A team of scientists and technicians stationed at a submarine base must assist the soldiers in finding the wreckage of an atomic submarine… And so it begins. CliffDirected by James Cameron, thirty-three years before Avatar: The Way of Water and already dedicated to people living in the water. Here, the protagonists try to make contact with intelligent creatures, while a handful of warmongers threaten to destroy them.
REALLY TO SCIENCE-FICTION
At the age of 17, in high school, James Cameron was fascinated by scuba diving pioneer Francis J. Falejczyk’s lecture that he “breathed” an oxygenated liquid that could make it possible to survive the enormous pressures of the deep sea. . “I took diving lessons,” explains Cameron, and then I wrote the story of the scientists who discovered the Cayman Trench in the Caribbean Sea and discovered a hidden civilization there thanks to this breathable fluid from an underwater base.” The Abyss concept was born!
A GIANT AQUARIUM
In 1986 Cameron won Aliens: Return, produced by Fox. The studio agreed to invest $70 million. Cliff, because the view of the underwater base will have to be built inside a huge tank. After long work, the abandoned site of a seventeen-metre-high and seventy-three-metre-diameter nuclear reactor in South Carolina meets the embankments, which then drown under twenty-eight million liters of ‘water’. Another feat, this virtual allows the creation of a transparent “tentacle” that emerges from a pool, explores the corridors of the lab, and communicates with humans by mimicking their faces. George Lucas’ (Star Wars) special effects studio ILM created the first 3D water models there!
PLAYERS PASS HARDER TESTS
At the beginning of filming, the two stars of the film, Ed Harris (playing Bud Brigman, the head of the base) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Dr. Lindsey Brigman), cannot imagine what awaits them. In one sequence, Bud falls into an ocean trench. In effect, the trough is rotated horizontally. Pulled by a cable along a concrete rock wall, the actor wears a mock diving suit that is supposed to contain a liquid solution that oxygenates his lungs. So he holds his breath: “Because my foot was tied to the cable, I couldn’t see anything and couldn’t move. » When Harris signals that he needs air, the diver responsible for his safety trips over the rope. “I was panting. Finally, a technician intervened, but he misplaced the regulator’s mouthpiece in my mouth. I swallowed as much water as air. I nearly died. The cinematographer rescues Harris from the extreme. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio doesn’t quite live out the long moments she spends with her bare chest in front of the entire crew during the CPR reenactment scene. Exhausted from filming and staying in chlorinated water (necessary to purify chlorine, very cloudy) that bleached her hair and burned her skin, she said: ” The cliff was many things, but it was definitely not fun to shoot. »
Abyss on Sunday, February 5th at 21:05 at 6Ter
PASCAL FORMAT
Source: Programme Television
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
