So I've finished watching it and I have to say, for a 38 year old film it is still pretty impressive, and some of the techniques used to achieve the aerial shots of the ship and the famous capsizing scene are still used today!
For example, a 20ft long miniature version of the S.S. Queen Mary, upon which the S.S. Poseidon is based, was constructed and floated in a large water tank. The camera was then set to run faster than normal, I will have to double check what speed exactly, because when filming miniatures, the running speeds must be faster in order to achieve realism.
This 20ft miniature was lit appropriately and was shot using a crane to achieve shots from above. The miniature was also floated in front of two separate water filled dump tanks which would create the fatal tidal wave and flip over the ship.
For the ballroom scene where the ship tips over, a clever system of hydraulics was used.
This comes directly from the Director's interview I found on Disk 2 of the DVD I have.
Large sections of the ballroom set were built on a hydraulic platform which could be raised to an angle of 45degrees which would sufficiently allow the actors and props to begin sliding. Once the shots to that angle were done, the platform was lowered back to level, however the camera remained tilted at 45 degrees. They then began to raise the platform again back up to 45 degrees, thus giving the illusion of a 90 degree tilt because the camera's 45 degree angle, and the platforms 45 degree angle would make the final result look like it was at 90 degrees.
After a cut away to the now upside down miniature of the ship, we cut back to the upside down version of the ballroom set where concealed pipes were fitted so that it could be flooded later.
Fascinating stuff! And it works so well. No need for CGI here!
I will go into more detail about miniatures in the form of a report/log type thing in which I will discuss another famous 70's disaster move starring Steve McQueen, The Towering Inferno!
