In a movie filled with groundbreaking technological achievements, the storm scene that causes the freighter to sink in Life of Pi stands out.
Director Ang Lee, who won an Academy Award for directing the film, reveals just what went into this harrowing scene during an exclusive clip taken from the the Blu Ray and DVD release (out on Tuesday).
The 80,000 pound freighter was placed on "the biggest gimbal" in the world to rock it back and forth, Lee said in the DVD interview: "And it wouldn't carry the weight. It was like a joke."
Lee eventually had to build four towers to affix the freighter from super-strong cables.
During a 2012 interview with USA TODAY, Lee explained that he started shooting the storm scene on day two of production.
"The last shot we did with the sequence was on day 78. So off and on it took 77 days to shoot that scene," Lee said. "Anything to do with water is extremely difficult. It's not only dealing with the storm, it's the wind and we're shooting in a wave tank with these huge waves."
The cutting-edge 3-D also aided the onscreen viewing.
"The 3-D gives an extra kick of being there in the horrible storm," Lee said. "I am very proud of that scene."
