’s there.” He shows a sample of one of the rocks dredged from that site and comments, “That made a good Christmas present for my wife.”
00:24:58 Famous picture taken by David M. Owen (WHOI) with Dr. Ewing’s early cameras; it shows nodules at a great depth [likely Mediterranean Sea, 18,000 feet].
00:25:06 Picture of fish on the sea floor. Interesting image because the biologists on the trip had previously told Edgerton, “it’s no use taking pictures here: there are no fishes in this area.”
00:25:18 Picture of starfish on the sea bottom.
00:25:24 Picture of sea anemones on the sea bottom; currents are affecting the animals (limbs waving). The picture was taken by Richard A. Pratt (WHOI). Fitch: “It shows how valuable the pinger is in positioning yourself precisely so far off the bottom so that you can have a perfect picture like that.”
00:25:47 Edgerton and Fitch at a desk in an office: Edgerton describes the ability of sonar instruments to penetrate below the bottom sediments.
00:25>55 Edgerton shows a black-and-white photograph of an annotated sonar graph taken in Boston Harbor (7/14/1962) that shows the location of the two traffic tunnels (Sumner and Callahan) that go beneath the sea floor from Boston to the airport.
00:26:08 Edgerton and Fitch: sound penetrates through the mud itself. Edgerton tells him they call the machine the “mud penetrator.” Penetration depth can reach 50 feet below surface. He has hopes of going further. He is still learning a great deal about the technique.
00:26:37 Edgerton and Fitch: last picture to be shown.
00:26:42 B/w picture of a sonar graph labeled Caryn Peak, an underwater volcano located between the Atlantic coast and Bermuda. It was recorded by John B. Hersey in 1961 on board the WHOI research vessel CHAIN (expedition #19) using a very large sonar source called a ‘boomer,’ which creates a much lower and more powerful sound than a ‘pinger’ and penetrates deeper but with less resolution than a higher frequency sound. The sonar graph shows sediment layers that extend about a half-mile below the bottom surface.
00:27:26 Edgerton and Fitch: deep-sea sub-sediment [sub-bottom profiling] research is in a very active stage now: Edgerton states, “oceanographers around the world are trying to make louder noises and lower frequency noises and better recorders to get deeper and deeper into the earth.”
00:27:48 Edgerton points to a sonar ‘mosaic’ on the wall showing the profile of the Puerto Rican Trench [at the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean], created out of a patchwork of sonar graphs, sent to Edgerton by John Hersey of WHOI. He points out sediment ponds at the bottom and the layering and sediments on the sides. The interview is concluded.
00:28:08 Fitch summarizes the program topic of program and signs off.
00:28:23 Film credits appear while swimmer swims in pool with underwater hand-held camera. [“Produced and directed by Russell Morash. Produced for National Educational Television. Recorded by WGBH-TV BOSTON, The Lowell Institute Cooperative Broadcasting Council…”]
00:29:25 Voice-over: “This is NET – National Educational Television.”
00:29:30 © MIT 2010 credits.

HEE-FV-052

Claire Calcagno — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:59:33 +0000

TIME CODE DESCRIPTION
00:00:01 Introductory information: film title, synopsis, date, run time.
00:00:08 Film begins.
00:00:11 SE coast of France: ESPADON fishing boat on Mediterranean waters moors to a dock (off-camera).
00:00:19 ESPADON motors through waves past a white rocky coastline.
00:00:29 View of a steep rocky coastline point; the boat appears to be anchored.
00:00:38 Harold Edgerton puts on a scuba suit on board the boat.
00:00:47 A scanned view of the rocky coastal point eventually pans to Simone Cousteau, Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s wife.
00:00:58 Simone Cousteau assists skipper Albert Falco in carrying a large yellow dive scooter across the boat deck (similar to the scooter seen in Cousteau’s 1956 film “The Silent World”).
00:01:01 Edgerton assists Simone and Falco.
00:01:04 Simone maneuvers the dive scooter on deck.
00:01:05 Edgerton maneuvers dive scooter and sets it in a wooden cradle on deck.
00:01:07 Edgerton jokingly flexes his muscles after the lifting effort.
00:01:09 Men assist in maneuvering the dive scooter over the boat’s side into the water.
00:01:15 Edgerton puts on a triple set of scuba tanks.
00:01:21 Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Edgerton talk.
00:01:29 Edgerton descends boat ladder into the water.
00:01:39 Dive scooter is deployed overboard into the water. A diver in the water unhooks the scooter from the boat-based cable. Diver (Edgerton?) scoots away under water using the scooter.
00:02:01 Cousteau and others peer overboard.
00:02:05 Edgerton (balding head) appears under the water surface propelled by the scooter.
00:02:12 Another diver retrieves the scooter attached to the boat cable, and the scooter is lifted up out of the water.
00:02:19 Edgerton comes back up the boat ladder.
00:02:22 Albert Falco (left) and Edgerton are back on board; Falco shows off a piece of coral he has brought up.
00:02:31 Edgerton talks to others on board.
00:02:36 Edgerton removes his triple scuba tank.
00:02:40 Falco stands within the top entrance hatch of the Cousteau submersible SOUCOUPE as another man hands him a series of thin rectangular objects (possibly to do with vehicle ballast?).
00:02:45 Edgerton climbs up into the SOUCOUPE entrance hatch; an Edgerton flash lamp is prominently visible outside the hatch.
00:02:54 Falco kneels and looks into the entrance hatch.
00:02:55 A hand pulls the hatch door closed. Men on deck check SOUCOUPE lamps, cables, etc.
00:03:09 A man wearing a snorkel, mask and fins perches on top of the submersible and adjusts the heavy cable and crane used to hoist SOUCOUPE from the deck to the water.
00:03:16 Crew members make adjustments to the submersible on deck, and then assist as the submersible swings out over deck towards the water.
00:03:32 SOUCOUPE submersible swings out over the water with man in snorkel holds on to top of vehicle. Once the vehicle is submerged he disengages the large hook holding the vehicle to the boat crane.
00:03:51 The man floats above the submersible just below the water surface.
00:04:00 SOUCOUPE is released and begins to sink down as the snorkeler observes from the water surface.
00:04:11 The snorkeler is retrieved from the water holding onto the crane hook.
00:04:17 Deckhands hold onto crane in tippy seas.
00:04:27 A small motorboat hovers near the SOUCOUPE submersible as it surfaces, emitting two large spouts of water.
00:04:43 Snorkeler assists submersible; lighthouse is visible on background shore.
00:04:46 Snorkeler attaches large hook to submersible to be hoisted up to deck, and falls back into water.
00:05:01 The submersible is lifted onto the deck with the powerful crane, with assistance from deckhands and people on board a motorboat. SOUCOUPE is slowly lowered into its “port” on the deck and lashed down in place.
00:05:11 Edgerton (left) and Falco outside SOUCOUPE admire a marine-encrusted ceramic pot (short-necked, two-handled, missing most of its body) retrieved from the sea floor. Falco hands it to Edgerton, who shakes his hand and thanks him.
00:05:48 Toulon, SE France: A marine officer on the dock assists maneuvers of the large French Navy bathyscaphe FNRS III into the water.
00:06:12 Detailed view of the FNRS III portholes and Edgerton strobe lights and cameras.
00:06:18 Another detailed view of FNRS III portholes and Edgerton strobe lights and cameras.
00:06:20 Harold Edgerton sets up a cylinder camera; he places a pressure-damaged camera case (labeled “#8200”) next to it, and displays the squashed metal camera case.
00:06:58 Officers on board a motorboat between the dock and the FNRS III bathyscaphe carry an officer (likely Georges Houot, the commander) to the bathyscaphe. He climbs on board and enters the vessel ‘sail’ (where communications equipment and entrance hatch are located).
00:07:23 The bathyscaphe is shown from its stern.
00:07:28 The bathyscaphe is slowly towed within the harbor.
00:07:39 Men unload bags (ballast for the bathyscaphe?) from a truck on the dock.
00:07:46 Men on board the bathyscaphe deck stand within the ‘sail’ while others on the dock walk across the boat ramp.
00:07:59 Fueling bathyscaphe (possibly gasoline used for flotation).
00:08:04 Men carry Edgerton’s deep-sea camera equipment across the ramp from the dock to the bathyscaphe deck.
00:08:17 Scuba divers get ready to dive, on the bathyscaphe deck.
00:08:22 Scuba diver off the dock swims towards the bathyscaphe.
00:08:32 Navy officers on the bathyscaphe deck; thick line is used to tie the bathyscaphe to the towboat.
00:08:38 Deckhand and navy officer on board the towboat observe maneuvers with the bathyscaphe in the distance.
00:08:47 Jacques-Yves Cousteau (left) and others, including photographers, watch from on board a vessel as a motorboat pulls away with scuba divers on board.
00:08:56 The motorboat approaches FNRS III at sea. Several people including an officer and the scuba divers board FNRS III.
00:09:13 Underwater (b/w) film shows scuba divers adjusting Edgerton’s underwater camera equipment likely attached to FNRS III.
00:09:34 FNRS III bathyscaphe partly submerged.
00:09:41 FNRS III bathyscaphe with people on deck as a small boat approaches; scuba divers are in the water.
00:09:48 The motorboat leaves FNRS III with scuba divers on board.
00:09:55 Three men in a rowboat approach the vessel.
00:10:00 Officer (Cousteau?) on board the vessel adjusts an instrument (camera?).
00:10:06 Cameraman films from on board the rowboat as it approaches FNRS III attached to towboat.
00:10:17 Two men next to an instrument (?).
00:10:24 View into the bathyscaphe ‘sail’ shows FNRS III’s open entrance hatch and communications instruments.
00:10:29 A smiling young man stands within the bathyscaphe ‘sail’ entrance and then descends the hatch.
00:10:49 View from the bathyscaphe of the towboat with a big smokestack, motoring along.
00:10:54 Scuba divers swim away from a vessel marked “P771.”
00:11:04 A man adjusts devices on large motor engine (?).
00:11:10 Bathyscaphe navy commander Georges Houot (in officer’s uniform) and other men look down into the water from the bathyscaphe deck.
00:11:23 Scuba divers next to the bathyscaphe deck.
00:11:33 Scuba divers climb on board the secondary vessel (“P771”).
00:11:45 View into the hatch of the bathyscaphe.
00:11:49 Unclear view, possibly out of a porthole on board the bathyscaphe [very dark footage].
00:12:00 View from the bathyscaphe interior looking up towards the sky through the open entrance hatch.
00:12:03 Blue circle: a view into the sea from a bathyscaphe porthole; a scuba diver swims past the porthole.
00:12:09 A view of an instrument (camera?) dangling under water.
00:12:14 [?]
00:12:17 Comm. Houot comes up from entrance hatch into bathyscaphe ‘sail’ on deck, and waves at cameraman (Edgerton?).
00:12:24 Houot is silhouetted on the bathyscaphe deck, seen from the rowboat.
00:12:33 Houot is silhouetted on the bathyscaphe deck, seen from another vessel.
00:12:42 A motorboat approaches the town shore, with what is likely Edgerton deep-sea camera equipment held in place at the bow by an officer.
00:012:51 Cameraman (Edgerton?) displays pages from a National Geographic Magazine article titled, “Photographing the Sea’s Dark Underworld” (April 1955 [107.4], pp. 523-37) with pages being flipped open to view a photograph of a tripod fish.
00:12:56 Film ends.
00:13:02 © 2010 MIT credits.