The Underwater Stage is an underwater film and television studio stage at Pinewood Studios in Iver, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. It is the only one of its kind in Europe. [1] The stage was opened in 2005 after four years of planning and development. The stage's tank is permanently filled, and the water is constantly heated, maintained at 30 ˚C (87 ˚F). [2] The water is filtered using an ultraviolet system which creates crystal clear water and a comfortable environment to work in, for both cast and crew.
Plans for the construction of the stage were first announced in April 2004. [3] The stage was opened on 18 May 2005, by Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. [4] Brown opened the stage by pressing a button that dropped a car into the water tank.
The stage has been used for television, film, commercials, pop videos and photo shoots. The stage has hosted: The Da Vinci Code , Basic Instinct 2 , Scoop , Silent Witness , a music video for James Blunt, and a Water Aid promotion with actress Keira Knightley.[ citation needed ] It has also been utilised for scientific experiments involving imaging sonar. [5]
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels.
Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras.
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of central London.
Twickenham Film Studios is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph Jupp on the site of a former ice rink. At the time of its original construction, it was the largest film studio in the United Kingdom.
The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard, written by Akiva Goldsman, and based on Dan Brown's 2003 novel of the same name. The first in the Robert Langdon film series, the film stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean Reno, and Paul Bettany. In the film, Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology from Harvard University, is the prime suspect in the grisly and unusual murder of Louvre curator Jacques Saunière. On the body, the police find a disconcerting cipher and start an investigation. Langdon escapes with the assistance of police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, and they begin a quest for the legendary Holy Grail. Sir Leigh Teabing, a noted British Grail historian, tells them that the actual Holy Grail is explicitly encoded in Leonardo da Vinci's wall painting The Last Supper. Also searching for the Grail is a secret cabal within Opus Dei, an actual prelature of the Holy See, who wish to keep the true Grail a secret to prevent the destruction of Christianity.
Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provided studio space for channel continuity. Towards the end of its history the site was run by the Pinewood Studios Group.
The Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage is one of the largest sound stages in the world. It is located at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and named after James Bond film producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli.
The Spy Who Loved Me is a 1977 spy film, the tenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. The film co-stars Barbara Bach and Curt Jürgens and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay was by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum, with an uncredited rewrite by Tom Mankiewicz.
The Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant is an incomplete energy project 10 miles (16 km) outside Gaffney, South Carolina, United States. In the early 1970s, Duke Power started constructing a three-reactor nuclear power plant at the site. However, the project stalled due to economic problems by the early 1980s, leading to the project's eventual abandonment. In 1987, the power plant was the site of an underwater film studio built by Hollywood director James Cameron, for the film The Abyss.
Village Roadshow Studios are a set of film studios located in Oxenford, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The studios are owned by Village Roadshow and consist of nine sound stages as well as a range of other production facilities. The studio commenced in June 1991 and is one of three film studios in Australia, the others being Disney Studios Australia in Sydney and Docklands Studios Melbourne.
Diver detection sonar (DDS) systems are sonar and acoustic location systems employed underwater for the detection of divers and submerged swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs). The purpose of this type of sonar system is to provide detection, tracking and classification information on underwater threats that could endanger property and lives. Further, this information is useful only to the extent that it is made available to authorities in time to make possible the desired response to the threat, be it deterrent or defensive action. Subsurface threats are a difficult problem, because reliable detection is available to date chiefly by use of high-resolution active sonar or trained dolphins or sea lions. The threat of an underwater terrorist attack is a concern to the maritime industry and port law enforcement agencies. Ports face a range of threats from swimmers, boat-delivered ordnance such as limpet mines and other forms of improvised underwater explosive devices. DDS systems have been developed to provide underwater security for ports, coastal facilities, offshore installations, pipelines and ships. Due to the variety of life and objects that exist under the water, it is desirable that a DDS system be capable of distinguishing between large sea mammals, shoals of fish; a ship's wake; a diver with an open circuit scuba set and a stealth diver with a rebreather. DDS systems have been developed that can be mounted on the seabed, on a pier or on the hull of a vessel. For complete port security these systems are integrated with the surface surveillance and security systems employed at ports, coastal facilities and offshore installations. Various systems provide specialized features to facilitate their use in port security systems including automatic detection features.
Bigfoot Entertainment is the American parent company of Bigfoot Films, Bigfoot Productions, Bigfoot Production Services, Bigfoot Partners, the International Academy of Film and Television, New Cebu Films and Fashion One Network. The Bigfoot Group operates as an independent feature film and TV production and distribution company that develops, produces, and finances media content, including independent feature films, television series, reality shows, filmmaking education, and community outreach. The company's studios is in Cebu, Philippines, while its headquarters are located in Miami Beach, Florida, United States.
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City.
Dark Tide is a 2012 American action horror thriller film directed by John Stockwell, produced by Jeanette Buerling and Matthew E. Chausse and written by Ronnie Christensen and Amy Sorlie. The film is based on a story by Amy Sorlie and stars Halle Berry, Olivier Martinez, and Ralph Brown. The film was a critical failure and a box-office bomb.
Pinewood Group Limited is a British multinational film studio and television studio company with headquarters in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. The group runs Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios in the UK and Pinewood Toronto Studios in Canada, Pinewood Indomina Studios in the Dominican Republic, Pinewood Studio Berlin in Germany, Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Malaysia, and until 2020 it had a controlling stake in Pinewood Atlanta Studios in the US.
The film industry in Georgia is the largest among the states of the United States for production of feature films by number of films produced, as of 2016. Atlanta is the center of the film industry in Georgia with Turner, Tyler Perry, and EUE/Screen Gems studios located there.
Films made in the 1970s featuring the character of James Bond included Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker.
Films made in the 1990s featuring the character of James Bond are GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World Is Not Enough. The films are notable for several "firsts": The first Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond (GoldenEye); the first appearance of the Walther P99 as Bond's pistol ; and the first Bond film in which the titular spy drives a BMW, all as part of a three-film product placement deal with the manufacturer.
Underwater computer vision is a subfield of computer vision. In recent years, with the development of underwater vehicles, the need to be able to record and process huge amounts of information has become increasingly important. Applications range from inspection of underwater structures for the offshore industry to the identification and counting of fishes for biological research. However, no matter how big the impact of this technology can be to industry and research, it still is in a very early stage of development compared to traditional computer vision. One reason for this is that, the moment the camera goes into the water, a whole new set of challenges appear. On one hand, cameras have to be made waterproof, marine corrosion deteriorates materials quickly and access and modifications to experimental setups are costly, both in time and resources. On the other hand, the physical properties of the water make light behave differently, changing the appearance of a same object with variations of depth, organic material, currents, temperature etc.
Trilith Studios is an American film and television production studio located south of Atlanta in Fayette County, Georgia. Originally known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios, the studio has been used to produce many films and television programs, particularly those produced by Marvel Studios. Trilith Studios encompasses a 700-acre site, with a 400-acre backlot and 32 soundstages. A virtual production volume, Prysm Stage, opened in early 2022. As of 2021, Trilith Studios is the largest production facility in the state of Georgia.