Back to Titanic: Film Information: Behind the Scenes: Scene Facts: Ghost Ship

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Today in
Titanic History
Thursday, March 13, 2025

1863 - 1st class survivor Dr Henry William Frauenthal was born to Samuel Frauenthal and Henrietta Lowenstein Frauenthal (German immigrants) in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA.

1950 - 1st class survivor Miss Caroline Bonnell died of epithelioma in Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA at the age of 67.

1864 - 1st class survivor Mr Elmer Zebley Taylor was born in Smyrna, Delaware, USA.

1860 - 1st class survivor Mrs Martha Stephenson was born to William Tracy Eustis and Martha Gilbert Dutton Eustis in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

1998 - James Cameron's movie "Titanic" surpassed Star Wars as the highest-grossing US film of all time.

1998 - James Cameron's movie "Titanic" was released into theaters in India.

1999 - James Cameron's movie "Titanic" was re-released into theaters in South Korea.

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Behind the Scenes: Scene Facts: Ghost Ship

Mir One and Mir Two are Russian deep submersibles from the science vessel Akademik Mistislav Keldysh.
For some wreck interior shots, a set was constructed and submerged.
Anatoly Mikailavich is portrayed by Anatoly Sagalevitch, Senior scientist of the Keldysh. Anotoly has been to the wreck numerous times. Cameron wrote him in as a thank you to the man that took him down to the wreck.
This was the first section of the movie filmed. First the underwater glimpses of Titanic, then the modern day story.
The bathtub is from Rose's stateroom.
When Cameron decided to include real footage of the Titanic's remains on the seabed, he did not want to simply shoot from inside a submersible, as had been done for the IMAX documentary Titanica (1992). To allow filming from outside the sub, Cameron's brother Mike Cameron and Panavision developed a deep-sea camera system capable of withstanding the 400 atmospheres of pressure at that depth.
Snoop Dog, the ROV, was an accidental discovery. He could go further into the wreck than they could in the Mirs and he had a camera. Snoop Dog ended up going 90 feet into the wreckage, farther than any previous Titanic expedition.
The piano and numerous other "artifacts" that are seen in the wreck were torched to achieve the waterlogged look.
The doll head, glasses and boots are on the sea floor near the Titanic. However, salvage expeditions have raked most of the debris field clean. James Cameron re-created the scene in a tank in California.
The deep-sea camera held only 12 minutes worth of film, but each dive took many hours. To make the best use of his resources, Cameron had a 1/33 scale model of the wreck constructed and used it to rehearse each dive. The Russian sub operators would walk around the model ship holding model subs in their hands as Cameron explained the shots he wanted. However, these rehearsals proved largely futile.
A majority of the wreck scenes are real, including the bow, various parts of the ship, the fireplace, the doors, and the chandelier. If there are two subs or snoop dog visible, it is not "real," but if there is less than two subs, it is most likely real. A clue is that the "grainy" film is the real footage.
Things that are believed to be real but AREN'T are the fish (digitally added into scene) and Cal's room.
Most of the wreckage shots were filmed in September 1995 during twelve different dives James Cameron and the Keldysh crew took to the wreck site.
A majority of this scene was filmed in a 45 foot model of the ship, suspended from a ceiling, never actually touching water.
The effect of the water was replicated by throwing dust into the air right before Cameron would film the models.
A majority of the interior shots were full scale models that had been used for the 1912 scenes.
Cameron went on the dives to the real Titanic himself, and found it an overwhelming emotional experience to actually see it. He ended up spending more time with the ship than its living passengers did.

Film Info

cast and crew
characters
scene facts
reaction
script
movie timeline

Scene Facts
opening sequence
ghost ship
pay day
the woman in the picture
distant memories
boarding
lucky hand
paintings
king of the world
lunch
first glance
suicide
heart of the ocean
sketches on deck
dining in the snakepit
a real party
confrontations
flying
portrait
chased by lovejoy
the car
the iceberg
rescue
'not without you'
sinking
vertical stern
the promise
carpathia

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