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The IMAX® film crew spent a couple of months in Egypt filming the sites and re-enactment scenes for Mysteries of Egypt. They worked long hours, starting at the crack of dawn and finishing late in the evening. Despite the exhausting pace and many challenges along the way, the crew worked incredibly well together, an example of teamwork at its best!
Months of preparation laid the groundwork for the shoot. The permit needed for filming the sites and monuments as well as the treasures at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo was obtained after consultations with the Egyptian Department of Antiquities.
Three Egyptologists, Nicholas Reeves, Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass were brought on board as advisors and to ensure the accuracy of
the dramatic re-enactment scenes. Costumes and sets had to be
created, and replicas of Tutankhamun's treasures were produced by the Pharaonic
Village in Cairo.
All the logistics of hiring the actors and
labourers (for moving equipment), booking a hotel and setting up a "war
room" for operational needs were completed before the crew began its
work in February 1997. The members of the crew came from the United
States, Britain and Egypt. Besides the producer, director and cameraman,
specialists in lighting, electricity, sound, costume, makeup, set design,
photography, accounting and carpentry were represented on the team.
We'd like to introduce you to some of the key players of the film crew.
Bruce Neibaur
Director
Neibaur has worked as writer-director on a long list of motion pictures, large-format, television and home-video productions. His motion pictures include Wildest Dreams, The Buttercream Gang and Friendship's Field; and his large-format films include The Great American West, Hearst Castle -- Building the Dream and Mysteries of Egypt. He has won numerous awards for broadcast journalism, and several of his short-subject dramatic films have won national and international awards.
Lisa Truitt
Producer
National Geographic Television, Washington, D.C.
Truitt has produced and directed more than a dozen award-winning National Geographic films that have taken her to the most remote places on earth. She recently spent three summers at the edge of the Arctic sea ice producing the NBC special Arctic Kingdom. Other locations have taken her to the Gobi desert of Outer Mongolia, into the heart of the Amazon, and to more than half a dozen countries in Africa. When not working on her own films, Lisa acts as a Supervising Producer in National Geographic Television's Natural History Unit. This is the first time she has worked on an IMAX film.
Scott H. Swofford
Producer
Swofford's projects have included documentaries, IMAX and feature films, and television programmes. His creative abilities have received high praise; he has worked on many award winning productions. He is currently president of Vineyard Productions, based in Salt Lake City. Swofford's production efforts extend to sixteen countries, including England, Japan, Israel and the United States.
Reed Smoot
Director of Photography and Cameraman
One of the best cameramen in the business, Smoot has served as director of photography on ten IMAX films, including Grand Canyon: Hidden Secrets, The Great American West and Yellowstone. He has also made dozens of feature films.
Michael Buchanan
Set Designer
After studying architecture in South Africa and England, Buchanan worked with dance companies, including the London Contemporary Dance Company, combining his design skills and knowledge of construction. In 1979, he joined the award-winning company Video Arts. He has worked on pop promos, commercials, TV dramas, feature films and Imax® films. He has also served on the jury for the BAFTA award for design (equivalent to the Oscar).
