James Cameron has made a name for himself by
repeatedly raising the bar for visual effects.
The sinking of the Titanic is no exception.
How did Cameron and his crew use revolutionary digital effects
alongside old-school practical effects
to recreate one of the most tragic disasters of the 20th century?
This is "How They Shot It".
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For this video, we'll use StudioBinder shot-list
to look at some of the technical choices Cameron made from shot to shot.
To create a realistic depiction of the Titanic
Cameron used a blend of CGI and practical sets.
The most massive of the sets was a 775-foot-long replica of the ship.
It was constructed in a tank at Fox studios, Baja in Mexico.
A facility built specifically for the production of "Titanic".
The set itself was a nearly full-scale replica of the ship,
excluding small portions from the middle section
and the bow.
For the first portion of the film,
this set was kept level, but for the sinking, it was angled at six degrees.
Certain sections of the set were able to tilt even more.
The front 180-feet was able to drop further into the water during filming.
And the rear of the ship was detached and able to tilt a full 90 degrees.
Shooting these complex scenes required extensive pre-visualization
from Cameron and his team, including detailed storyboards.
And videomatics.
Then the question became how to light and shoot such massive sets
with hundreds of extras and the actual sinking of the ship.
"- It wasn't just building the set.
It was building all the stuff to shoot and light the set
that was adding a layer to it that we hadn't really anticipated.
That all the normal Hollywood lighting tools
and photography tools went out the window.
So I thought, well, what about a crane?
The big construction crane with a big boom, a big jib crane
on a mobile transporter, essentially.
So we can move the crane up and down in the full length of a set."
- The crane road along railway tracks like a massive dolly.
Hanging from the crane arm was a platform that could be raised or lowered.
A Wes cam was mounted to this platform
to capture many of the sweeping exterior shots.
Additional cameras used were the Arri 35 III,
Panaflex Gold II, and Panaflex Platinum.
With these camera systems in place
the next challenge was selling the illusion of a sinking ship.
The large replica set could be set at six degrees.
But in real life, the tilt was much greater.
Cameron and his team used a couple of methods
to compensate for the additional tilt.
Paired with a dutch angle and a composite waterline
the ship looks more tilted than it actually is.
Some of the stunt performers also help sell the illusion
with rollers fitted into the costumes.
They could slide along the floor.
But this was just the beginning of the extensive stunt work on the "Titanic".
During the sinking Cameron had to populate the ship's deck
with about 100 stunt players
and hundreds of extras who were fastened to the railings with safety harnesses.
In order to avoid injuries, much of the set was made out of rubber.
In addition to larger sets, a number of miniatures were needed.
This sequence was described in the script as the keel coming down on God's bootheel.
it was shot using a 1/8 miniature of the stern section.
And it was shot between 60 and 72 frames per second.
This was also composited with foreground extras.
Both methods helped sell the enormous scale.
But the size of the production didn't get in the way of the directing basics.
As Legato notes,
"Cameron sets up action so it's very easy to follow pictorially.
The screen direction is never broken. And he does a great job of setting it up.
So when he cuts, it's not jarring."
Once filming had wrapped,
there was still lots of work to be done in post-production.
James Cameron worked with cutting-edge computer graphics companies
to fully realize the Titanic's last moments.
VFX composites were used to sell the scale of the miniatures.
Actors were shot against green screens and then composited into the miniature sets.
Titanic was also one of the first films to use
motion capture technology for additional extras.
And more complicated stunt work.
Another element achieved in post was the visible
breath for characters in the freezing water.
"- Jack! - Swim, Rose! I need you to swim!"
- Instead of CGI, the VFX crew shot elements of real breath
and then composited them in.
CGI also allowed Cameron to heighten stunts that otherwise would have been impossible.
The final result would often be real stunt performance mixed with CG people.
Sometimes transforming in the same shot.
Smaller details, like the stars in the night sky were painstakingly rendered.
Richard Hollander, founder of VIFX recall the process.
"There was anywhere from 1 to 3 layers of effective motion in these shots.
And we had to change the direction of the stars to match."
"- Give me your hand. I'll pull you over.
Come on. Give me your hand."
- This hybrid approach to practical and computer-generated elements
allowed for complex shots like this one.
"- This is a collection of miniature CG water,
full-scale set with the camera angled, some CG, a motion control,
people falling, pretty complicated shot.
This level of visual effects was almost unheard of at the time
and like the many other Oscars it won... - "Titanic.
- Titanic. - Titanic".
... "Titanic" also won for best visual effects.
The digital wizardry combined with the unparalleled practical effects
resulted in a final product,
which continues to enrapture audiences.
What shot or scene should we cover next?
Let us know in the comments.
In filmmaking, planning can make Titanic-sized ideas become a reality
all while avoiding Titanic size disasters.
What we covered here is just the tip of the iceberg.
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