Underwater Stage

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. It has also been utilised for scientific experiments involving imaging sonar.[5] It has also been used for a sport relief special called Strictly Underwater where two couples from the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing battled it out by dancing underwater. It is also commonly used by EastEnders when the cast and crew are filming underwater scenes.

References
  1. "Underwater stage pictures from Pinewood Studios". London: The Telegraph. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  2. "Underwater Stage". The Pinewood Studios Group. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  3. Milmo, Dan (2 April 2004). "Pinewood looks at the big picture with £140m flotation". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  4. "You talkin' to me?.. Brown meets De Niro". Edinburgh Evening News. 19 May 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  5. David Ribas, Pere Ridao and José Neira (2010), Underwater SLAM for Structured Environments Using an Imaging Sonar, Springer, ISBN 978-3-642-14039-6, retrieved 8 October 2011
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