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A2.

Pre-Production

Titanic

The Titanic is a 1997 film, which is based on a true story of the largest ship that
was ever created at the time of its existence, which sank on its maiden voyage.
The Titanic sank because of the contact that it had with the icebergs in the sea,
which then lead to holes in the ship making the initial reason for the sinking. The
ship was supposedly unsinkable, yet sank on its first ever outing. The sinking of
the ship resulted in the death of 1,503 people. The Titanic sank in real life on the
14th and 15th April 1912. The ship took 26months to construct, being one of the
longest ships to ever build. This film was the most expensive film ever made at
the time of its release with a budget of $200 million. The film would have had
this much money spent on the production of the film because of the pre sold
audience that the film would have because of the amount of people that are
interested in it. This would therefore reassure the producers of the film that the
film would have a large following due to it being a non-fiction story. Overall, the
film is 194 minutes long making it a very long film compared to the average film
lengths. The film was made to be this long to ensure that all of the details of the
story could be included in the film which would therefore interest the audience
members and keep them entertained throughout the film because of the
attentions to detail and the interest in true story’s that a large amount of people
have. It was originally released in 1997, however was re-released in 2012 with a
3D version of the film to make the audience feel more on edge and also more
involved with the film. I believe that it was made to be 3D because it gave the
audience members an understanding of what happened and made it seem real
giving the audience members the experience of the real disaster that was the
Titanic. It cost 3 million pounds to make the film 3D because a team of 300
technicians spent 60 weeks converting the original into the film.

An interesting fact about the filming of the Titanic sinking is that it was timed to
match the same real lifetime of the sinking that happened in real life in 1912.
Because this is such an accurate scene I makes the audience members feel like
they are watching the real thing and gives them a strong understanding of what
it was like in real life, which therefore increased the success of the film because a
larger amount of people were interested in it.

Pre-production would’ve helped with the success of this film in many ways and
an example of this would be storyboards which are used for the film which help
show the different shots that will best suit a scene of the film. It allows the
producers to see if anything needs changing where the edits are because they are
able to see what the film would be like shot by shot. By using a storyboard for
filming, the producer is put at ease as they have a guide of what they have to do
and therefore will be able to film scenes at a quicker pace. This is important
because the longer it takes to shoot a movie, the more money they will be losing,
therefore by using storyboards, the film is able to save money by getting the
recording correct the first time. The money that they are able to save from this
allows them to pay their cast and crew members and also ensure that they keep
the equipment in a good condition or even buy more equipment if they have to.
Pre-production is important because it allows all members of the film
understand what is happening in the film and if they need to know why the film
is being shot in a certain way they can see the entire process that the directors
and producers of the film would’ve gone through in order to get where they are.
Pre-production essentially plans out how a film will be recorded and therefore
tells all of the crew members what they need to do in order to successfully film.

Risk assessment
The Titanic had to conduct many different risk assessments to ensure that no
one was injured or in danger when filming the movie to ensure that the
production of the film is not slowed down in any way to allow the film to
maximise their profits. This was also because the film includes some stunts that
can be quite dangerous for the actors. An example of a danger is when the titanic
sinks and the characters are beginning to jump in the water and be seen to
drown and also freeze, before filming this they would’ve made sure that
everyone in the scene could swim and the stunt men would’ve practiced their
stunts before. As they filmed in the North Atkantic Ocean it would’ve been cold
so they would’ve had to make sure that there were many facilities to warm up
the cast after the stunts into the water and they would’ve had to make sure that
everyone on set was wearing suitable clothing. These risks have to be analysed
to ensure that there is no danger to the cast and crew on set making the filming
area safe for them. If these risks aren’t analysed then there is also the possibility
of an accident occurring during the filming which would then slow down the
production of the film because of the healing that the cast or crewmember may
need.

Script
Scripts were used for films to allow other writers to look over it so that they can
change it to make it better suited for the film, also allowing them to make any
changes if they feel that something could be said in a better way within the film.
In a large-scale movie like The Titanic, there are times where the director is also
a scriptwriter and therefore James Cameron wrote the script James Cameron
would have done this because of the experience he has in scriptwriting from his
previous work and also because he was extremely invested in the piece and
making it as realistic as possible. By using James Cameron as the scriptwriter for
the film it would’ve increased the success of the film because of the pre sold
audience that would be developed by James Cameron and his previous work. The
film would have around 10 writers who would help create and produce the
script for the movie. Drafts are used for films because they can all be used which
allows the producer to choose the best one and add it into the edit of the film.
Because the Titanic has a very long runtime, it has a much longer script
compared to other films, which is also a reason for they’re being so many
writers.
These screenshots are examples of the script from the titanic film, and shows the
dialogue between the two main characters, Jack and Rose as well as the actions
in the film regarding the positioning of objects which made filming much easier
for the crew. Scripts are an extremely important pre-production task for the cast
of the film as it is a guide of what they must say in the film to ensure that it is
appealing to the audience and also as accurate as possible to the story that the
directors and producers were told by Rose who actually experienced the whole
disaster. By having a script the characters are aware of what they have too say
and are able to learn the script before beginning to film, therefore allowing the
production of the film to progress swiftly. The script also explains objects in the
film, which therefore help the crew with putting them into specific positions that
are needed. The script also helps reduce the amount of money that is spent on
hiring equipment and space. If the cast are not familiar with their dialogue then
more shots will have to be taken which will possible lead to an increase in the
amount of time equipment is needed for as well as possibly adding memory onto
an SD card.

Storyboard
This shows an example of the storyboard of the
Titanic. As we can see, the ship starts off on its
Maiden Voyage and was also the largest VIP ship
at the time of its existence. However, when it had
been out for a few days of travelling it made
contact with an iceberg that was in the sea, this
iceberg caused a break in the boat, which then
started the initial sinking because of the water
that was getting into the ship. This therefore
resulted in the ship sinking and killing many of the
people on board.
This storyboard was used to plan out and show the events that would take place
throughout the film. This particular pre-production task allows the
crewmembers to fully understand each part of the film showing each scene in
detail with a picture as well as a short description of what is happening. This
benefits the production of the film as it ensures that each member of the crew
has the basic understanding of what is needed in the film and how it will be
filmed when the time comes.

The story board was illustrated by Rick Newsum he has worked on films such as
independent day before working on titanic, this film won peoples choice award
for favourite dramatic movie which may have been why they chose to wok with
him.

Crew
James Cameron is both the director and writer of The Titanic and has also
directed Avatar, The terminator films, Robocop and more. These films have all
been a huge success as well as The Titanic, which has been extremely popular
with the public. This shows that James Cameron is an extremely talented director
and has had a very successful career.

Russell Carpenter is the man who is in charge of the cinematography aspects of


the films and ensures that the cinematography is as effective as possible to make
the audience feel involved in the film and also give them the understanding of the
genre of the film and what emotions to feel at each point of the film, whether its
love, danger or tension. Everything will be shown through the cinematography
that is used in the film. Power and weakness is also shown through the
cinematography used within the film. Russell Carpenter has previously worked
on True Lies which shows his success in films and since has worked on films
such as “Antman” which was a huge success in the marvel industry of films and
also included a very important sequence of cinematography to show the
miniscule character as one of the most powerful in the film.

Edited by Conrad Buff IV, James Cameron, Richard A. Harris – the editing part of
the film is very important as it allows the film to be equally set out and change
location and show different shot types of the film which will then make the film
seem slightly more realistic and also gain the audiences attention by constantly
having something happening within the film trough the constant change from
clip to clip. The three have also previously worked on other pieces such as
Terminator 2. This would add to success because the editors know each other
and are familiar with how each of them works making the editing more efficient
and detailed overall. There were 25 special effects teams that worked on this
film, this would’ve been done to make the film as realistic as possible with the
most detail within the film making if more successful overall. One being digital
domain that worked on Apollo 13 and true lies, which shows their skills. Overall
the editing in this film added to the success of the film because of the detail that
was involved in making every scene interesting and as realistic to the audience.

Props /Costume
The props that were used within this film have a huge effect on the storyboard of
the film. For example, a prop that has the biggest impact on the film is the
iceberg’s that are in the sea which are the whole reason that the ship sinks
therefore having a huge role in the film. The other main prop that is used within
the film is the actual ship itself as the film is almost all recorded on the ship
meaning that the other props within the film are on it as well. The props that
were used in this film made it seem more realistic especially as it is based on a
true story; as the 1997 film was set in 1912, this was reflected in their costumes
as Jack ears braces and Rose wears corfets, the audience are able to see the
resemblance of the written story to the recorded example. The actual Titanic
ship that was used is the most important prop in the film as it is the whole
reason for the film being produced; it shows the audience what it was like inside
and out, again making it as realistic as possible. However the ship that was
actually used was called the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh that was made to look
like the Titanic through the use of Computer-generated imagery (CGI). The shots
of titanic in the movie are real as James Cameron dived to the wreck 12 times to
film the scenes of titanic, this would’ve made the film better as it would give the
audience an understanding of what the shipwreck really looks like in real life
which is interesting for them because of how famous the sinking of the Titanic
was.

Location
The locations for the filming of The Titanic include the Titanic wreck in the North
Atlantic Ocean, Mexico, Canada and USA. When the cast and crew were in Mexico,
they were using a studio for their recordings of the film. They used Baja studio as
it was used in films such as tomorrow never dies, this studio was also near the
North Atlantic Ocean, which would’ve saved money when they filmed inside the
ship. The other locations were areas that the filming took place for the main
parts of the film. The rest of the locations are filmed around California such as
the engine room scenes, which would’ve kept cost low as it’s all in the same
country. The different locations for filming would increase the success of the film
because it would interest more people if the film uses their home location etc.

This is an example of a location recce, which has been


used for filming a short film. Creating a location recce
is quite an important aspect of pre-production
because the producers and directors are able to
analyse each location and what they may be suitable
for as well as the possible threats of using the
specified locations. By creating a location recce the
crew are able to understand the reasoning behind
filming in a specific area as well as what will be filmed
in the location. The main reason for the use of a
location recce is for health and safety purposes as you
are able to understand how secure and safe the areas
are and find any dangers that could result in injuring
a crewmember, effecting the production time of the
film.
Equipment
Panavision Panaflex Gold II Camera and Panavision Panaflex Platinum Camera.
These two cameras are extremely useful when shooting a film, as the filmmaker
is able to collect multiple takes on one camera without using up a large amount
of memory meaning that there are more chances for the crew to get the shot
perfect without having to spend more money than they originally intended. Each
camera can shoot 4-40 frames per second and are able to increment 1/10
frames. Neither of these cameras can be bought, they can only be rented which
means that the cast and crew will only have a certain amount of time to film the
shots that they need with this camera to ensure that they avoid paying for an
extra amount of time with the camera. The daily price for a Panavision is
850dollars of a weekly price is 2550 dollars this camera is perfect for this film as
it has a high frame watt rate so the quality is excellent. This added to the success
of the film because it meant that the film was very detailed and therefore kept
the audience engaged in the film because of the surroundings and also the action
that took place in some scenes of the film. Although the camera is extremely
useful for shooting detailed shots, it will likely take a long time to create the
shots due to the size and weight of the camera, which could slow down the
production of the film slightly.
The use of a green screen is also and extremely helpful piece of equipment when
filming the titanic as the producers are able to create the setting that they want
without putting the cast and crew in danger. Green screens also show a large
amount of detail, which means that the setting will also look extremely realistic
once edited and put together with each scene. Furthermore, by using a green
screen the budget is not highly affected because there is no need to travel and
pay for accommodation as the filming can be done in one studio over a short
amount of time. The green screen was needed for the scenes of the iceberg as
they needed CGI to make it look as realistic and threatening as possible.

Casting
The two main characters of this film have been added in by the director of the
film, meaning that although it is based on a true story, not ever part of it is true.
These two characters are Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Rose
Dewitt Bukater, played by Kate Winslet. Leonardo DiCaprio had won a silver
bare award for best actor for Romeo and Juliet and Kate Winslet had been in
hamlet and as a British actress she was ideal for the role. These two actors are
both extremely successful and very well known within the filming industry. This
would therefore add to the success of the film, as more people will want to see it
because of the cast that are in the movie.

Budget
The budget for this film was the biggest budgeted film at the time of its release
and had the budget of $200 million, which within the first weekend they only
made $28,638,131, which therefore shows that they did not profit from the first
weekend of the screenings. However, the Cumulative Worldwide Gross came to
$2,186,772,302, which is a huge amount of money for a film. The film was so
successful because the producers were able to spend large amounts of money on
the set for the film because of the large budget that they had, this therefore
increased the quality of the film and interested a larger amount of people,
making a bigger audience. By having such a large budget the film was able to hire
out and buy any of the equipment that they needed with a small chance that they
would exceed their budget for equipment. This therefore meant that they could
rent any equipment they needed for a longer amount of time as well as
purchasing back-up equipment in case of any damage that could happen to any
equipment bought that could possibly slow down the production of the film. By
having this large budget the film could be perfectly recorded and made as it was
planned from the storyboard and other pre-production tasks that the crew
created for the film.

Company credits
Twentieth Century Fox is one of the production companies that helped produce
the Titanic film, which proved to be a great success. One of the most recent films
that this production company has helped create is Bohemian Rhapsody, which
has been a huge success since its release and has already made a profit of
$851,655,259 in less than one year. The Titanic has also been a huge success,
which therefore shows that Twentieth Century Fox are very successful with the
films that they help produce. They would’ve financed this film because they
would be aware of the money it could make due to it being a true story with an
accurate storyline. The Titanic already had a large following and people wanted
to understand what it was like being on board which therefore meant Twentieth
Century Fox knew it would be successful.

Paramount Pictures have helped produce a large amount of films and have made
all of those films successful. This production company is very experienced with
special effects and animations, this is made clear from the previous films that
they have made and released. Examples include the recent releases of
“BumbleBee” and “Dora and the lost city of gold” which have been quite
successful in a sort amount of time. An example of an older film that Paramount
Pictures have helped produce is the “Mission Impossible” films which include
huge amounts of action and therefore huge amount of special effects. The Titanic
also includes a huge amount of action and therefore has used Paramount
Pictures as a producer of the film as they are able to show the full effect of the
ship crashing into the ice berg and make the whole situation seem extremely
realistic with the special effects that are used which makes the water on the ship
seem real. Paramount Pictures would have wanted to get involved in the
production of the film because they knew it was going to be successful and
therefore receive large amounts of revenue and therefore make a larger profit.
Paramount Pictures would have known that it was going to be worth so much
money because of the large following that it already had and the amount of
speculation there was about the different possible theories of what happened to
the ship.

Lightstorm Entertainment have produced quite large amount of films, including,


Avatar, Terminator and they are also going to be producing the other Avatars
that will be released in the near years to come. As we now know that these are
examples of the films that Lightstorm Entertainment produce there is a pattern
of the films being a longer length in time compared to the average. James
Cameron and Lawrence Kasanoff founded the production company in 1990 and
have introduced other production companies into it to help them create the best
quality film possible. James Cameron would have benefitted from these
companies getting involved in the production of the film because it would make
the budget larger and therefore allow them to spend more money on the film and
increase the quality of the film, which would then lead to the success of the film.

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