Editing Titanic (1997 film) (section)

===Writing and inspiration===
[[File:JAMES CAMERON 2000.jpg|thumb|upright|Director, writer and producer [[James Cameron]] (''pictured in 2000'')]]
{{Quote box |salign= |width=250px |align=right | quote = 
The story could not have been written better had it been fiction{{nbsp}}...The juxtaposition of rich and poor, the [[gender roles]] played out unto death ([[Women and children first|women first]]), the stoicism and nobility of a bygone age, the magnificence of the great ship matched in scale only by the folly of the men who drove her hell-bent through the darkness. And above all the lesson: that life is uncertain, the future unknowable{{nbsp}}... the unthinkable possible. |source=—James Cameron<ref name="foreword">Marsh and Kirkland, pp. v–xiii</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/read-an-excerpt-from-james-camerons-titanic|title=Read an excerpt from James Cameron's -- 'Titanic'|website=[[Fox News]]|access-date=7 May 2015|archive-date=February 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219023621/https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/read-an-excerpt-from-james-camerons-titanic|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

James Cameron has long had a fascination with shipwrecks, and for him ''Titanic'' was "the [[Mount Everest]] of shipwrecks".<ref name="www.playboy.com">{{cite news | title=James Cameron: Playboy Interview|work=[[Playboy]]|date=December 2009|access-date=January 19, 2010|url=http://www.playboy.com/articles/james-cameron-interview/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730084827/http://www.playboy.com/articles/james-cameron-interview/index.html |archive-date=July 30, 2010}}</ref><ref name="www.eyeforfilm.co.uk">{{cite news|first=Maria|last=Realf|title=An audience with James Cameron. The filmmaker discusses his movies to date and reveals the motivations|publisher=Eyeforfilm.co.uk|access-date=January 21, 2010|url=http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2009-12-17-james-cameron-talks-about-avatar-aliens-and-his-titanic-career-feature-story-by-maria-realf|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109140422/https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2009-12-17-james-cameron-talks-about-avatar-aliens-and-his-titanic-career-feature-story-by-maria-realf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="gq-magazine.co.uk">{{cite news|first=Alex |last=Bilmes |title=James Cameron is a genial raconteur and self-effacing man, says Alex Bilmes |work=[[GQ]] |date=December 14, 2009 |access-date=May 9, 2014 |url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2009-12/14/alex-bilmes-james-cameron |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326133227/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2009-12/14/alex-bilmes-james-cameron |archive-date=March 26, 2010}}</ref> He was almost past the point in his life when he felt he could consider an undersea expedition, but said he still had "a mental restlessness" to live the life he had turned away from when he switched from the sciences to the arts in college. When an [[IMAX]] film, ''[[Titanica]]'', was made from footage shot of the ''Titanic'' wreck, Cameron decided to seek Hollywood funding for his own expedition. It was "not because I particularly wanted to make the movie," Cameron said. "I wanted to dive to the shipwreck."<ref name="www.playboy.com" />

Cameron wrote a [[scriptment]] for a ''Titanic'' film,<ref name="dive" /> met with [[20th Century Fox]] executives including [[Peter Chernin]], and pitched it as "''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' on the ''Titanic''".<ref name="www.eyeforfilm.co.uk" /><ref name="gq-magazine.co.uk" /> Cameron said the executives were unconvinced of the commercial potential, and had instead hoped for action scenes similar to his previous films.<ref name="www.ew.com" /> They approved the project as they hoped for a long-term relationship with Cameron.<ref name="www.ew.com" /><ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /><ref name="www.industrycentral.net" />

Cameron convinced Fox to promote the film based on the publicity afforded by shooting the ''Titanic'' wreck,<ref name="dive">{{cite video | people = James Cameron | title = Deep Dive Presentation | medium = DVD | publisher = 20th Century Fox |year = 2005}}</ref> and organized several dives over a period of two years.<ref name="foreword" /> He also convinced Fox that shooting the real wreck for the film scenes, instead of simulating it with special effects, would provide value: "We can either do [the shots] with elaborate models and motion control shots and CG and all that, which will cost X amount of money – or we can spend X plus 30 per cent and actually go shoot it at the real wreck."<ref name="www.eyeforfilm.co.uk" />

The crew shot at the wreck in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] 12 times in 1995. The work was risky, as the water pressure could kill the crew if there were a tiny flaw in the submersible structure.<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> Additionally, adverse conditions prevented Cameron from getting footage.<ref name="www.media-awareness.ca" /> During one dive, one of the submersibles collided with ''Titanic''{{'}}s hull, damaging both sub and ship, and leaving fragments of the submersible's propeller shroud scattered around the superstructure. The external bulkhead of the captain's quarters collapsed, exposing the interior, and the area around the entrance to the [[Grand Staircase of the Titanic|Grand Staircase]] was damaged.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Eaton | first1 = John P. | last2 = Haas | first2 = Charles A. | year = 1999 | title = ''Titanic'': A Journey Through Time | page=205 | publisher = Patrick Stephens | location = Sparkford, Somerset | isbn = 978-1-85260-575-9 }}</ref>

Descending to the site emphasized to the crew that the ''Titanic'' disaster was not simply a story but a real event with real loss of life. Cameron said: "Working around the wreck for so much time, you get such a strong sense of the profound sadness and injustice of it, and the message of it." He felt a "great mantle of responsibility" to convey the emotional message of the story, as he was aware there might never be another filmmaker to visit the wreck.<ref name="www.industrycentral.net" />

Cameron felt the ''Titanic'' sinking was "like a great novel that really happened", but that the event had become a mere [[morality play|morality tale]]; the film would give audiences the experience of living the history.<ref name="foreword" /> The treasure hunter Brock Lovett represented those who never connected with the human element of the tragedy.<ref name="heart" /> He believed that the romance of Jack and Rose would be the most engaging element: when their love is finally destroyed, the audience would mourn the loss.<ref name="foreword" /> He said: "All my films are love stories, but in ''Titanic'' I finally got the balance right. It's not a disaster film. It's a love story with a fastidious overlay of real history."<ref name="www.industrycentral.net" />

After filming the underwater shots, Cameron began writing the screenplay.<ref name="dive" /> He wanted to honor the people who died, and spent six months researching the ''Titanic''{{'}}s crew and passengers.<ref name="foreword" /> He created a detailed timeline of the events of the voyage and sinking and had it verified by historical experts.<ref name="www.eyeforfilm.co.uk" /> From the beginning of the shoot, the team had "a very clear picture" of what happened on the ship. Cameron said "That set the bar higher in a way – it elevated the movie in a sense. We wanted this to be a definitive visualization of this moment in history as if you'd gone back in a time machine and shot it."<ref name="www.eyeforfilm.co.uk" /> Cameron was influenced by the 1958 British film about ''Titanic'', ''[[A Night to Remember (1958 film)|A Night to Remember]]'', which he had seen as a youth. He liberally copied some dialogue and scenes, including the lively party of the passengers in steerage,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SSE/article/view/12639 |title=Neoliberal and Social Democratic Versions of History, Class and Ideology in James Cameron's ''Titanic'' and Roy Baker's ''A Night to Remember'' |journal=Sydney Studies in English |volume=43 |first=Steve |last=Cramer |publisher=Sydney Studies |date=2017 |page=117 |s2cid=165242268 |access-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629005133/https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SSE/article/view/12639 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Musicians of the Titanic|musicians playing on the deck]] during the sinking.<ref name=five>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17515305|title=Five Titanic myths spread by films|first=Rosie|last=Waites|date=April 5, 2012|access-date=September 15, 2019|work=BBC News|archive-date=December 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201044643/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17515305|url-status=live}}</ref>

Cameron framed the romance with the elderly Rose to make the intervening years palpable and poignant.<ref name="foreword" /> While Winslet and Stuart believed Rose dies at the end of the film,<ref name="Audio Commentary">{{cite video | people = [[Jon Landau (film producer)|Jon Landau]], Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart, [[Victor Garber]] | title = Audio Commentary | medium = DVD | publisher = [[20th Century Fox]] |year = 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Beverly Fortune|title=Wheel of Fortune |work=[[Lexington Herald-Leader]] |date=October 11, 1999 |quote=That was one of the first questions pitched to 89-year-old actress Gloria Stuart at a book signing Wednesday night at Joseph-Beth Booksellers{{nbsp}}[...] 'Yes, Old Rose died.'}}</ref> Cameron said "the answer has to be something you supply personally; individually".<ref name="comm-sleep-or-dead" />