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Old 11-29-2018, 05:21 PM   #1
popgun pete
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"By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Watch this historic spearfishing film made by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his fellow spearfishermen, Philippe Tailliez, Frederic Dumas (the Bandol Trio) and Leon Veche.

No mean achievement in wartime France and all the equipment is evolving, including the early band gun wielded by Frederic Dumas in the film.

https://archive.org/details/62154Jac...au18MetersDeep
Made in 1942 during the German occupation of France, PAR 18 METRES DE FOND or 18 METERS DEEP is a pioneering film shot partially under water by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Philippe Talliez. It was directed by Frederic Dumas who met the pair in 1937. The film was shot in 1941, and its production did not benefit from the SCUBA breathing system that Cousteau would develop and use later in his career. To shoot the underwater scenes a special depth-pressure-proof camera case developed by mechanical engineer Léon Vèche (engineer of Arts and Métiers and the Naval College) was utilized. The film shows underwater fishing in the Mediterranean Sea and was one of the films to first reveal to the public life underwater. At the time it was made, the four men involved in the production -- Cousteau, Veche, Dumas and Talliez, pooled their money together to make the film a reality. One can only imagine how difficult it was given wartime restrictions on movement and the scarcity of film stock, etc. during the Occupation. The film premiered on April 12, 1943 at the Palais de Chaillot , before the Vichy government officials and officers of the Kommandantur.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlTyUagouCM

also on Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/72055098
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Old 11-29-2018, 05:35 PM   #2
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Dive into history and adventure, note no wetsuit!
https://archive.org/details/20172FathomsDeep
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Old 11-29-2018, 08:14 PM   #3
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

That was awesome! Wonder where in the mec they were diving? That Amberjack was a toad!!
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:09 PM   #4
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Wow! Good stuff! There was some serious toads given a shore dive!
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Old 11-30-2018, 08:56 AM   #5
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosstnfound View Post
That was awesome! Wonder where in the mec they were diving? That Amberjack was a toad!!
They mention it in the film :
La balise des magnons, near Toulon, France.

Pretty sure the groupers are much smaller today!!
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Old 11-30-2018, 09:11 AM   #6
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Great movie! I grew up watching Cousteau movies all the time. I still have the Cousteau encyclopedia =)
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Old 11-30-2018, 09:46 AM   #7
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

The fish are impressive, especially when you consider how primitive all the gear is (note the "pretzel" shaft in the first video). That said, to be shooting amateur underwater video in 1941 is beyond amazing. The video cameras in the 50's and 60's were anything but "waterproof case friendly", I can only imagine what the challenges were in 1941.
Pete, any pics of the equipment they used, in particular the camera?
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Old 11-30-2018, 03:04 PM   #8
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

a well known film in the french spearfishing circle..

Quote:
Amberjack was a toad!
A 82lb amberjack (serial dumerili) taken in the film and named in french "seriole" or "liche". A fish which is a little bit different than a greater amberjack (seriola dumerili) and the same family/ carangide

At the time easy to spot big brown groupers and other fish inshore the Med Sea... and first spearfishing regulations were done to protect local fishermen business.
In the film the diver planned to get back "with about 250lb fish"!

A pic taken at the same time ... an amazing capture!
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Old 12-01-2018, 03:14 PM   #9
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Here is where the "Par 18 Metres de Fond" film was shot.

https://museedumas.wordpress.com/vis...rs-les-plages/
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Old 12-01-2018, 03:18 PM   #10
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wood Guy View Post
The fish are impressive, especially when you consider how primitive all the gear is (note the "pretzel" shaft in the first video). That said, to be shooting amateur underwater video in 1941 is beyond amazing. The video cameras in the 50's and 60's were anything but "waterproof case friendly", I can only imagine what the challenges were in 1941.
Pete, any pics of the equipment they used, in particular the camera?
Answers can be found here: http://museedumas.fr/f/p18/
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Old 12-01-2018, 03:19 PM   #11
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Quote:
Originally Posted by virgili View Post
a well known film in the french spearfishing circle..



A 82lb amberjack (serial dumerili) taken in the film and named in french "seriole" or "liche". A fish which is a little bit different than a greater amberjack (seriola dumerili) and the same family/ carangide

At the time easy to spot big brown groupers and other fish inshore the Med Sea... and first spearfishing regulations were done to protect local fishermen business.
In the film the diver planned to get back "with about 250lb fish"!

A pic taken at the same time ... an amazing capture!
Not a fish, but a dolphin shot by someone else!
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Old 12-01-2018, 04:55 PM   #12
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

This is the three handle timber band gun used in the 1942 film "Par 18 Metres de Fond" by Frederic Dumas. As with the Tailliez band gun the forward handle is to brace the gun with the leg while drawing the bands back to cock the gun in the water. The gun therefore has no cocking stock as you don’t hip or chest load it.

The second gun is contemporary with the Dumas speargun, but appears to be of the type fellow spearfisherman Philippe Tailliez had developed in terms of the twin band drive.

http://www.spearboard.com/attachment...8&d=1543293685
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Last edited by popgun pete; 12-05-2018 at 02:52 PM.
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Old 12-12-2018, 04:00 AM   #13
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

Here is another image of the second gun with the Tailliez patent included in an inset. The third gun belonged to Jacques Cousteau and is contemporary with the other two in 1942. The three men, Cousteau, Dumas and Tailliez comprised the famous "Bandol Trio".

At about the same time in the USA Jack Prodanovich, Wally Potts and Glen Orr were founding the "San Diego Bottom Scratchers" and devising their own spearguns, all guns being built from scratch. This is where modern spearfishing began using rubber band powered guns. Previously the spring gun ruled with many variations on a theme, but all were sinkers both before and after the shot and in two decades were practically gone from the speargun arsenal.
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Last edited by popgun pete; 12-12-2018 at 04:39 AM.
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Old 12-18-2018, 04:20 PM   #14
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Re: "By 18 metres of Depth" spearfishing film France 1942

I just found out that Hans Hass had shot an even earlier film about underwater hunting, but may be with a pole spear rather than a speargun. The film is part of a compilation dvd of his work, in fact I have just ordered it from https://www.bookdepository.com&#8230...-Edition-2-DVD

P.S. Have now seen the film; the underwater weapon used is a polespear with a detachable speartip connected to a line drum on the butt of the spear via the line. https://youtu.be/OVbOUSsNSrY
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Last edited by popgun pete; 12-29-2018 at 01:44 AM.
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