There's a new book out.

I got a review copy yesterday from W.W. Norton & Co., so it should be in stores
now or in within a few days at most. It's called "The Making of Master &
Commander- The Far Side of the World", by Tom McGregor.

If knowing how an illusion is created spoils it for you and you plan to see the
movie, don't read this book before you go. (Or continue reading through this
post).

Almost *none* of the movie was filmed at sea! The "Surprise" sits on a gimbal
on a huge water tank in Mexico. A computer shifts the boat around to simulate
motion, and wind is generated by jet engines. The gimbal cannot heel the ship
as severely as the storm sequences demand, so camera angles are used to
exaggerate the heel and ptich. Those big storm waves? CGI. There are chutes
around the stage to dump water on deck.

The "Surprise" is actually four different elements in the movie. There is an
actual vessel that has been converted to look like the "Surprise", and it
appears in a few scenes. There is the full size movie prop in the tank down in
Baja, a scale model built in New Zealand, and everything else is CGI (computer
generated images).

The "Acheron", (the French vessel), exists only as a scale model, a partially
built full size prop, and CGI. In spite of the gazillions they spend filming
movies these days, one look at the partially built prop of the Acheron
indicates just how absolutely the bean counters are in charge. They know
*exactly* how much of the boat is going to appear on camera, and don't build
another inch. The bowsprit of the "Acheron" terminates in a splintery stub 5-6
feet forward of the stem. The upper portions of the masts were nevver built on
"Acheron", the sails and most rigging are CGI.

While we are going to have to use our imaginations just a bit during the
sailing sequences, there has been exhaustive historic research to make other
portions of the movie extremely accurate. The producers acquired an original
(not a copy) manuscript of an early 19th century training manual used to teach
seaman how to fight with cutlasses, and choreographed much of the hand to hand
combat accordingly. Everything from the food, the uniforms, the weapons, and
the ship's protocols has been well researched and reproduced as accurately as
possible.

This promises to be a neat movie. Hope it lives up to its potential. Russell
Crowe will bring the ladies to the box office, and the guys will like all the
intrigue and the action. Let's hope it does well.....seagoing movies have been
big losers at the box office all too often (Titanic an obvious exception), and
a few big winners will encourage the bean counters to film some more. :-)