James Cameron has always been fascinated by deep-sea exploration and shipwrecks, and for him the Titanic is the "Everest of shipwrecks". When Rob Ballard (a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Navy who is best known for discovering the wreck of the Titanic in 1985) first discovered the wreckage of the Titanic, he began to feel the potential of the story and said that the sinking of the Titanic was a "great, real" that almost changed his life when he felt he could consider an undersea expedition;He still felt "mentally restless" after switching from physics to art at school. So when he had the opportunity to shoot an IMAX movie, and it was a shot of the wreckage itself, he decided to seek financial assistance from Hollywood, because "if I'm going to go on an expedition again, why not let the studio pay for me?""It's not because I want to make a movie, it's because I really want to dive into a shipwreck".
Cameron wrote the script for "Titanic" and took Ken Marshall's Titanic album to meet with Pyotr Cherny and other Twentieth Century Fox executives, who he called "Romeo and Juliet on the Titanic", Cameron revealed that the other party was a little incredulous because it would be a three-hour romantic epic movie, and asked him: "Is it a bit like 'Terminator'?"There are fighter jets and gunfights and car chasesCameron replied: "No, no, no, it's not". The studio was skeptical about the commercial prospects of "Titanic," but they approved the budget needed for production because they wanted to build a long-term relationship with Cameron.
Cameron persuaded Twentieth Century Fox to promote the film with actual footage of the wreck of the Titanic, and to organize the diving operation for more than two years. Cameron said: "My opinion is that we have to shoot in more detail. So I said, 'Look, we've got to explore the whole Titanic, because they're looking for diamonds, so we need every shot of this ship,'" and we could shoot with elaborate (Titanic) models, motion control shots, computer imaging, and everything else that should be. Or, spend 30% more to actually photograph the wreckage."
In 1995, the film crew led by Cameron dived 12 times in the Atlantic Ocean and spent a lot of time filming the wreck of the Titanic, which even exceeded the time it took for passengers to take a ship that year. At a depth of almost 4 kilometers at the site of the wreckage, with a water pressure of more than 450 bars (41 million pascals), "a small defect in the structure of the submarine could kill all personnel instantly". Not only was the dive high-risk operation, but the unfavorable conditions prevented Cameron from getting the high-quality footage he wanted. During one of the dives, a submersible collided with the wreckage of the Titanic, damaging both the submersible and the wreckage, and scattering fragments of the submersible's propeller shield around the superstructure. The outer bulkhead of the captain's bedroom also collapsed, revealing the interior space. The area around the entrance to the first-class main staircase was also damaged.
Cameron and his team dive to the wreck site for a long time, so that none of them "want to live up to the authenticity of history." The wreckage gives us a different level of feeling, it's not just a story, it's not just a play," Cameron continued, "It's an event that happened to a real person, a person who really died. Working next to the wreck of the Titanic for so long, you will deeply feel its intense sadness and unfairness, and it will bring you such a strong feeling", "You think, there may not be many filmmakers who personally survey the Titanic, and there may never be another person who does this - this may be a documentary". For this reason, he felt "a great responsibility – to convey its emotional message – that the Titanic has the right to ask us to accomplish this mission."
After filming the undersea footage, Cameron began writing the script. He wanted to pay tribute to those who died in the sinking accident, so he spent six months studying all the crew and passengers of the Titanic. He said: "I read everything I could, and I made a detailed schedule of the Titanic's voyage, as well as a very detailed schedule for the last night of her life", "I wrote the script in it, and then I got some historical experts to analyze what I wrote and commented on it, and finally I revised it". Cameron paid great attention to detail, even including a scene of the USS Californian, depicting the ship's controversial role in the sinking of the Titanic, though the scene was later cut. From the beginning of filming, Cameron and the film crew already had "a very clear picture" of what happened on board that night. "My writing room was full of Titanic stuff, like a library, because I wanted to be historically accurate, especially if we were going to dive there," Cameron said, "It kind of raises the bar — it improves the quality of the film in a sense." We hope that the film can clearly visualize this historical moment, just like if you take a time machine and go back in time and shoot it."
Cameron believes that before this movie, there were many movies about the Titanic, but what these movies convey is more about a group of rich people dying on the Titanic, but the Titanic actually has a variety of classes, so he created a Titanic movie that shows more classes, and Ruth's escape method in the movie is also inspired by the escape method of a Chinese passenger (Fang Rongshan). Cameron felt that the sinking of the Titanic was "like a great film that actually happened", but as time passed, the humanity and vitality contained in the incident have disappeared, and it has only become a mythical story that inspires morality, and this film will lead the audience to devote themselves to experiencing history firsthand. Treasure hunter Brock Lovett represents those who have never linked tragedy to a human factor and do not understand how to view the event.
Cameron believes that the romance between Jack and Ruth will be the most compelling part of the story, with the hero and heroine leading the audience from bow to stern, stepping into every interesting part of the ship, allowing the audience to "appreciate the joy and luxury that most passengers on board cannot experience";When their love is finally shattered by disaster, the audience will grieve for their eternal separation. "All my films are love stories, but in Titanic, I finally got the balance," he said. This is not a disaster movie, after rigorous research, this is a love story based on real history".
Cameron also creates an elderly Ruth in this romantic story, making this love that has lasted for nearly a century more poignant and intense. While Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart, who play Ruth, both said they believed "Ruth didn't fall asleep in bed, but died at the end of the movie," Cameron said he preferred not to reveal his intentions and endings because his answers "vary from person to person and want the audience to think for themselves."