Question: How long did this film actually take to make? because regular films go for around an hour and a half and they usually take 5 months to make. but this movie is double the length with a lot more stunts and more expensive things in it?
adammaskellQuestion: Was Rose a real passenger on the ship. I know that there was a crew member called Joseph Dawson but was Rose a real person. If so, how did the real life Rose react to herself on screen?
Answer: Both Rose and Jack are entirely fictitious - the similarity of names with the crew member is purely coincidental. Many of the bodies that were recovered were buried in a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia that is called the Titanic Graveyard. One of the headstones reads 'J Dawson'. When James Cameron learned about this victim having a similar name to one of the main characters, he said it was a purely a coincidence.
Tailkinker
Question: Since Rose in the "present" scenes is depicted as an old woman, what year did these scenes take place?
OnesimosChosen answer: 1996. Old Rose says "It's been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint." 1912+84=1996.
K.C. SierraAnswer: Because she was so unhappy. She did not love Cal, nor did she want to marry him (her mother had pushed her into it because they were poor). Rose did not want a stultifying life as a "trophy" wife and knew she'd be little more than a "bird in a gilded cage." It is highly unlikely she would have gone through with killing herself. She was just extremely upset at the time and desperately wanted to find a way out.
raywestQuestion: Rose and her group are eating, and Rose begins to smoke a cigarette. Her mother says "You know I don't like that, Rose." If I am correct, smoking was considered to be "classy" during this time. Would it not be normal for first-class passengers to be smoking?
Answer: For men, yes, but it was considered uncouth for ladies to smoke, as it was seen as a "masculine" habit.
Question: After Rose rescues Jack from below decks, they run past Mr. Andrews, who's standing in front of a fireplace, leaning in towards it. What room is he in? It looks like the First Class Lounge, which deck plans show has a fireplace but it's towards the forward end of the ship, which means Mr. Andrews should have been leaning away from the fireplace since the incline was towards aft. I haven't been able to locate an answer to this.
JeStGrChosen answer: It's the First Class smoke room, which has the ship's only functional fireplace facing the fore. As the ship's fore (front) is pointing down into the water, Andrews is standing at a tilt against the incline, so his stance is tilted towards the ship's aft and therefore he is leaning against the fireplace.
Sierra1Question: Rose's mother says that Rose's father left a lot of debt, but it's hidden by "a good name." Did nobody ever attempt to collect the debts? How would his name stop them?
Answer: The wealthiest members of society, in 1912 and still today, are simply treated differently. It is a certainty that creditors would give a good measure of leeway to the recent widow of a man with a certain position in society, particularly a member of an "old money" family. It is entirely possible that collection on debts had been attempted, and Ruth Dewitt Bukater was able to delay and obfuscate. Her desperation to marry off Rose to Caledon Hockley suggests the wolves may very well have been at the door, or were getting close.
Michael AlbertQuestion: Did Kate Winslet wear a wig in Titanic?
Answer: No she colored her hair.
Answer: Cal says to Rose that she is his wife "in practice" he is referring to the fact that she is his fiancee and as it would not be appropriate for her to behave that way (dancing below deck, drinking etc) as his wife, it is not appropriate for her to behave that way as his fiancee. So basically "you need to act the same way it would be expected of you as my wife, even though you are just my fiancee right now." When he gives her the diamond he tells her that there is nothing he would not "refuse her", if only she would not "refuse" him. Wink wink. He grazes her cheek slightly when he says this, making it pretty clear that it is a come on. This gesture seems to make Rose uncomfortable. Also in that time it was not acceptable behavior for a girl to be sexually active outside of wedlock. Especially a girl of high standing. Also IMO Jack's demeanor after they had sex in the car was not that of an experienced guy. I don't believe Jack had ever had sex. But it is not addressed in the film.
Question: The answer to this might be a long shot, but I just have to ask would the passengers still on the ship when it is sinking really not notice two people (Rose and Jack) running from someone (Cal) who is shooting at them? Obviously they would have other things on their mind, but the scene wasn't as chaotic as other scenes during the sinking with the people other than the main characters.
Answer: There's no definitive answer to this. Even though it may have seemed less chaotic than the later scenes, considering the extreme crisis and terror that was unfolding at that moment, and knowing their their lives are at stake, it is conceivable that others would not take much notice of what people were doing, or even if they did, would not be inclined to intervene.
raywestChosen answer: Yes, it's true. Cameron has been overseeing a careful 3D conversion of the film for some time, with the intent to release it to mark the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.
TailkinkerQuestion: During the scene when the Titanic's engines are reversed as soon as the iceberg is in sight, the stokers close all the dampers to the boilers just before the engines are reversed, why is this?
Answer: Not closing the dampers would make the boilers still burn and keep the Titanic going forward. The shock of cold water hitting the burning coals could also cause explosions.
Question: In the scene right after Jack hustles Rose into the Gymnasium, she is at tea with her mother and some other women, looking at a little girl. As she stares, her face and the background seem to turn very luminescent, like a painting. Is it just me, or did they film it in a certain way or do something in post-production to make it look like that?
Answer: In the special edition DVD, they actually made a scale model of the room in question and filmed the actors against a green screen. The lighting of the shot didn't match up correctly with the footage of the scale model.
Answer: The "if only you has come to me sooner" was in reference to the bridesmaids dresses. Not the little girl and the etiquette part.
Answer: It's probably showing 1) that Rose is detaching from the present into her own thoughts, and 2) that she's envisaging the type of narrow and straitjacketed life this naturally vivacious and innocent little girl is going to have to get used to, which brings her back to thinking of the life she will be stuck in if she marries Cal, thus changing her mind about it. She wants to be free to express joy and to laugh, dance wildly, travel on the wind, run, climb, swim - everything she won't be able to do if she marries Cal. I don't think the little girl is the daughter of the woman, because you can hear the woman saying to her: 'If only you'd come to me sooner!' when the little girl makes mistakes of etiquette. This implies to me that the little girl has changed guardians for some reason, and in doing so, has gone up in class. Rose realises, where the little girl does not yet, what kind of life this little girl has unknowingly just been aportioned, and how, if the upper classes had their way, children would never get the opportunity to just be children (this is the implication of 'if only you'd come to me sooner'). The encroaching loss of that little girl's right to express the spirit of a child reminds her of Jack's warning that Rose will likewise die if she doesn't break free, because the fire that he loves about her will, sooner or later, burn out.
Question: My friend an I have been having an argument. Whose hand hits the car window in the sex scene?
Answer: Although Leonardo DiCaprio has some femine looking hands for a guy, this is Rose's hand hitting the window and sliding down. Pay attention to the fingernails, and you will notice it is a woman's hand.
JazetopherQuestion: Were any real artifacts used for the film?
Matty BlastChosen answer: No real artifacts were used but they did use real film taken of the actual ship in the movie.
Disney-FreakAnswer: The thing that Rose is laid on is an original bit of the piano from the Titanic wreck.
Question: One of the mistakes lists that when Rose and Jack are running away from the water below decks, you can see the real faces of the stunt doubles they used. I have tried to find any differences in their faces but I cannot find it. How can you tell they are stunt doubles?
Answer: It is not the faces of the stunt doubles, but the faces of the actors superimposed. It is very obvious when Rose is running in slow motion toward the camera with Jack behind her. The water is rising, and the lights are flickering. Her face is very pale, almost transparent, and seems "big" for her head. Also, the bobbing movements of her head don't exactly match that of the filming of the stunt double, which indicates the effects team did the best they could with Kate Winslet's face superimposed onto a different female with a different head shape.
MacalouQuestion: Does anyone know the name of the hymn played by the 4 string players at the end of the film, just before they say, "It's been a pleasure playing with you all tonight"?
Answer: It's "Nearer my God to thee."
David MercierQuestion: While the ship is sinking, Rose must use the lifts to get to Jack. The lift man tells her the lifts are closed. She then pins him against the wall, yells something, and then screams 'Now take me down to E deck'. Just what does she yell?
Answer: She said, "I'm through being polite God damn it now take me down."
Answer: I just watch the clip on YouTube. Rose says, "I'm through being polite, god damn it. Now take me down."
raywestAnswer: "I'm through with being polite, goddamnit! I may never be polite the rest of my life!"
David MercierQuestion: One person asked about Rose and Cal's "love life" which was answered with something about it being "active". Surely, Rose should have been pregnant by then if they had slept together quite a few times?
Answer: Condoms have been in use since the 1850's. Assuming Cal and Rose practiced safe sex there's no reason to believe she should have become pregnant.
Answer: The dialogue implies that they had not had sex yet. Cal tells her "There is nothing I would deny you, if you would not deny me." So it sounds like Cal is trying to convince Rose to have sex prior to their marriage. But Rose does not lose her virginity until she and Jack get busy in the car. However, IF they had been engaging in pre-marital sex, condoms were widely available in 1912, as were diaphragms; and there were other methods that, while maybe not as effective as modern methods, were better than nothing: Withdrawal before ejaculation, and intercourse at infertile times in a woman's cycle (see http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/birthcontrol/020709_bchistory.html). Also, she could have just been lucky.
J I CohenThere are implications that Rose and Cal were intimate, such as when Cal says, "I had hoped you would come to me last night," and "You are my wife my practice if not yet by law."
Chosen answer: Principal shooting began in September 1996 and was scheduled for 138 days, though various delays extended this to 160 days. Prior to the filming, crews spent 100 days constructing the sets. Following filming, there were additional months for editing. Although the movie is twice as long as most films, it does not necessarily mean the shooting schedule was doubled. More second unit directors could have been used, filming scenes simultaneously.
raywest