American Cinematographer - August 1993 - 61

Terabyss Takes Audience
on

Suboceanic Thrill Mission

Expo '93 enters the underwater world with a splash of adventure.
by George Turner & Nora Lee
a new area of
filmmaking
that is simply exploding with talent

There is

and technological innovation: the
theme park ride. Mindful of this
swift and exciting trend, almost

every major studio now owns at
least one theme park and new

parks seem to be popping up all
over
Europe and the Pacific Rim.
No longer is Disney alone with the
goose who lays the golden eggs.
Showscan, Omnimax, Imax and
others have dominated

special
production for years, but as
public's demand for bigger,

venue

the
better and bolder entertainment in¬
creases, so

does the number of films

produced for these applications.
They require and attract the talents
of experienced filmmakers - espe¬
cially those with strong special ef¬
fects backgrounds, of which Rich¬
ard Yuricich, ASC, and producer/
creative director Allen

Yamashita,

certainly qualify. They recently saw
Terabyss, their

submarine simulator ride. The epi¬

newest contri¬
bution to this

logue is 2.5 minutes of video and
animatronics that tie up the loose
ends and set the stage for a sequel

burgeoning
field, open to

the audience exits.
Before Yamashita and
Yuricich could begin work on the

capacity crowds
in Kobe, Japan.

as

This multi-

many problems had to be
ironed out. Certain parameters
were set in Yamashita's
early meet¬

project,

media adven¬
ture

the

begins at
Rockers'

submarine dry
dock. The Rock¬
ers - Rokko
Ocean Commu¬

nity Kids - are
international group of young ad¬
venturers who take the audience on
an

a

rough and tumble journey under

then ushered into

Communica¬
tions Theater where another
a

animatron, Sonar, sets the stage for
the

ings with InterActive Simulations
of Toronto, Canada, and the Seiyo
Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, the
international group producing the
ride. The target audience was 1830-year-old Japanese women. The
show had to be high tech and to
take place under water. In addition,
the

minute

nine-minute

'atmospheric loop'
comprising three videofeeds and

video monitors with separate feeds

and four different animatrons. The

creative team

four animatronics. The audience is

main event is the 4.5-minute 70mm

collaboration of cultures. Yama-

August 1993

American

presentation requires three

and

lighting

hardware

are

interspersed
throughout rock
formations

simulating an
underwater
environment for

the movie ride

Terabyss. Left:
Creators Allen
Yamashita (at
left) and Richard

Yuricich, ASC
both realized the
need for a

modular set that
could be

rearranged and
reconfigured.

physical space for the ride was

the sea. The queue is housed within
a submarine dry dock containing a

unfolding story. This 6.5-

Above: Cameras

already defined.
The

story hatched by the
was

the result of

Cinematographer

a

59
American Cinematographer - August 1993

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