Anyone who grew up in the ’90s will remember the ‘Titanic’ film, which tells the story of the RMS Titanic. It was so long that it required an intermission, and when the VHS tape came out, it took more than one to hold all two hours and forty minutes.
But even today, fans are noticing new things about the movie and sharing plenty of ‘spoilers.’ Though, they can hardly be called spoilers over 20 years after the film’s release.
Part of what’s so amazing about the movie is how advanced its tech was at the time. After all, while the producers went all-out creating elaborate sets and imitating the design of the original ship, CGI helped accomplish much of what made the movie so epic. James Cameron’s passion for the solved and unsolved mysteries of the RMS Titanic brought further authenticity to each scene.
Another reason ‘Titanic’ was so heartwrenching was the fact that there were many true stories of Titanic passengers among the theatrics, notes History. Plus, many of the lines and scenes were completely ad-libbed based on actors’ emotions.
In fact, Leonardo DiCaprio improvised his most iconic line. Scenes between Jack and Rose were also improvised, noted IMDb, including the bit where Rose spits in Cal’s face.
In terms of realism, it isn’t hard to believe that the ocean scenes were filmed in a pool, then edited later to look like the actors were in the open ocean. Even the drawing scene, where Jack sketches Rose, was edited; director James Cameron used his own (left) hand to sketch. Then, he mirrored the images to match Leo’s right-handedness.
Essentially, any enthusiastic fan could write an essay on all the ways ‘Titanic’ was tweaked from recording to release.
And yet, there was one absolutely iconic moment in the movie that was not CGI-manipulated. According to IMDb, the monumental moment when Jack and Rose are at the bow of the ship, with the sunset in the background, was totally authentic.
The ship wasn’t entirely real, of course, but the set was built in a seaside location to give the crew the advantage of natural light. The ambiance probably didn’t hurt, either.
Still, it took eight days of attempts before the film crew was able to capture the scene that would make it into the final cut of the movie. On the very last day of shooting, the sky was overcast, but a break in the clouds afforded James Cameron his perfect sunset.
Cameron would later admit that the shot was slightly unfocused, due to the haste with which it was shot, but it was as close to a perfect sunset as he could achieve. Thanks to the cast and crew’s persistence (and a bit of weather-based luck), fans got to see true magic when Rose said, “I’m flying, Jack.”
