How Can Special Effects And Make-up Produce Water Scenes?
As water covers 71 per cent of the surface of the planet, it is no wonder it plays a big role in film and TV productions. However, this can bring some interesting challenges that require the best costumes and special effects.
At our film studios in Manchester, we have a wealth of facilities to produce different effects, but there is no doubt that viewers will notice when these are presented well and when they are not.
Some special effects are simple. Even in Manchester, we can’t always count on it to rain, but if it doesn’t, the solution is simple, as an overhead sprinkler out of shot can produce the necessary droplets.
Other water-related effects may be rather more challenging, a good example being productions involving ships. For example, there have been many famous films with a maritime setting:
Films based on real-life events such as the sinking of the Titanic
Entirely fictional action films such as The Poseidon Adventure
War films, often based on real events
Science Fiction films based partly at sea, like Battleship or the Godzilla films
Producing such films brings a lot of challenges, both technical and for the budget. It can also place significant demands on the cast and extras too, so you need to be prepared.
Should You Rely On CGI Or Models For Ship Scenes?
Of course, the sea itself is always there, so you can film that at no extra cost. Finding a ship is another matter. In the case of Battleship, some scenes really were filmed on the US Missouri, while some of the actors representing the crew were actual veterans of the ship.
However, CGI was fully brought to bear for the final battle scene against the alien ship. But it would be a mistake to think this was the only special effect used. The wider scenes with a fleet of ships were not CGI, nor a real flotilla hired for the occasion.
Instead, a series of scale models were used, floating in a wave tank located in an indoor studio. Explosive charges were added, with some green screen technology used to ensure the backdrop looked realistic.
This highlights the fact that large models can be used for special effects even in an age of CGI. Before such tech came along, this was the default. It can be seen, for example, in the giant wave scene in The Poseidon Adventure and in many more films as well.
What Can You Achieve With Scale Models Of Part Of A Ship?
Another effect can be created by using a model representing part of a ship. This has often been used in Titanic-themed films, where the tilting effect is essential during the sinking sequences.
A prime example of this is the 1958 film A Night to Remember, where a model of half a ship partially immersed in water was used for scenes. James Cameron’s 1997 Titanic film used similar models and sets, despite the widespread use of (for the time) groundbreaking CGI.
The Mexican site used for the 1997 film scenes was large and clearly on too large a scale for most studios, but it did highlight the fact that some very sophisticated sets had been created to produce some spectacular special effects, not all requiring a computer.
Among the sets was the quarter-scale model of the cargo hold used to depict the moment when the impact of the iceberg ruptured the hull and produced the influx of water that caused the sinking.
In this case, the hull plating was flimsy and buckled as a high-pressure hose was turned on it from the outside, bursting through in the manner seen in the film. It was all filmed in a car park at night.
Elsewhere, various models and sections of different sizes were used, with some sections involving green screen technology too.
How Can You Look After Actors In The Water?
Such sets are not just about the models of parts of ships or props like lifeboats. There is also the matter of the actors themselves.
The costumes will be self-explanatory, of course. For a film set in 1912, the clothing will be obvious, as well as being drenched and accompanied by a life jacket. However, there is more to it than that.
In both the real sinking and the scenes depicted in film, people plunged into water that was about four degrees below freezing, mostly dying from hypothermia within a few minutes, which in the 1997 film was Jack’s fate while Rose survived atop a floating wooden door.
Of course, no film could be shot with actors immersed in frigid water at risk to their own lives, so an attempt was made to keep the water ambient in the 350,000-gallon tank.
However, Kate Winslet stated in an interview that this was not entirely successful and, as she had declined to wear a wetsuit, she did get very cold and almost hypothermic.
This could have been the most catastrophic case of art following life in movie history, but, just as Rose was pulled into a lifeboat, Winslet was, after all, on a film set and able to get out.
Elsewhere, it has been claimed that some of the extras involved in this scene were left needing medical attention because they spent so long in the cold water. One extra allegedly threatened to sue.
How Were The Frozen Water Effects In Titanic Created?
Even so, the water in the tank was still far warmer than that in the Atlantic in the early hours of April 15th 1912. But several effects were used to create the impression that it was exceptionally cold:
Dry ice to represent condensation from warm breath
Wax droplets on hair made to look like ice
A special powder was applied to the actors that crystallised on contact with water, creating the effect of frozen bodies
This shows that it is eminently possible to recreate a scene set in the middle of the north Atlantic on a freezing, starlit night in April in a shallow water tank in a studio. However, it also comes with a potential health warning if the cast or extras are to spend time in cold water.
Not every show has anything like the vast budget of a film like Titanic, but the basic principles of using models, CGI special effects and even having wax droplets in the hair of the cast can contribute towards creating convincing scenes and a compelling production.
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