At midnight on New Year's Eve the S. S.
Poseidon was struck
by a 90 foot tidal wave and capsized.
| HELL, UPSIDE DOWN At midnight on New Year's Eve the S. S.
Poseidon was struck |
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The finely detailed model of the S.S. Poseidon laboriously rolls to her final port of call. |
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| --This magnificent 21 foot 6 inch long miniature was built for the movie
the Poseidon Adventure in 1972. The model is an exact replica of the Queen Mary in her
original form, in fact it was built from the original plans. (After the war, the Queen
Mary was altered, but other than that, they are exactly alike.) --Hatches, winches, fire hoses, etc. were cast out of lead contributing to the model's overall weight, which is estimated at 1 and 1/2 tons. Despite this, the model floats. It took approximately 15 men 3 months to build. It cost an estimated $60,000.00, but to do it today it would cost closer to $400,000.00. The model was run by 2 golf-cart motors and 4 props. It was wired with special effects such as....portholes that lit up; air lines that ran along the bottom of the hull which released bubbles that looked like a wake; smoke came out of the smoke stacks; explosions that were to occur during the course of the movie were wired into the model. Observers say that the miniature was almost destroyed by the end of the movie due to the explosions and turning it upside down. (It was later rebuilt and used in commercials.)
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A
scubaman packs the stacks for Much of the shooting was done in a 32 foot tank. When it was necessary to simulate the ocean (i.e. horizon) shooting was done in a 300 x 350 foot tank which had a blue sky backing and a weir - a concrete ledge which water barely ran over creating the look of a horizon. The model was, of course, used in conjunction with full-sized sets of staterooms, a radio room, a dining room, etc.
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The huge Poseidon miniature sits in dry dock on the Twentieth Century Fox back lot. The model now resides at the San Pedro Maritime Museum in San Pedro, California. |
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| The giant wave and the
capsizing of the ship, of course, was done in miniature. However, creating a 4 foot wave
was a problem. Twentieth Century Fox has what are called "dump tanks" rigged to
tip and dump 1,200 gallons of water down a chute. This was set up at their ranch facility
lake. The ramp was 20 feet high and flattened out about 12 inches below the surface of the
water. This mass created a "head" that did the trick. The model was fitted with
underwater wires that when pulled down caused the ship to list on her side.
The production team prepares the ship for a second tidal wave blast. (Note the wooden chute in the background.)
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The original Poseidon Adventure shooting script called for occasional external night glimpses of the mighty Poseidon's Hull. This test shot used a plexiglas model of only the stern. It was later determined that these shots lessened the urgency of the escape story. The claustrophobic tension of being trapped under the sea was broken for the audience and consequently the footage was scrapped. |
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