All language subtitles for The Amphibian Man - Chelovek-Amfibiya - In Search of Ichthyander (ENG)

Stop! One more take.

These words are familiar
to all cinematographers.

But a year ago,

no one was likely to imagine
that they would be heard

under the water
a dozen meters deep.

This happened during the shooting
of the film "Amphibian Man".

Alexander Belyaev's novel has
been read and loved by many.

However, not many know how much
hard work and ingenuity it took

to show on screen
an amazing story of Ichthyander,

a man who could live underwater.

Our first meeting with Ichthyander
took place

in one of Leningrad swimming pools.

Each day we were faced
with dozens of questions.

What should the actors' costumes
be made of?

How is the color going to change
underwater?

What materials to use for the sets?

In a word, five thousand "how's",

seven thousand "where's",
a hundred thousand "why's".

For several months, the swimming
pool had become a testing ground.

Only after we have got answers to
all "how's", "where's" and "why's",

we could set out for the seaside.

Over a picturesque bay
near Sevastopol

there rose the flag of an unknown
country of dreams and quests.

In millions of years of its
existence, this solitary place

had probably never experienced
so many changes.

Fifty Robinsons were vigorously
transforming the uninhabited coast.

The urban construction didn't
come to architectural excesses.

Our little harbor received
overloaded transport ships.

Timber,

the sets, all kinds of equipment.

In terms of fitting,
we could compete

with any expedition of pioneers.

But don't forget, we were there
to discover the depths of the sea.

A few days,
and one could hardly recognize

Leningrad cinematographers
in those sun-bronzed Robinsons.

The far-sighted managers brought
along some tools of civilization.

And the bay turned into
a spirited, boom settlement,

the capital of an adventure-packed,
dream country,

albeit not marked
on any geographical map.

But the most interesting
was yet to happen.

Choosing a place for our pavilion,
we critically examined the sea bottom.

No, it wasn't a slip of the tongue.

We had to build underwater
a film studio.

To explain it better to you,
let's go back to Leningrad.

The sets of a sea bottom had been
constructed at Lenfilm Studio

to make some
superimposition shots.

The cinematographers
take miracles for granted.

None of them would be surprised
to see in the studio a shark,

or colorful tropical sea plants

growing from the wooden floor.

Everything was as usual here.

The floodlight projectors went on,

and Ichthyander,
garbed in glittery scales,

made his first
swim in the air.

At the moment, we should rather
call him a flying man.

But on the screen, these sequences
look exactly like those shot at sea.

However, what becomes habitual
on land

is not so easy to perform
underwater.

To begin with, we had to wrestle
some territory from the sea.

The divers were first to go into
action.

They had to lower heavy piles
down to the sea bottom.

And although all objects
lose in weight when in water,

this was far from an easy job.

Sometimes there are storms at sea,

but our studio had to hold
in any weather.

A pavilion is supposed to have
walls,

and we made them of
durable nylon net.

Soon pole tops were outlining the
boundaries of the conquered space.

In the meantime, on the shore
a fantastic forest had risen,

created by the imagination
and the hands of designers.

It seems to have been the first
experience

for the designers and artists
to work underwater.

By this time,

members of our expedition
had been turned to amphibian men.

The fishes were placed
in a special construction

fixed to a movie camera.

In this case, the extras did
what the director was saying.

But obviously we couldn't shoot
all the sequences in the sea.

And again, the special-effects
people came to the rescue.

They had made the missing shots
in a swimming pool near Baku.

This is the Viking's stand-in.

Don't let its miserable appearance
mislead you.

In no time it will look as good
as his real-life double.

No one can wait to start working,

and a tardy compressor is
substituted by the efforts

of the whole production crew,
including the kids.

The Viking is launched.

The special effects cameraman

can do wonders not only with people,
but with luminaries, too.

The sun. Make the sun rise.

Give me a wave.

And one last detail.

With the help of a filter, we'll
turn a sunny day into a night.

Action.

There had been lots of scenes shot.

All kinds of events took place
on the sea bottom

in the underwater realm
that we had created.

That's local fishermen looking
for the mysterious sea devil

that has left his tracks on the shore.

Look, that must be him
coming up.

Oh, no! That's a cameraman.

He is rolling up the installed rails
out of the sea abyss.

It's impossible to tell you about
everything we had to experience

in our underwater studio.

Deep in the sea,
lamps kept blowing up,

not being able to endure water
pressure.

The most simple things
turned out to be complicated.

A light mannequin standing in for
Ichthyander suddenly came alive.

The obstinate dummy wouldn't let
itself be tied to the anchor chain.

We're finishing
the underwater shooting.

Looking like a space projectile,
the movie camera

has made its last panoramic shot
of the sea kingdom.

It makes us sad to part with
this amazing world of silence.

Who knows, maybe our next film
will bring us back here again?

And we're leaving behind
in the hospitable depths our sets

and Gutiere's crimson ribbon.