I play a small role in a Titanic student move - please help ^^

Hello,

my name is Aristide and i play a minor role in a Titanic -short movie that some students make as their master work. It will contain life actors filmed and transferred in CGI backgrounds.

I would be happy if you could give me some help regarding my style and also storywise.

Let me explain first. I play a young french man who boards at Cherbourg and want spend a few days at New York, meeting his father there and return with him back to France on the new french Liner "France" which had its maiden voyage to New York at 20th April and my character booked her 1st tour back from New York to France (maybe someone of you knows the date of her first return to France?)

I have a 1st class ticket in Titanic, travel alone and spend most of my time with sport activities as well trying to get into contact with others, mostly young women of my age ^^

As far as i know if have 3 scenes.

The biggest one is at dinner time in the dining room. I´m placed with a group of others and the dialogue shows that they are british and americans. The british will ask me what i think about the Titanic. I will say its nice but then swiftly change to our new french ship which will be ready in a few days and be as good as if not better.

I will try to impress the others with the "France". Telling that she is faster and more luxus than Titanic. The british laugh and say they heared its smaller than Titanic and even smaller than Mauretania. This goes back and forth until i leave a bit angry.

My other big scene is after Titanic struck the iceberg, i went up on deck and watch whats going on. I even will be able to climb down to that forward deck, pick up some ice and give it a lady to impress her.

When they make the 1st lifeboat ready i stand nearby and most people are reluctant to go. I watch around and talk to said lady and step into the boat, taking her hand and tell her that the sea is calm. She should see it as a big adventure. In 2 or 3 hours we are back and all is fine.

That way we both go on the life boat and leave Titanic.

I would be happy for any tipp, additional info ect possible. Its still in early planning phase so anything can be included or corrected.

For example what my cabin looks like? I mean i have 1st class but not the super expensive ones.

 

Hi Aristide

This is a basic first class single cabin on Titanic.

 

Thank you very much. So it has a bed, a couch and propably a shelf for clothes ect? It does not look that big.

 

Firstly, Welcome to ET Aristide!

Secondly, if you want to find the sailing date for the France's eastbound voyage, you can probably find a sailing date / advertisement here in a New York Newspaper:
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Also for the lifeboat sequence, historically, your character would of had a better chance of being allowed into a lifeboat by getting in one from the ship's starboard (right) side as the officer in charge of lowering these lifeboats (1st Officer William Murdoch) allowed any men to board once women and children had entered.

Good luck with the pre-production!

_____________________
Update 11/02/19:

The France sailed from New York on May 30th departing 10am
Source: The Sun (New York Newspaper), May 29th 1912, Page 19

 

It’s only a basic first class cabin. It had a wash stand which you can see reflected in the mirror and possibly a very slim wardrobe? Perhaps there were drawers under the bed? Am I right about that Titanic experts?!

 

The forward well deck was for 3rd class though as Gracie noted no one was preventing anyone from crossing bArriers that night but I would have the character look around to try not to get caught.

 

You are right. 1st or 2nd Class cabins would of had either open air or foldout wash basin (the bowl / sink would be enclosed in a cabinet) and 3rd class would of had a simple small sink and tap nailed to the wall.


(Above): First class wash basin / sink.

I should add that with the exception of the 1st Class Staterooms on C-Deck and some other cabins , nearly all the other cabins on board (including the crew's) had no private toilet or bathroom. If you needed to use the toilet or bath, you need to go to the public one's down the corridor or book an appointment with a steward to use a bath in a room down also down the corridor.


(Above): B deck (as an example) with 1st Class Cabins + Toilets and baths.

Back to Topic!

 

Thank you all very much. That helps alot and gives some info that otherwise is hard to get.

 

Thank you. So i now know my return date

 

Yes I had read that there weren’t toilets or baths in most first class staterooms which I was quite surprised about.

 

I have a question, was there room service avaivable?

 

I’d like to know this!

 

According to "Guide to the crew of the Titanic"(Page 93) by Gunter Babler:

"The stewards literally read the desires of the passengers from the look in their eyes, and were as good as butlers...Cabins and bathrooms were all equipped with a bell to summon a steward...Shoes were cleaned free of charge: the passengers left them outside the cabin door for the steward to collect. If a passenger preferred to take a meal in the cabin instead of the dinning saloon, it would be brought by the bedroom steward. It was customary for aboard passenger ships for a steward to be assigned to a fixed block of cabins. In contrast to hotels ashore, guests and bedroom stewards had a more personal relationship."

 

Thanks Harland

 

Thank you very much.

I have another question and it is about the RMS Titanic vs. S.S. France dispute at the dining room at dinner.

Given the time and way of thinking, we assumed that my character would be super proud for the french SuperLienr S.S. France.

The intention is, that the british passengers at the table talk with me about France. Since i´m quite young and most others at the table are much older than me, they dont tlk politics and economy
with me.

One then asks me if i like the Titanic. I´m supposed to say its an impressive ship and i think its good. And a women at table asks me if France has something similar.

I say that we dont have one on service yet but the construction on the S.S. France is nearly complete and she will have her first voyage next week. And that i will take her back to Europe at beginning of May.

I start boasting and say its faster, and bigger than Titanic and i think even more luxus.

One at the table who obviously knows the numbers then corrects me infront all others that the S.S. France may be slightly faster but smaller than Titanic. The ongoing dispute starts to anger me so at some time i stand up, excuse myself and leave.

The dialogues are still all work in progress. We assume with the level of nationalism back then it can get quite heated?