Chronos

Behind The Scenes is a far better featurette than you would dare hope. Edited into four chapters, it covers the cameramen’s experience in Egypt, the composer’s contribution and the production manager’s anecdotes.

Some of the cameramen admit that they have never been to Europe. One has never left his native shore – ever. Egypt is a hot country. No one has told them. Phew! There are signs up at the tourist sites that read NO BIG CAMERAS. “We had the biggest camera in the world!” Of course, they ignore the sign, pay the baksheesh and carry on.

The Beam has its own section. This is the instrument Michael Stearns built especially for the film. It is made of aluminium to keep the weight down, is 12ft long and has 24 piano strings. He makes sounds on it with the use of what looks like a stainless steel tube. He says it creates deep earth tones and has a large dynamic range. You have to believe him because the film score is surprising and most impressive.

Stearns is interviewed again in the Composer slot. He is an eloquent and fascinating man, which makes this piece interesting, even if you are not musical. He scored the film while it was being shot, which is most unusual. The conventional way of doing things is to add music to the rough cut. “On Chronos, the editing was done entirely on the music.” In addition, he was working with the IMAX six track sound system, which was a joy. As a bonus, or because the director wanted his composer to have a sense of place, he flew to Egypt and climbed the Great Pyramid, which was not allowed. He had to get up at 3am, pay off at least 10 people to look the other way, and made it to the top by sunrise.

The production manager Alton Walpole was the organizer, the fixer, the man who made it happen. Without fax machines, or mobile phones, and dealing with many different people in many different countries, while trying to keep the costs down, was as tough as it comes. They didn’t have the money to pre-scout a location and everyone had multiple jobs - unions? Don’t be silly. They brought Chronos in for less than $1million, “the second least expensive IMAX film ever made.” And because he heard about Stearns’s achievement at the Great Pyramid, he was determined to do it as well. Half way up, he and his fellow climber were caught by police searchlights. The game was up.

Unfortunately, the audio commentary by director Ron Fricke, Stearns and Walpole didn’t work on my DVD player and so I cannot report on it. Judging by the quality of Behind The Scenes, it should be well worth listening to. That’s a guess, but I’ll put money on it. Tell me if I am wrong.