Howard Hall
Role: IMAX filmmaker, underwater cinematographer, author First appearance: 2002 ([1]) Location: San Diego, California Affiliation: Howard Hall Productions; Gates Underwater Products
Biography
Howard Hall is a San Diego-based natural history filmmaker whose career maps the entire history of underwater cinema technology — from 16mm film in the 1980s through 1,200-lb IMAX 3D cameras to RED ONE 4K and RED Helium 8K. He works with wife Michele Hall (co-producer on most films) and a crew of San Diego veterans including Bob Cranston (died 2016), Mark Thurlow, Dave Forsythe, Peter Kragh, and Richard Hermann.
He co-authored “Successful Underwater Photography” with Brian Skerry, directed multiple IMAX films, and won PBS Nature awards including Best of Show at Wildscreen 1990 and Grand Prize at Antibes 1992. His partnership with Gates Underwater Products produced the entire DEEP digital cinema housing line.
Key Films
- Seasons of the Sea (PBS Nature, 1990) — Shot on 16mm. Best of Show, Wildscreen 1990; Festival Choice, Jackson Hole 1991. Remastered for Amazon Prime 2017 ([2])
- Shadows in a Desert Sea (PBS Nature) — 16mm. Best Cinematography, Wildscreen 1992; Grand Prize, Antibes 1992
- Into the Deep (IMAX 3D, early 1990s) — First IMAX 3D underwater film. Filmed with 1,200-lb camera
- Deep Sea 3D (IMAX, 2006) — Narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet; score by Danny Elfman. “Highest budget underwater film ever shot in this format.” Alex Mustard called it “their crowning achievement” ([3], [4])
- Under the Sea 3D (IMAX, 2009) — IMAX camera at $20,000+ per 3-minute film load ([5])
- Maldives in RED (2010) — RED ONE 4K footage from the Maldives that generated extensive Wetpixel forum discussion, including spirited article comments debating whether community members should critique a filmmaker of Hall’s caliber ([6])
Gates Partnership
Hall’s collaboration with Gates defined the digital cinema underwater housing category:
- Gates DEEP RED (2007) — Housing for RED ONE camera, co-developed with Hall. He called the RED “a landmark in motion picture capture, as different from video as video is from film and better than both” ([7])
- Gates DEEP EPIC — Used for Lembeh Strait creatures (2012), Cocos Island footage ([8])
- Gates DEEP DRAGON (2013) — RED EPIC DRAGON 6K ([9])
- RED Helium 8K — “Whale Song” (2018) shot in French Polynesia ([10])
Timeline
- 1980s: Works on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom; starts filming sharks
- 1990: Seasons of the Sea wins Best of Show at Wildscreen ([11])
- 2002-10: Book signing with Brian Skerry at Gates booth, DEMA 2002 ([12])
- 2006-02: Deep Sea 3D world premiere at California Science Center IMAX ([13])
- 2007-10: Gates announces DEEP RED housing, developed with Hall ([14])
- 2010-03: “Maldives in RED” — 4-minute RED ONE compilation ([15])
- 2010-06: 14-day Cocos Island expedition; 4 submersible dives aboard Deep See ([16])
- 2012-03: Films creatures of Lembeh Strait at Lembeh Resort ([17])
- 2014-12: Publishes essay on tagging — satirical criticism of scientific animal tagging practices. Norbert Wu praised the piece in the comments, calling it “excellent” and urging readers to recognize the irony. ([18])
- 2016-06: Writes memorial for Bob Cranston, his closest collaborator (died June 2, 2016) ([19])
- 2017-09: Seasons of the Sea and Shadows in a Desert Sea remastered for Amazon Prime ([20])
- 2018-12: “Whale Song” — humpbacks in French Polynesia, shot in 8K with RED Helium ([21])
- 2020-04: Eric Cheng interviews Hall, Michele Hall, and Marty Snyderman at Atlantis Dumaguete — ~150 combined years of UW filmmaking ([22])
References
Sources
- Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2002: Gates Howard Hall And Brian Skerry At Dema ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 16, 2017: Howard Hall Films Available On Amazon Video ↩
- Wetpixel article, Jan 31, 2006: Deep Sea 3d To Debut On March 3rd ↩
- Wetpixel article, Mar 1, 2006: Review Imax Deepsea 3d ↩
- Wetpixel article, Dec 4, 2010: Filming Under The Sea 3d On Vimeo ↩
- Wetpixel article, Mar 31, 2010: Maldives In Red Howard Hall Productions ↩
- Wetpixel article, Oct 9, 2007: Gates Announces Deep Red Underwater Housing For Red One Camera ↩
- Wetpixel article, Mar 26, 2012: Howard Hall Films The Creatures Of The Lembeh Strait ↩
- Wetpixel article, Dec 31, 2013: Gates Announces Deep Dragon ↩
- Wetpixel article, Dec 26, 2018: Video Whale Song By Howard And Michelle Hall ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 16, 2017: Howard Hall Films Available On Amazon Video ↩
- Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2002: Gates Howard Hall And Brian Skerry At Dema ↩
- Wetpixel article, Feb 22, 2006: Imax Deep Sea 3d ↩
- Wetpixel article, Oct 9, 2007: Gates Announces Deep Red Underwater Housing For Red One Camera ↩
- Wetpixel article, Mar 31, 2010: Maldives In Red Howard Hall Productions ↩
- Wetpixel article, Jun 15, 2010: Howard Halls Cocos 2010 Video Short Shot On Red ↩
- Wetpixel article, Mar 26, 2012: Howard Hall Films The Creatures Of The Lembeh Strait ↩
- Wetpixel article, Dec 1, 2014: Howard Hall Tagging A Celebration Of Science ↩
- Wetpixel article, Jun 9, 2016: In Memoriam Bob Cranston Underwater Cameraman ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 16, 2017: Howard Hall Films Available On Amazon Video ↩
- Wetpixel article, Dec 26, 2018: Video Whale Song By Howard And Michelle Hall ↩
- Wetpixel article, Apr 1, 2020: Interview Marty Snyderman With Howard And Michelle Hall By Eric Cheng ↩
- Gates, Howard Hall, and Brian Skerry at DEMA (2002) (article) ↩
- Deep Sea 3D premiere (2006) (article) ↩
- Gates DEEP RED announcement (2007) (article) ↩
- Maldives in RED (2010) (article) ↩
- Cocos Island 2010 (article) ↩
- In Memoriam: Bob Cranston (2016) (article) ↩
- Films on Amazon (2017) (article) ↩
- Eric Cheng interview (2020) (article) ↩