Silent film: The Carlsberg Foundation’s Oceanographic Expedition Round the World, 1928–30

Danish marine scientist, Johannes Schmidt was also a pioneer when it comes to popularizing deep-sea marine research through the use of mass media. When Schmidt headed the Carlsberg Foundation’s Oceanographical Expedition Round the World, 1928-1930, he brought along a film camera, documenting the surveys conducted onboard, as well as encounters with local populations round the World.

This silent film consists of c. 20 different sequences. There is a very instructive introduction to the fishing gear, as it is being deployed in the sea, although this is supplemented by camera shots from what is clearly an aquarium, where the functioning of the water sampler is shown in action. As the Dana moves into the Pacific Ocean the focus of the film also changes. In the sections from the Pacific and Indian Oceans the film includes captions describing the local inhabitants of the Polynesian islands and Indonesia.

This Danish version was ready by December 1930. Schmidt later produced different versions aimed at French and English audiences.

The life and career of Johannes Schmidt is at the center of this new monograph: Global Marine Science and Carlsberg – The Golden Connections of Johannes Schmidt, 1877-1933, (Leiden: Brill, 2016) written by Associate Professor, Bo Poulsen, Aalborg University.