Now that you mention it, yes, that was a very impressive shot (indeed, it was such a startling shot, it didn't cross my mind to think about its technical excellence).
The illusion of falling was perfectly executed, whereas so often with such shots you can see that it's faked in some way. (OTOH, maybe the shot wasn't faked in the sense of being a composite shot -- maybe they set up the camera on a tower, and just dropped a body double into a huge tank of water?)
Indeed, most of the "process" shots in the movie (eg, Tracy and the kid out in the rowboat) were above average, or near-perfect in creating the illusion of being at sea.
The cinematography in general was excellent, and the exterior shots of the actual sailing ships were outstanding, with an exquisite sense of mood reminiscent of the great magazine illustrations of the thirties and forties.
Not really sure how much (if any) of that was miniature work, such as in the race at the end. If that was miniature work used in the race - and I would think some of it had to have been - it would have to rank as some of the best miniature work ever done, imho.
Raises the question: What is the best miniature work of all time? Or alternatively: What is the best miniature work that you didn't know was miniature work?
And a second question: From a film history perspective, is there a movie which is recognized for having pioneered the kind of vertiginous falling-away-from-the-camera shot seen in Captains Courageous?
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ms-zanadu
10 years ago
Thanks so much JohnHarold for this very informative reply here . I'm not really sure how to answer these 2 special effect questions of yours ( and are certainly good ones here too ) .
However if I where to give an answer to your first question the one " movie saga " off hand I would choose was the original - " Star Wars Trilogy " from 1977 , 1980 , & 1983 . I believe most of ( if not all ) the star ships and other transportation vehicles were full scale models . I didn't know that of course until I watched a special about it many years ago on TV but can't remember what the show's special was called .
On the overall I agree with you here this movie was brilliantly " set up scene for scene " and it appears they took the careful time and effort to make it look as realistic as possible ( especially without the use of CGI which of course wasn't invented yet ) . I also found that particular scene most amazing for a 1937 film and this scene is also in this wonderful movie trailer as well .
Check it out here ! ( that scene starts at 22 seconds into the trailer ) :
---- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqxk0bYt4U8 ----
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