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When Al Giddings hears adventurers complain
that there are no new places to explore, he laughs. “I’ve been doing
this for more than thirty years, and to me it’s like a continual Lewis
and Clark expedition.” (qtd. in Finkel 28). |
Al Giddings estimates that he has spent more
than 20,000 hours underwater, both in machines and in free explo- ration.
He has been in every major ocean. He has dived off the coast
of Antarctica and beneath the ice in the North Pole. He has visited
many famous shipwrecks. In 1954 he made it into the Guinness Book
of Records by diving into a pool in a San Francisco sporting goods show
and remaining there for almost twelve minutes before surfacing.
But the things he is most famous
for are his photos and his underwater cinematography.
He was a pioneer in filming the underwater ecosystems of the world.
He has won three Emmys for his television documentaries. His film
Gentle
Giants in the 1960s won him an emmy as well.
He has been involved in the production of several IMAX films.
He has accomplished many firsts – like the first professional footage of
sharks, whales, and other creatures. He has worked with Dr.
Sylvia Earle many times during these excursions. These films
raised the awareness of many people to the plight of the whales in
particular and helped motivate people to demand a moratorium on whaling
worldwide. Like Dr. Earle, Giddings was one of the first to try the
sport of scuba diving.
(See the biography on Jacques
Cousteau, the inventor).
In addition, Giddings has been involved in
many commercial movies. He did the filming of the actual ship Titanic
in the North Atlantic at a depth
of over 12,000 feet. It took a three-hour descent to
reach the ocean floor in a Russian submersible. Then
the crew worked 12-14 hour days filming the wreckage for the
latest movie version
of the tragedy. He was the Underwater
Director of Photography for the films The Deep and The Abyss.
Giddings is another example of a multi-disciplinary
person. Besides diving and doing underwater photography, Giddings
is an engineer. With his employees he designs and builds underwater
imaging systems. In this area he has introduced numerous
innovations to the underwater film industry. He
designed and built one of the first underwater camera housings in
1959 so that he could use a more sophisticated camera for his underwater
work. Since then he has built housings for numerous cameras – both
for still images and for video. See Interdisciplinary
Approach.
Giddings is excited with the possibilities
offered by high-definition television. With this technology he feels
all his future films will far surpass those he has already done.
With such a long list of magnificent work to his credit, it
will be a difficult task to accomplish.
PARTIAL LIST OF HIS WORKS
Oceanquest
Water: Gift of Life
Secrets of the Humpback Whale
The Deep
For Your Eyes Only
Never Say Never Again
The Abyss
The River Wild
Striking Distance
Never Cry Wolf
Damien-Omen II
Mysteries of the Sea
Shark Chronicles
Blue Whales: The Largest Animal on Earth
Ocean Symphony
Titanic: Treasure of the Deep
Secrets of the Humpback Whale