Editing Titanic (1997 film) (section)

===Effects===
Cameron wanted to push the boundary of special effects, and enlisted [[Digital Domain]] and [[Pacific Data Images]] to continue the developments in digital technology he pioneered on ''[[The Abyss]]'' and ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]''. Many previous films about ''Titanic'' shot water in [[slow motion]], which did not look wholly convincing.<ref name="unreality">Marsh and Kirkland, pp. 147–154</ref> Cameron encouraged his crew to shoot their {{convert|45|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} [[Scale model|miniature]] of the ship as if "we're making a commercial for the White Star Line".<ref>Marsh and Kirkland, p. 65</ref> Afterwards, digital water and smoke were added, as were extras captured on a [[motion capture]] stage. Visual effects supervisor Rob Legato scanned the faces of many actors, including himself and his children, for the digital extras and stuntmen. There was also a {{convert|65|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} model of the ship's stern that could break in two repeatedly, the only miniature to be used in water.<ref name="unreality" /> For scenes set in the ship's engines, footage of the [[SS Jeremiah O'Brien|SS ''Jeremiah O'Brien''{{'}}s]] engines were composited with miniature support frames, and actors shot against a [[chroma key|greenscreen]].<ref>{{cite video | title = VFX Shot Breakdown | medium = DVD | publisher = 20th Century Fox |year = 2005}}</ref> In order to save money, the first-class lounge was a miniature set incorporated into a greenscreen backdrop behind the actors.<ref>{{cite video | title = VFX How To For First Class Lounge | medium = DVD | publisher = 20th Century Fox |year = 2005}}</ref> The miniature of the Lounge would later be crushed to simulate the destruction of the room and a scale model of a First-Class corridor flooded with jets of water while the camera pans out.<ref>{{cite video | title = VFX How To Flood A First Class Corridor | medium = DVD | publisher = 20th Century Fox |year = 2005}}</ref>

[[File:Titanic breaks in half.jpg|thumb|left|300px|alt=The Titanic about to sink into the ocean, with the ship breaking into two parts and with smoke still coming out of the funnels.|Unlike previous ''Titanic'' films, Cameron's retelling of the disaster showed the ship breaking into two pieces before sinking entirely. The scenes were an account of the moment's most likely outcome.]]

An enclosed {{convert|5000000|usgal|L|adj=mid}} tank was used for sinking interiors, in which the entire set could be tilted into the water. In order to sink the Grand Staircase, {{convert|90000|usgal|L}} of water were dumped into the set as it was lowered into the tank. Unexpectedly, the waterfall ripped the staircase from its steel-reinforced foundations, although no one was hurt. The {{convert|744|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} exterior of ''Titanic'' had its first half lowered into the tank, but as the heaviest part of the ship it acted as a [[shock absorber]] against the water; to get the set into the water, Cameron had much of the set emptied and even smashed some of the promenade windows himself. After submerging the dining saloon, three days were spent shooting Lovett's [[remotely operated vehicle|ROV]] traversing the wreck in the present.<ref name="heart" /> The post-sinking scenes in the freezing Atlantic were shot in a {{convert|350000|usgal|L|adj=mid}} tank,<ref name="water">Marsh and Kirkland, pp. 161–168</ref> where the frozen corpses were created by applying on actors a powder that crystallized when exposed to water, and wax was coated on hair and clothes.<ref name="blueprint" />

The climactic scene, which features the breakup of the ship directly before it sinks as well as its final plunge to the bottom of the Atlantic, involved a tilting full-sized set, 150 extras, and 100 stunt performers. Cameron criticized previous ''Titanic'' films for depicting the liner's final plunge as a graceful slide underwater. He "wanted to depict it as the terrifyingly chaotic event that it really was".<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> When carrying out the sequence, people needed to fall off the increasingly tilting deck, plunging hundreds of feet below and bouncing off railings and propellers on the way down. A few attempts to film this sequence with stunt artists resulted in some minor injuries, and Cameron halted the more dangerous stunts. The risks were eventually minimized "by using computer-generated people for the dangerous falls".<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> A [[Linux]]-based operating system was utilized for the creation of the effects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strauss |first=Daryll |date=February 1, 1998 |title=Linux Helps Bring Titanic to Life |url=https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2494 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301001437/https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2494 |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |website=[[Linux Journal]] |quote=Linux fulfilled the task very well. It handled every job we threw at it. During our testing phase, we used its ability to emulate Digital UNIX applications to benchmark standard applications and show that its performance would meet our needs. The flexibility of the existing devices and available source code gave Linux a definitive advantage.}}</ref>