From the bottom of Kona’s Kailua Bay last October, in the shallow water beside the pier, the world above offered underwater cameraman Craig Musburger a magical panorama: hundreds of triathletes treading water at the start of the Ford Ironman World Championship while thousands of akule moved in and around them.
"I was enveloped in this massive school of fish," said Musburger, who lives in Hawaii Kai. "Every direction you look it is fish moving in sync with each other. It’s like they are one animal, and to have that happening while the swimmers are about to start a race is impressive."
The liquid scene in the NBC Sports production helped the camera team, which included Musburger, earn a Sports Emmy Award for outstanding camera work last week in New York City. Musburger, who has been the sole underwater camera operator for the production for the last four years, was part of a 21-member camera team.
It was his second nomination. The 2010 telecast was nominated in the same category.
The 37-year-old Musburger chose not to attend last week’s black-tie ceremony, in part because he is in the midst of editing another project. He joked with a producer that he would have had to wear a wetsuit instead of a tuxedo.
"I regret it now," Musburger said. "It was such an honor to even be nominated, and I have no idea if this will ever happen again. I honestly didn’t think we would win. We were up against some amazing competition."
Musburger has been a diver since he was 11 and has logged more than 5,000 hours underwater. His production company, HD Under H20, helped him through graduate school at the University of Hawaii, which recently awarded him a doctorate in marine zoology.
To capture the action of the Ironman swim, which requires Musburger to stay ahead of the pack by riding in a boat, takes concentration, he said.
And, there’s no denying it, luck as well.
"The energy of the school of fish fed nicely into the energy of anticipation at the start of the race," he said. "It was a stroke of luck. Everything about filming underwater is about being in the right place at the right time."
THE PENTAGON’S Hawaii-based team of forensic experts is the focus of "Until They Are Home," a new documentary from one-time isle resident Steven C. Barber.
The film follows a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command during a 2010 trip to locate the remains of Marines killed during the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. Nearly 1,000 Marines were killed during a three-day battle to claim what had been a fortified Japanese stronghold.
Barber, a 51-year-old former actor who appeared in "Magnum, P.I" and "Jake and the Fat Man," went to the atoll in 2008 to follow an aging survivor of the battle. The resulting film, "Return to Tarawa," not only confirmed that 527 Marines remain buried there in unmarked graves, but led to a congressional mandate to locate as many as possible.
The filmmaker and his crew spent 40 days at Tarawa with the forensic team for his sequel. The accounting command recovered two sets of remains that were brought back to Hawaii for possible identification.
The film will premiere May 28 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre Complex in Los Angeles.
Barber views himself as a messenger trying to tell a story largely forgotten because the generation that experienced it has nearly died off. He recently interviewed a relative of a missing serviceman who cried so hard, Barber had to turn off his camera.
"She said people don’t understand why this is so important," Barber said. "She said, ‘It tore a hole in our family, and the sorrow gets passed down through generations.’"
Included in the many interviews for the documentary is one with Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps. He and Barber talked for three hours.
"He says these young men signed a contract with us, and we said we would take care of them in life and after their death," Barber said. "We need to bring these guys home."
AND that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
