by Garene Tay

Created on: September 13, 2008

Perhaps the best known film in movie history, Titanic was directed by James Cameron in 1997. While the main event was the misfortune of the "unsinkable" ship, the plot also revolves around the romance that blossomed between Rose, a rich first class passenger engaged to a successful but arrogant businessman and Jack, a third class passenger with not a penny to his name.

The director had filmed footages of the real shipwreck of the RMS Titanic before filming the modern scenes on a Russian scientific vessel. The film was set on location in order to preserve realism in the movie. The ship seen in the movie was recreated and the sinking of the ship was done using models and computer generated images.

The characters in this film can be classified into two main groups, the wealthy first class passengers and the poor third class passengers. In the film, we can see the obvious difference in status in terms of dressing and accommodations. Passengers such as Rose were well made up for every occasion be it dinner or just for a stroll along the deck of the ship. Their clothing included embellished hats and jewellery. The poor however didn't seem to have many outfits to change into and are often seen in the same set of clothes. Many props were used to help describe the situations and characters in the movie. In the gambling scene where Jack won his tickets onboard the Titanic through a poker game, a watch was placed next to the tickets and money to signify that time was running out for Jack and his friend. Decorations in the rooms of the rich and the poor are significantly different in order to further emphasize the luxury that the rich are entitled to.
Lighting plays an important role in the film. When the explorers were underwater searching for treasures that the Titanic left behind, spot lighting was used and the single beam of light came from the submarine, illuminating the ruins bit by bit, creating suspense for the audience. In the famous scene where jack and Rose were standing at the railing of the ship with their arms stretched outwards, the soft, golden lighting seemed to come naturally from the evening sky, creating a romantic mood which is appropriate alongside the storyline. When the ship was already partially submerged in the water, the lights in the ship started faltering before going out completely. The frequent blinking of light allowed the audience to see bits of what was going on and this created a sense of urgency and fear as the main characters were running out of time. The failing of all the lights onboard also created a mood of hopelessness as darkness shrouded those who were still hanging on for life. However, there seems to be a mistake in terms of lighting because when the lights at corridors were fading out, the scenes, where an old couple and a mother putting her children to sleep and preparing for death were brightly lit which is unrealistic given the situation.
In my opinion, the most memorable scenes was the image of many people struggling in the dark waters when Rose came out of the water without Jack, the scene where an old couple embraced each other in bed knowing that they were going to drown and the most interesting scene of all, the love scene in the car where the windows of the car fogged up, suggesting the passion that the lovers had for each other. I believe that Titanic does deserve to be recognised as the greatest box office hit of all time because of the spectacular visuals offered.

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