Micron
15-11-2006, 09:52 PM
The 'oxygenated fluorcarbon emulsion' featured in the film is the real deal. It was developed from experiments in the late 60's, though after some dubious results with a saline solution on a human subject, it was banned from being tested on people. However, the more modern fluorcarbon version has been successfully used on animals. The scene where the rat, Beany (although there were several rats used) is submerged in a small tub of the stuff is genuine, though in the equivelant scene with Ed Harris, he is just holding his breath. There is also a medical version being developed by a pharmaceutical company as a respitory therapy.
Abyss pioneered the liquid effects, which Director James Cameron would exploit further in 'T2: Judgement Day' (1991)
The Abyss is widely regarded as the toughest shoot in movie history.
The actors spent up to 11 hours a day on set (which, incidentally, was located 80 ft down near an incomplete nuclear reactor!) apparently the water was so heavily chlorinated that Ed Harris's hair began to turn white, Ed Harris hated working on 'The Abyss' and has consequently never spoken to anyone about his experiences.
Hard evidence that Jim Cameron had plans for world domination: From "The Terminator" up until "Titanic", every Cameron movie featured a nuclear warhead.
"I'm not talking about the Abyss and I never will" (Ed Harris)
"When he's making a movie he doesn't allow his good naturedness to get in the way!" (Michael Behin)
"The Abyss was a lot of things: Fun to make is not one of them" (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio)
"I do very much care: Look, I don't pretend to come out of every movie friendly with everyone like we're one fuzzy, warm hippy commune..." (Jim Cameron)
Cast members had to become certified divers before filming began.
James Cameron contacted Orson Scott Card before filming began with the possibility of producing a book based on the film. Scott initially told his agent that he doesn't do "novelizations", but when she told him that the director was Cameron, he agreed to consider it. The script arrived, and Card signed on after receiving assurances from Cameron that he would be free to develop his "novel" the way he wanted to. After a meeting with Cameron, Card immediately wrote the first three chapters, which dealt with events concerning Bud and Lindsay Brigman that occurred before the events in the film. Cameron gave these chapters to Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who used it to develop their characters.
The masks were specially designed to show the actors' faces, and had microphones fitted so that dialogue spoken at the time by the actors could be used in the film. The noises made by the regulators in the helmets were erased during sound post-production.
The crew frequently spent enough time underwater to force them to undergo decompression before surfacing. Cameron would often watch dailies through a glass window, while decompressing and hanging upside down to relieve the stress on his shoulders from the weight of the helmet.
The tank was filled to a depth of 40 feet, but there was still too much light from the surface, so a giant tarpaulin and billions of tiny black plastic beads were floated on the surface to block the light. During a violent storm the tarpaulin was destroyed, thus shifting production to night time.
Michael Biehn's character gets bitten on the arm by another character. This happens to him in every James Cameron movie he's in - see "The Terminator" (1984) and "Aliens" (1986).
Very few scenes involved stuntpeople. When Bud drags Lindsey back to the rig, that's really Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio holding her breath. When the rig is being flooded and characters are running from water, drowning behind closed doors, and dodging exploding parts of the rig, those are all actors, not stuntpeople.
The first movie released under the THX Laserdisc Program.
The scene with the water tentacle coming up through the moon pool was written so that it could be removed without interfering with the story, because no one knew how the effect would come out. The actors were interacting with a length of heater hose being held up by the movie crewmen. When the effects were completed, they surpassed everyone's wildest hopes.
Cameron's director's cut is a good solid hour longer. The added footage primarily concerns a deleted subplot wherein the divers see on the television feeds that the aliens bring gigantic tidal waves to the brink of breaking on the shores of all the continents. It changes the feel of the movie and makes the alien experience less touchy-feely.
Abyss pioneered the liquid effects, which Director James Cameron would exploit further in 'T2: Judgement Day' (1991)
The Abyss is widely regarded as the toughest shoot in movie history.
The actors spent up to 11 hours a day on set (which, incidentally, was located 80 ft down near an incomplete nuclear reactor!) apparently the water was so heavily chlorinated that Ed Harris's hair began to turn white, Ed Harris hated working on 'The Abyss' and has consequently never spoken to anyone about his experiences.
Hard evidence that Jim Cameron had plans for world domination: From "The Terminator" up until "Titanic", every Cameron movie featured a nuclear warhead.
"I'm not talking about the Abyss and I never will" (Ed Harris)
"When he's making a movie he doesn't allow his good naturedness to get in the way!" (Michael Behin)
"The Abyss was a lot of things: Fun to make is not one of them" (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio)
"I do very much care: Look, I don't pretend to come out of every movie friendly with everyone like we're one fuzzy, warm hippy commune..." (Jim Cameron)
Cast members had to become certified divers before filming began.
James Cameron contacted Orson Scott Card before filming began with the possibility of producing a book based on the film. Scott initially told his agent that he doesn't do "novelizations", but when she told him that the director was Cameron, he agreed to consider it. The script arrived, and Card signed on after receiving assurances from Cameron that he would be free to develop his "novel" the way he wanted to. After a meeting with Cameron, Card immediately wrote the first three chapters, which dealt with events concerning Bud and Lindsay Brigman that occurred before the events in the film. Cameron gave these chapters to Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who used it to develop their characters.
The masks were specially designed to show the actors' faces, and had microphones fitted so that dialogue spoken at the time by the actors could be used in the film. The noises made by the regulators in the helmets were erased during sound post-production.
The crew frequently spent enough time underwater to force them to undergo decompression before surfacing. Cameron would often watch dailies through a glass window, while decompressing and hanging upside down to relieve the stress on his shoulders from the weight of the helmet.
The tank was filled to a depth of 40 feet, but there was still too much light from the surface, so a giant tarpaulin and billions of tiny black plastic beads were floated on the surface to block the light. During a violent storm the tarpaulin was destroyed, thus shifting production to night time.
Michael Biehn's character gets bitten on the arm by another character. This happens to him in every James Cameron movie he's in - see "The Terminator" (1984) and "Aliens" (1986).
Very few scenes involved stuntpeople. When Bud drags Lindsey back to the rig, that's really Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio holding her breath. When the rig is being flooded and characters are running from water, drowning behind closed doors, and dodging exploding parts of the rig, those are all actors, not stuntpeople.
The first movie released under the THX Laserdisc Program.
The scene with the water tentacle coming up through the moon pool was written so that it could be removed without interfering with the story, because no one knew how the effect would come out. The actors were interacting with a length of heater hose being held up by the movie crewmen. When the effects were completed, they surpassed everyone's wildest hopes.
Cameron's director's cut is a good solid hour longer. The added footage primarily concerns a deleted subplot wherein the divers see on the television feeds that the aliens bring gigantic tidal waves to the brink of breaking on the shores of all the continents. It changes the feel of the movie and makes the alien experience less touchy-feely.