Q&A with Russell Carpenter, ASC cinematographer of TITANIC.
A GENERAL NOTE:
Many questions were asked about visual and special effects issues that fall well outside of the realm of first unit photography. Some of these questions I've answered in previous posts. However, as I've mentioned before, the Cinefex magazine on Titanic is the most comprehensive look at the visual effects side of the film yet written:
Contact Don or Estelle Shay
P.O. Box 20027, Riverside, California 92516.
Hello Mr. Carpenter,
I want to give you a big compliment for the movie Titanic. It was the most beautiful movie I ever saw! I have a question for you. Water is dangerous for the equipment, and the camera isn't water-resistant, so how did you deal with that?
Also, the last scene of the captain on the bridge, when the windows break, looks very difficult to me. How did you do that? I'm a cameraman myself. I work for Dutch television and I'm involved in all the multiple camera productions.
Greetings,
Bas Thijssen
Dear Bas,
There are several water-resistant housings made for motion picture cameras. Most of them are made for the ARRI-3. Some are flexible neoprene "bag enclosures" which zipper up the back, others are more rigid housings. The ones we used for most of the filming were HYDROFLEX housings designed by Pete Romano. Many of these had some sort of water deflection system incorporated into them — a nozzle would blow compressed gas across the front surface of the lens to keep droplets off the glass surface.
The last scene was filmed with 5 cameras in rigid housings and firmly mounted in a specially designed set which was built inside a water tank. Only one of the cameras had an operator and Jim Cameron did the operating himself on that special shot. The captain was a stunt double and the windows had charges on them that broke the glass on cue.
Thanks,
Russell Carpenter
Dear Mr. Carpenter,
How did you get the lighting effect down in the engine room? Also, what was the most technically demanding part of the whole movie?
— John
Dear John,
The boiler room is what I think you mean, where they are shoveling coal. The effect of light coming from the boilers was achieved using Minibrutes (a cluster of nine 1K pars) on programmable dimmers called "magic gadgets." We put smoke in front of the lights so they wouldn't show. The lights were gelled with 11/2 or 2 times full CTO to approximate the color temperature of fire.
The hardest part of lighting the film for me, overall, was keeping lighting continuity over such a long period of time. Many of the scenes were shot using various techniques (green screen, etc.) and different shots in a single scene were filmed many months apart. It was difficult keeping track of the lighting.
Thanks,
Russell Carpenter
Mr. Carpenter,
Firstly, it's quite obvious from the production photos that you have pretty big glasses. While I can't guess on their thickness — as someone who's actively pursuing their filmmaking education, and wearing glasses myself — I was wondering if you had ever found that your eyesight and corrective lenses caused problems, or if you had to adjust to equipment because of this?
And second, the final sequence in which Winslet and DiCaprio were adrift was absolutely gorgeous. I was surprised to see in the "making of" book that this was shot with regular light on a soundstage! Was this coloration entirely the result of color correction and timing? How did you match such intense blue to the cast of light from the officer's lamp? Also, was the entire starfield generated by CG or did you use a backdrop as an artificial horizon?
Last of all, were you an experienced diver, or for that matter even acquainted with shooting in water before Titanic?
There is no doubt in my mind you deserved your Oscar... Not just because of, as some naysayers have it, the technical and physical challenges you mounted, but also because it is such a sublimely beautiful film.
Thanks,
Aaron Stewart
Dear Aaron,
The glasses don't seem to be a problem. I guess I've just adjusted to it as I've gone along. They do get dirty fairly often and the people I work with are constantly looking after me.
The blue look of the final scenes was a combination of lighting and timing. On True Lies, I just shot uncorrected HMI's but on this scene we used 20K lights with full CTB. We added a little bit more because the light was tending to go a bit warm as the gels took a beating from all the heat generated by the lights. The intense blue in the final print was just a matter of adding more blue in the final timing.
The idea behind the scene was that it would be "lit by the imagination of the viewer more that any real source. At the back of the tank was an enormous cyclorama where we lit a horizon. It was a major pain to keep even, it was always changing, and, frankly, driving me crazy. It seems I spent more time looking at that damn horizon than lighting the foreground. The stars were CGI and added in post as was the breath of the actors.
I'm not a certified diver, however, the entire crew spent numerous hours up to their necks in warm and cold water. We wore dry suits, which are extremely tight at the wrists, ankles and neck, and are watertight. When the water comes up to your chest, the trapped air makes you buoyant and you lift up like a big floating donut — and try desperately not to float into the scene.
Thanks,
Russell
Dear Mr. Carpenter,
What sort of background do you have in still photography, and who are some of your influences in that medium?
Kurt A. Alberty
Grad student in chemistry at USC and still photographer
Dear Kurt,
I have some background in still photography, but only as a learning process for studying how film responds to different exposures and how filtration influences the image.
Surprisingly, as a way to unwind and play, I'll take out an old SX-70 Polaroid camera — the one that is an SLR — and just play with composition. It's a great learning tool.
The still photographers that I love are: William Eggleston, Jan Hoover, Kertesz (a god), Paul Strand, Minor White, Edward Weston, Brett Weston, Richard Misrach — oh God, I can't stop...
Thanks,
Russell Carpenter
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