animatronics: puppets of human, animal, or creature form controlled by an operator manually or remotely via electronic or radio control.

blue-screen photography (also green-screen): technique of filming a subject in front of a blue- or green-screen; the blue or green background is then removed through optical or digital processes, allowing the subject, or element, to be isolated for compositing with another element. Often characters are filmed with a blue-screen in order to place them in a different scene, or on a miniature set.

composite: to combine two or more individual images onto one piece of film by photographic or digital means. Early compositing was accomplished in the camera by masking part of the scene when filming, rewinding the film and removing the matte and shooting again to expose the previously masked portion. The photographic technology of the optical printer revolutionized visual effects in the 1920s. In the 1990s, digital compositing is commonplace, in which multiple film images are scanned into the computer, combined digitally, and output to a single piece of film.

computer generated imagery (CGI): Images created with the use of a computer. Also called computer graphics (CG), computer animation, or digital animation.

element: one photographic image, which will be composited with others to create a complete visual effects shot.

gag (also trick): a special effect.

glass shot: background scenery painted on glass that is positioned in front of the camera and filmed so that it appears to be part of the scene.

hanging miniature: a miniature suspended in front of the camera. When viewed through the lens, it appears to be part of a structure in the scene. In the Ben Hur (1925) chariot race scene, only the lower part of the coliseum was built. The upper tiers, including thousands of tiny "spectators" mounted on rods to allow them to stand, was a hanging miniature.

matte (also mask): Early filmmakers created in-camera composites by covering part of the lens with a mask while filming, or placing a sheet of glass with a blacked-out area between the camera and the scene, to prevent a portion of the film from being exposed. The cameraman would then rewind the film, and shoot again with the mask removed and the previously exposed area covered, thus combining two images in one shot. In "The Playhouse," (1921), Buster Keaton used this method to put himself on-stage as nine different characters. A stationary matte marks off a static defined area; a travelling matte follows the silhouette of a moving character or object and changes shape from frame to frame.

matte painting: painting of elaborate background scenery that can be composited with live action or miniatures. They were originally painted on glass, but artists now often create them with the computer.

mechanical effects (also called practical or physical effects): special effects created on-set in front of the camera which may not require additional photographic manipulation. Includes pyrotechnics, animatronic creatures, make-up effects, flying with wires.

motion-control camera: a camera controlled by a computer, which can be programmed to precisely duplicate the same movement repeatedly. With motion control, multiple elements can be filmed in exactly the same way, allowing the images to be aligned for compositing.

multiple exposure: the photographing of two images onto the same piece of film.

optical printer: device consisting of a projector and camera with lenses facing each other; in the process called compositing, two or more pieces of film with elements of a scene are placed in the projector and photographed together onto a new piece of film in the camera.

pyrotechnics: the controlled use of incendiary materials to create explosions, fires, and smoke.

rear projection: a previously filmed background scene is projected behind actors on a screen in a studio, to create the illusion that they are on location.

stop-motion

Here are some of the most interesting facts about the ship and its fateful journey:

*The Titanic was designed to hold 32 lifeboats, though only 20 were on board; White Star management was concerned that too many boats would sully the aesthetic beauty of the ship.
*Survivors were rescued by the Carpathia, which was 58 miles southeast of Titanic when it received the distress call.
*Titanic boasted electric elevators, a swimming pool, a squash court, a Turkish Bath, and a gymnasium with a mechanical horse and mechanical camel.
*The wreckage of Titanic was located in 1985, 12,500 feet down, about 350 miles (531 km) southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.
*A first class (parlor suite) ticket on Titanic cost $4,350, which translates into $90,000 in 2006 USD.
*Lillian Gertrud Asplund, the last American survivor of the Titanic tragedy, died in Massachusetts on May 6, 2006, at age 99. Her mother and a brother also survived, but her father and three other brothers perished.
*Two other survivors live in England.
*Eleanor Shuman, who was the inspiration for Kate Winslet's Rose, died on March 7, 1998, at age 87.


These days, the word Titanic immediately conjures up images of the starry-eyed Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet passionately embracing as they lean precariously over the bow of the ship, with the wind in their sprightly young faces and the world at their feet.

With all the hoopla over the epic's mega-budget, mega-box-office gross and record-tying slew of Oscars, the film Titanic has become itself a cultural phenomenon—nearly as monumental as the event on which it was based.