National Geographic has unveiled Deepsea Challenge, a 3-D feature documentary chronicling director James Cameron’s recent one-man dive to the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep last month, the ocean’s deepest point.
The network has also added a special half-hour interview with Cameron, James Cameron: Voyage to the Bottom of the Earth, which will premiere this Sunday at 9 PM. The special incorporates CGI animation to illustrate the scale of the trip as Cameron recalls the highs and lows of the more than seven-year design phase of the spherical sub (called Deepsea Challenger).
“I was watching the numbers going deeper,” said Cameron. “The sub slows down as you get to the target depth. There is a long moment of getting to think about it. Then you have to get busy. You have less than a thousand feet from the bottom, you fine-tune the ballast, adjust the camera, turn up the spotlight. As the altimeter counted, I saw the glow of the bottom!”
