IEC
#1: Courtesy of David Douglas
#2: Shooting around the Great Barrier Reef [1991]
DAVID DOUGLAS
Born: 12 October 1953, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as David Leigh Douglas.
Career: 'I was making 16mm films in high school and when a friend introduced me to some filmmakers [1970]. Right there in the little town of Galt, Ontario, Canada. Robert Kerr, Graeme Ferguson, Bill Shaw and Roman Kroiter had formed a little company called Multiscreen. For me at seventeen, it was revelation time. When the chance for an afterschool job came along, it entailed driving with Robert Kerr, the eighty miles from Galt down to Toronto each night after classes. We where helping to spruce up and refurbish box loads of metal shapes that had arrived from Japan. We painted them and turned them over to Bill Shaw who put them together into something called an IMAX projector. It was a great tall hissing monster and I'd never seen anything like it. One night Graeme Ferguson arrived with Toni Myers and some heavy cardboard boxes of 70mm film. There was no 70 rewind table at the Ontario Place booth yet, so that first print of 'North of Superior' was hand guided by myself, Toni, Zal Yanofsky and others from a vertical rewind table in another room and hand wound onto the massive platters, stopping periodically for a short ceremony around something called an Ultrasonic Splicer. This was all rich voodoo for me in 1971 and when that first picture hit the screen that night, I fell in love.' [From the Big Movie Zone website.]
When Graeme Ferguson created the IMAX Space Team, Douglas spent 18 months training dozens of astronauts to be filmmakers. He supported their orbital efforts from Mission Control on 14 shuttle flights.
During the 2002 Large Format Cinema Association Conference in Los Angeles special tribute was paid to Douglas and he received the 'KODAK Vision Award' for outstanding work in large format filmmaking.
Member of the IATSE.
Awards: 'KODAK Vision Award' [2002] for 'Fires of Kuwait'.
Website: David L. Douglas
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1975 |
Energy [Len Casey] IMAX-70/c; doc/24m; cph: Robert Ryan & Don Wilder |
|
1977 |
Silent Sky [David Mackay, Laszlo George & Douglas Murray] IMAX-70/c; doc/18m; addph (+ c.asst); ph: Laszlo George |
|
1979 |
Nomads of the Deep [John Stoneman] IMAX-70/c; doc/20m; surface ph; uwph: Charles Nicklin & J. Stoneman |
|
1981 |
Hail Columbia! [Graeme Ferguson] 35mm+65mm-to-IMAX-70/c; doc/37m; cph: G. Ferguson (principal doph), Haskell Wexler, Richard Leiterman & Ronald Lautore |
|
1983 |
Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets [Kieth Merrill] IMAX-70/c; doc/37m, aph (+ IMAX cons); ph: Reed Smoot |
|
1984 |
Alberta Bound [Peter Campbell & Brian Pollard] c; doc/29m; cph: Douglas Cole, Gordon Hornbeck & Kent Nason; co-prod NFB of Canada |
|
1986 |
Dance of the East/Korea the Beautiful [Sokin Bae] IMAX-70/c; doc/40mm |
|
1986 |
Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic [Kieth Merrill] IMAX-70/c; doc/41m |
|
1987 |
Seasons [Ben Shedd] IMAX-70/c; doc/32m; 2uc: Mehran Salamati |
|
1988 |
The Deepest Garden/Le Benthos, ou la terre sous-marine [Gérald Calderon] IMAX-70/c; doc/38m; uwph (+ uw dir); ph: ? |
|
1988 |
Alamo: The Price of Freedom [Kieth Merrill] IMAX-70/c; docudrama/37m; cph: Reed Smoot; + 2ud |
|
1989 |
To the Limit [Mike Hoover, Greg MacGillivray & Derek Hart] IMAX-70/c; doc (computer anim + live action)/35m; co-addph skiing seq |
|
1990 |
Blue Planet [Ben Burtt & David Douglas] IMAX-70/c; doc/42m; cph: James Neihouse |
|
1990 |
Hidden Hawaii/Hawaii: Born in Paradise [Robert Hillmann] IMAX-70/c; doc/34m |
"Rolling Stones - At the Max"
|
1990 |
Rolling Stones - At the Max/Stones at the Max [loc dir: Julien Temple (+ creative cons), Noel Archambault, David Douglas, Roman Kroitor; video dir: Christine Strand] IMAX-70/c; concert film/89m; cph: Andrew Kitzanuk; spph: William Reeve; camera cons (+ co-c.op): Haskell Wexler; shot with 8 IMAX cameras outfitted with the first long load film magazines, for 5 concerts in 3 cities in Europe |
|
1990 |
Polynesian Odyssey [Kieth Merrill] IMAX-70/c; doc/42m; ph cons: Reed Smoot; + 2ud |
[Right] with 1st c.asst Dylan Reade - "Fires of Kuwait"
|
1991 |
Fires of Kuwait [David Douglas] IMAX-70/c; doc/36m; David Douglas: 'We were making a film about the interdependence of plant and animal species around the world - an entirely different film. And one of the sequences in that film called for a demonstration of what air pollution really was. The producers, Chris Parsons and Di Roberts, somehow managed to get permission for us to get into Kuwait during the firefighting campaign. Di Roberts and I had an inkling that we might be able to do more than just a sequence on air pollution for this other documentary, and we began to put together the wherewithal so that in the event it was a more compelling situation than we'd thought, we'd be able to do more.' [From 'The Washington Post', 2003.] |
|
1993 |
Journey to the Planets [prod: Graeme Ferguson & Toni Myers] IMAX-70/c; animated doc/16m |
|
1993 |
The Secret of Life on Earth [Adrian Warren] IMAX-70/c; doc/42m; cph: Timothy Housel; spph: Peter Parks |
|
1993 |
Destiny in Space [Ben Burtt, James Neihouse, a.o.] IMAX-70/c; doc/40m; cph: J. Neihouse |
|
1994 |
Yellowstone [Kieth Merrill] IMAX-70/c; doc/35m; co-aph; ph: Reed Smoot |
|
1995 |
Mexico [Lorena Parlee] IMAX-70/c; doc/43m; cph: Haskell Wexler, Alex Phillips Jr. & James Neihouse |
|
1996 |
Cities of the Wild [prod: Christopher Parsons] IMAX-70/c; doc/?m; + loc dir |
|
1996 |
Survival Island [: The Animal Cities of South Georgia] [David Douglas] IMAX-70/c; doc/35m; cph: William Reeve |
|
1997 |
Mission to Mir [Ivan Galin] IMAX-70/c; doc/40m; ph Kazakhstan; ph USA: James Neihouse |
|
1998 |
Amazing Journeys/Epic Journeys: The Great Migrations [George Casey] IMAX-70/c; doc/39m; co-addph (+ add dir); ph: Rodney Taylor |
|
1998 |
Wolves [David Douglas] IMAX-70/c; doc/40m; filming took 8 months; for National Wildlife Federation |
|
2000 |
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure [George Butler] 35mm (archive)+65mm-to-IMAX-35 (+ IMAX-70bu)/b&w-c; dram doc/40m; climbing unit ph (expedition 2000); ph: Reed Smoot (expedition 1999); filmed October-November 1999 & April 2000 |
|
2000 |
All Access - Front Row. Backstage. LIVE! [Martyn Atkins] 16mm+35mm+65mm-to-IMAX-35 (+ IMAX-70bu)/c; mus doc/40m; cph: Rodney Taylor & Reed Smoot; 2uc: Darren Rydstrom |
|
2000 |
Space Station 3D [Toni Myers] IMAX-70 3-D/c; doc/47m; ph Kazakhstan unit; ph: James Neihouse & astronauts; filmed December 1998-July 2001; released 2002; presented by Lockheed Martin Corporation in co-operation with NASA |
|
2002 |
Straight Up!: Helicopters in Action [David Douglas] IMAX-70/c; doc/42m; + co-scrpl |
|
2005 |
Ride Around the World/Ride with Cowboys [Harry Lynch] IMAX-70/c; doc/40m; cph: Rodney Taylor; filmed March-November |
|
2006 |
Wild Ocean/Wild Ocean 3D [Luke Cresswell & Steve McNicholas] IMAX-70 (2-D) (+ IMAX Solido 3-D)/c; doc/45m; marine unit ph; ph: Reed Smoot; filmed intermittently 2006-07; 'Reed Smoot, working with McNicholas, shot coastal action along 800 miles of the Indian Ocean capturing a range of images of the local culture and how it is affected by the sardine run, while also handling the aerial unit and a grueling, all-night shoot aboard a fishing boat; Peter Anderson was the 3-D director of photography, working with Smoot to oversee the three-dimensional aspects of the shoot; and D.J. Roller, a director/cinematographer with extensive experience in 3-D and underwater cinematography, worked with Cresswell on the underwater work while synching their efforts with David Douglas, a director/cinematographer who specializes in giant-screen production and who shot topside footage of the migration. Each of the four units frequently worked with different cameras. Smoot primarily used two Imax Solido 15-perf 65mm 3-D rigs, each of which recorded the pair of stereo images onto two separate rolls of film; Smoot and Anderson also worked with Max Penner, using his Paradise (a.k.a. 'Paracam') 3-D beam splitter rig with two ARRI 435s; and Douglas used an Imax MSM 9802 65mm 2-D camera as well as a Lockheed 65mm 3-D camera, which records both 'eyes' onto a single strip of film.' [From article by Stephanie Argy in 'American Cinematographer', June 2008.] |
|
2009 |
Hubble 3D [Toni Myers] IMAX-70 3-D (+ D-Cinema)/c; doc/45m; operated a camera on a Super Techno Crane at the press site shooting press reactions during the launch; ph: James Neihouse; + footage from 1990 & 1993; 'The footage seen is from multiple sources. These include IMAX cameras taken into space on Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Missions on the Space Shuttle. This would allow the camera to shoot footage of the satellite close-up and during maintenance. IMAX cameras were taken to the Hubble Space Telescope on STS-62 (Servicing Mission 1 in December 1993) and most recently on STS-125 (Servicing Mission 4 in May 2009) which carried an IMAX 3D camera. The IMAX 3D camera contained a mile of film, though this allowed for only 8m30s of footage to be recorded.' [From Wikipedia.] |
|
2009 |
Freefall [: Exploring the Extremes of Gravity] [David Douglas] in development; scheduled for 2013 release; for Foxfire Interactive |
|
2010 |
Born to be Wild 3D/Animal Orphans 3D [David Lickley] IMAX-70 3-D (+ D-Cinema)/c; doc/40m |
|
2013 |
Island of Lemurs: Madagascar [David Douglas] IMAX 3-D/c; doc/39m |
| TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
1984 |
Working at Risk [Michael Douglas] doc series/16mm |
|
2007 |
The Guard/Search and Rescue [various] 22-part series, 2008-09; 2uc; ph: Bruce Worrall |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1974 |
Man Belongs to the Earth [Graeme Ferguson; doc/IMAX-70] c.op; ph: G. Ferguson; for U.S. Pavilion, first environmentally themed World's Fair (Expo '74), Spokane, WA, USA |
|
1974 |
Snow Job [Graeme Ferguson; short/IMAX-70] c.asst; ph: Henri Fiks |
|
1975 |
Big North Ontario [?; doc/scope] c.asst (+ addph); ph: ? |
|
1976 |
Ontario: Summertide [David Mackay; doc/IMAX-70] c.asst; ph: Miklós Lente |
|
1977 |
Silent Sky [David Mackay, Laszlo George & Douglas Murray; doc/IMAX-70] c.asst (+ addph); ph: L. George; see Films |
|
1978 |
Living Planet [Dennis Earl Moore; doc/IMAX-70] 1st c.asst; ph: Laszlo George & Burleigh Wartes |
|
1978 |
Running/Le vainqueur [Steven H. Stern; feature] c.op; ph: Laszlo George |
|
1980 |
Happy Birthday to Me [J. Lee Thompson; feature] c.op; ph: Miklós Lente & Michael A. Jones |
|
1980 |
Hard Feelings [Daryl Duke; feature] c.op; ph: Harry Makin; filmed 1980-81 |
With astronaut Terry S. Hart [left] - © NASA [1984]
|
1984 |
The Dream Is Alive [Graeme Ferguson; doc/IMAX-70] astronaut camera training manager; ph: 14 NASA astronauts (3 shuttle missions) & James Neihouse |
|
1997 |
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild [George Casey; doc/IMAX-70] dir eagle seq; ph: Rodney Taylor |
|
2005 |
Orbital Map [dir] large format digital educational exhibit for the Royal British Columbia Museum |
|
2008 |
Journey to Mecca [Bruce Neibaur; drama + doc/IMAX-70] IMAX consultant; ph: Matthew Williams; ph Mecca: Afshin Javadi, Ghasem Ebrahimian & Rafey Mahmood; filmed 2007-08 |
|
2009 |
Freefall [: Exploring the Extremes of Gravity] [dir; + ph] in development; see Films |
|
2010 |
British Columbia - The Last Best Place/Cascadia: Carnival of Life [dir] in development |
|
2010 |
Beyond the Great Wall [dir] IMAX-70; in development |
|
2010 |
Carriers [: Steel Cities at Sea] [dir] IMAX-70; in development |
|
2010 |
Rodeo [dir] in development |
|
2013 |
Island of Lemurs: Madagascar [dir; + ph] see Films |
