On December 19, 1997, the film "Titanic" went into the open sea. Since that day, the film did not go off the screens of cinemas and for a few months, collected at the box office over 1.8 billion dollars, paying off the fabulous budget.
The most cash film in the history of cinema has also become a record-breaker in the number of Oscar awards - 11 statuettes.
The fact that the film turned out to be so spectacular and realistic, the merit entirely belongs to the director James Cameron, who is not stingy on his masterpiece. When the producers learned that the planned budget of the film is seriously exceeded, the director lost not only his fee of $ 8 million but also the percentage of total fees.
The story of "Titanic" began with the fact that on his birthday Cameron received a gift from his best friend's work, telling about the "Titanic". From this day on, the director just fell ill with the idea of filming a disaster about a legendary ship.
The 265-meter Titanic, which weighed 60,000 tons, was built by White Star Line in two years. It took another year to prepare the ship for its first journey. On April 15, 1912, five days after entering the Atlantic Ocean, a giant liner collided with an iceberg that damaged five of its sixteen "waterproof" compartments. After 2 hours and 40 minutes, the Titanic, which split into two parts, sank to the bottom. Of the ship's 2,223 passengers, only 710 were rescued.
Cameron collected literally everything that could add a film about the "Titanic" of realism: appealed to historians, scientists ...
The director personally went to the bottom of the "Titanic" on the bathyscaphes "Mir-1" and "Mir-2" (Russian research vessel "Academician Mstislav Keldysh").
For the sake of 12 minutes in the film, the bathyscaphes had to sink to the bottom 12 times during 5 months. The footage allowed the designers to recreate the interior of the ship and the studios to create miniature models of the ship.
A total of 17 studios were used to create special effects. The main role in their creation was played by Digital Domain under the direction of Rob Legato. Every time Legato had questions about the history of the Titanic, he turned to James Cameron.
"Jim became the best expert on Titanic," says Legato. "This is one of the features that makes him such a great director. He was completely immersed in history, so he didn't miss a single piece of paper with the results of his research.
Titanic pool and iceberg foam
A giant 20th Century Fox pavilion was built to shoot the film. On the Mexican coast, a pool of four million liters of dynamite was built with five tons of dynamite. The largest-ever cinema model, a 231-meter-long copy of the Titanic (the real liner was only 34 meters longer), was subsequently sent to the pool, reducing the number of special effects by almost a thousand episodes.
An iceberg was also created for the filming, made of foam, covered with glass fiber and wax.
Scaling of 40 people
For the shooting of mass scenes, the creators used the services of only forty actors, who were dressed in suits, wearing sensors for the "capture of motion". In the studio with the help of computers "water" was simulated, in which the passengers of the "sinking" ship fell.
Welcome aboard
The shooting of this epic picture, which lasted about 7 months, ended on March 23, 1997. All this time, the decorations on the ship - from carpets to chandeliers - were under the supervision of companies that once equipped the real "Titanic".
The main characters on board were Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, and Gloria Stewart.
Interestingly, originally Jack Dawson in the film was to play Matthew McConaughey, but in the end, Cameron personally insisted on the candidacy of DiCaprio.
It is said that Kate Winslet was so pleased with the unfinished script Cameron, that she called the director many times with requests to approve her as Rosa DeWitt. Although the director initially saw in this role Gwyneth Paltrow, he eventually surrendered to the entreaties of Winslet.
The actress and did not suspect how much effort from her will require this film. She so often had to sink into the water that during the shooting of scenes of the death of "Titanic" Winslet earned pneumonia.
Director - artist - musician
Cameron was categorically opposed to using any songs in the film, even in the final credits. However, he changed his mind when he heard the song "My Heart Will Go On" performed by the singer Celine Dion. Composer James Horner won an Oscar for this song.
It's noteworthy that all the lyrical compositions in "Titanic" are written mainly by the director. Also, the director's hand has a drawing depicting Rose DeWitt.
A revived dream
"The Titanic" which was conceived as a disaster film, eventually became one of the best love stories in the world, capturing the hearts of millions of viewers.
In the early days of rental people around the world lined up in long lines to see the picture. All in all, the film lasted a record period from December 19, 1997, to September 25, 1998.