King of Hollywood

Chapter 438: Chapter 160: This is the Charm of Movies

Bullock was a Treasure Hunter who loved salvaging priceless items that had sunk to the bottom of the vast ocean after maritime disasters. Although some called him a Treasure Hunter pejoratively, he always enjoyed it. This time, he had set his sights on the famous Titanic, rumored to hold the legendary sapphire necklace known as the Star of the Sea.

Confidently, he rented a Russian submarine and finally saw the wreckage of the Titanic on the seabed. However, when he excitedly retrieved the safe, he found not the precious necklace, but only a sketch of a woman wearing the necklace.

Disappointed, the Treasure Hunter, or rather Treasure Hunter, had not expected that broadcasting the sketch on television would bring out the woman in the drawing.

“She’s a fraud, if she was really on that ship, she would be over a hundred years old now, an old fraudster!” Bullock’s assistant couldn’t believe what the woman had said over the phone, but Bullock eventually decided to invite her to the ship, regardless. After all, this was the only clue to finding the Heart of the Ocean, and he couldn’t give up halfway through all his efforts.

The elderly woman, who was over a hundred years old, came aboard the ship and readily admitted she had once worn the necklace and even correctly named the owner at the time, but what really unfolded was a story almost a century old.

“It’s been… eighty-four years, and I can still smell the fresh paint, the porcelain and the cutlery were all new, the sheets and blankets too. People called the Titanic the ship of dreams…” As the old woman spoke, the computer screen showing the Titanic wreckage suddenly came to life with James Horner’s grand music and beautifully produced effects.

When the full panorama of the massive Titanic and the bustling Southampton Pier was displayed, spontaneous murmurs of admiration arose in the cinema. Everyone was captivated by Cameron’s unique and engaging introduction, and Adrian nodded from his seat.

Cameron had put a lot of effort into this opening, aiming to stir a desire in the audience to continue watching and to set the stage for the grand narrative to follow. He almost rented a submarine to film close-ups in the Atlantic. Fortunately, although he was reckless with money, he wasn’t really insane. After some consideration, he used original ocean-floor footage and implemented it into a model filmed in a specially constructed large water tank, integrating these with the original wreckage footage to achieve the effect that now enthralled the viewers.

The feeling of antiquity, combined with the deliberately aged, sepia-toned silent film footage of the Titanic’s departure, and Celine Dion’s soft singing, immediately enveloped the audience with a profound impact, no wonder they expressed their admiration.