Humans hate darkness," says filmmaker Stephen Low. "To inspire people to care about the deep ocean, we had to light it." That took some doing. Low and Emory Kristof—veterans of filming the Titanic wreck—along with sub pilots from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution outfitted Alvin for the task. Eight 400-watt lights and a 1,200-watt boom-mounted spotlight threw light 150 feet (45 meters) out into the water, an amazing distance. That light took a lot of juice. "We were just at the edge of running out of power," recalls Bill Reeve, Low's director of photography. Quarters were tight: Only a filmmaker and pilot could fit aboard Alvin; the third seat was filled by the IMAX camera. Because it also hogged the main viewport, pilots navigated by viewing TV monitors. "It was the pits," says pilot Pat Hickey, who had to avoid the scalding black smokers.