ARRI Rental has shared some epicness by showing off their ALEXA 65 in an underwater shoot using the HydroFlex dedicated housing. Although this ability is not new, it’s nice to be reminded of its birth, and utilization in motion pictures.
The first shoot of ALEXA 65 was underwater (in 2014)
The first production to use the ALEXA 65 and to hit theaters was Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. While the movie was shot primarily on a 35 mm film by Robert Elswit ASC, a major underwater sequence was captured with ALEXA 65 cameras and Prime 65 lenses in HydroFlex housings by Pete Romano ASC. The sequence was done entirely inside a ‘green’ pool. The reason for shooting the brand new ALEXA 65 was due to the demand for maximizing quality for VFX purposes.
HydroFlex + Nauticam
According to ARRI Rental, the ALEXA 65 wasn’t available at that point. Pete and HydroFlex’s Matt Brown worked closely with ARRI Rental Group London’s, Neil Fanthom and John Duclose during the design phase of the underwater housing construction. HydroFlex also teamed with Nauticam underwater camera company, Ryan Canon, to design and build a custom glass dome port for the ALEXA 65’s 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm lenses. The underwater housings were finished in early November and HydroFlex received the prototype ALEXA 65 on November 11th for the first fitting and electrical and buoyancy testing. On November 13th HydroFlex shipped two successfully tested ALEXA 65 underwater camera systems off to the location, and this pioneered shoot has started.
One of the most intensive underwater shoot
At the end of the shoot, over 400 hours were logged into the camera. The team put the ALEXA 65 underwater for 20 consecutive days, 10 hours at a time. Hence, the heat was a big concern, but according to the crew, by using a proprietary heat sink that was built into the housings, all heat issues were eliminated. The team stated that the camera performed perfectly.
To sum it up, It was one of the most complicated VFX underwater sequences. However, it has been well executed since it’s one of the most impressive and special scenes in the whole movie. Almost anyone who watched Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, remembers it very well. For those who need a reminder, explore that scene below:
