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?

 

I don't know too much about this off the top of my head, but it certainly was a case of National Pride for England, Germany, France (??and possibly later the United States??) that they had the best ocean liners* (and warships too but that's another topic)...

In a month's time, the Hamburg American Line (often shortened to HAPAG) was going to launch the SS Imperator and when eventually put into service in 1913 was going to overtake the Titanic as the largest ship in the world.

Also around this time, the Cunard Line had their new 4-funneled liner, the RMS Aquitania under construction which was going to be larger than the Mauretania / Lusitania.

RMS Aquitania - Wikipedia
SS Imperator - Wikipedia

I can't say how everyone might react to a conservation on ships getting heated but I imagine everyone would get careful not to cause a scene that might get glances of disproval from their fellow passengers and might have been a bit passive aggressive or "Who are you to say that?".

Hope this helps and sorry I can't give more detail (I also won't be able to respond for a few days for personal reasons so sorry if I don't immediately respond to more questions). Good Luck!

*A famous example was reportedly in 1889 when the Kaiser toured the RMS Teutonic and was so amazed by the ship, he said to someone "We must have some of these ..." referring to a german ocean liner. RMS Teutonic - Wikipedia

 

This is just an aside, but many years ago, I had the opportunity to visit RMS Queen Mary when it was still in service and in port at New York. Except for the furnishings being Art Deco instead of the more ornate of Titanic,a Second Class Cabin (C-119 in particular, Which was one available for a planned future trip to England) didn't seem to be much different than those shown in the Titanic photos. As a matter of fact , after seeing "C-119", I was so disappointed that I cancelled my request for a future reservation.

However (many years ago and many years later) on a family vacation trip, we stayed at Hotel Queen Mary in A-115. No complaints there. And no problems of "rolling" either ,.LOL..Perhaps I have just picked two extremes.

However , I also visited SS France, then very new and there was a vast difference in furnishings, etc. As compared to RMS Queen Mary.

Was Queen Mary that far behind times or was Titanic that far ahead as far as Second Class Cabins ?

About the same differences in time as Queen Mary -vs- Titanic -vs- France -vs- Queen Mary.

One of the things I have read was that White Star was concentrating on size and luxury rather than the speed of the ships in competition, especially Cunard.

 

Just a note about that "shoes were cleaned free of charge".
When I was planning my England trip I read up on some books on travel by ship.....something like ''Shipboard Etiquette'' or something of that sort.
Quote '' You may leave your shoes outside your Cabin overnight and ''Boots'' will return them, shined , the next morning. A fee for his services and those of your steward is expected at the end of your voyage .'' (A list of how much you should pay for each service was listed.) Not completely free !

Note on the Hotel Queen Mary guided tour.
The tour guide was very well informed .,...don't miss this if you ever stay at Hotel Queen Mary.
Engine Room to Bridge. Comfortable shoes recommended. Lots of walking on all decks during the tour. Don't miss the clock in Third Class. It is precisely accurate twice each day ! LOL.

As to meals brought to your room.:
To a young boy on the tour he pointed out that children were not permitted to dine with their parents on some of the meals in the First Class Dining Salon.
"You would have to have a peanut butter sandwich in your cabin."

As for your after dinner conversations with fellow travelers, this is the way some critics have the way characters are treated in two movies.
"A Night To Remember" (1958 British Movie) "Those Ugly Stupid Americans"
"Titanic" (1997 American Movie) "Those Ugly Stuffy British"

 

I have a general question about the initial phase and what leads me into the boat.

The general idea is, that at the beginning, when the first boats are lowered there is no panic, infact most dont want enter the boats.

Does it make sense at that stage, that i actually have to tell the girl i meet on board that she should see it as adventure and tell her i join her. Even laugh and explain that in 2 or 3 hours we are back and have something to tell.

 

The above makes sense as some only stepped into lifeboats because they were encouraged by their friends* or promised to stay with them while the "lifeboat drill" as they thought it was, was carried out.

Just note that you and your friend go to enter, you might need to politely ask the officer or crew launching the boat something along the lines of:

"May I accompany this lady into the lifeboat?"
OR...
"May I join my friend and get in into this lifeboat?" (and wait while she and other women and children boarded first.)

*Dorothy Gibson is known to have asked William Sloper and Frederick Steward if they would join her in lifeboat 7 saying "We won't go unless you do."
(Source: "Titanic: Minute by Minute" by Jonathan Mayo, Page 156 )