SPECIAL EFFECTS WIZARD WORKS MOVIE MAGIC; MEET THE MAN WHO GOT TO SINK THE TITANIC.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

An iceberg sank the Titanic the first time.

Then Thousand Oaks resident Tommy Fisher sank the legendary ocean liner again for director James Cameron's box office hit ``Titanic.''

``I actually sunk the ship - the front 200 feet of it. We put it on an elevator that moved 6 inches a second, up or down,'' he said. ``When the film was finished, it was great to see. Pretty amazing.''

Fisher, 56, is a special effects coordinator who over three decades has worked on such films as ``Terminator 2,'' ``Batman Forever'' and ``Total Recall.''

But Fisher doesn't sit behind a computer generating the mind-boggling imagery that viewers have come to expect from big-budget films. Before he sank the Titanic, he had to build it.

Working out of a 40-foot trailer in Rosarito, Mexico, where the $200 million film was shot, Fisher and a crew of about 25 workers constructed a 90 percent scale skeleton of the doomed 825-foot vessel.

``We built a steel frame out of trusses. It looks like a bridge, then carpenters cover it so it looked like a ship,'' he said. ``To lift it, we built a big steel structure, like a four-story building lying on its side, then hooked it to a hydraulic system.''

Scott Fisher, 30, who has been his father's right-hand man for 12 years, said that while the film was all make-believe, construction of the Titanic was not.

``It was like real-world construction, which is unusual for us,'' he said. ``Usually you can get away with temporary structures.''

After eight months of planning and building 11 special effects sets - a task that requires welding, carpentry and millwright skills, to name a few - Fisher worked closely with computer artists who enhanced his handiwork.

A breathtaking example of the teamwork required to create special effects can be seen in the film's promotional trailer when the R.M.S. Titanic is up-ended before its final plunge.

As the young lovers played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet cling to the ship's stern, passengers fall from great heights into the cold, deep north Atlantic Ocean.

In fact, the film's stuntmen tumbled onto pads covered in green, reflective felt. The felt was used to clearly define where the water would be added by computer technicians.

``We tipped it (the ship) 90 degrees with 150 people on deck. That's for real,'' he said. ``The computerized part is creating water and further details. Some things work a lot better on computers. They make the job so much easier. But some things, like fire, always look a little flat and funny when you do it on computer.''

The critically acclaimed ``Titanic'' hit some rough waters earlier this year with talk of indulgent behavior that created cost overruns and delays. Doomsday speculation crested this summer when Cameron announced he couldn't finish post-production work to meet Paramount's summer release date.

But the Fishers, who have worked on three other Cameron films, said the difficulties were par for the course.

``Having worked on other films with Jim, for him it wasn't that ridiculous, although for anyone else it might seem crazy,'' Scott Fisher said of the work conditions.

Tommy Fisher, who has lived in Thousand Oaks for 15 years with his wife, Paula, never had doubts about whether ``Titanic'' could be raised to great heights.

``Jim's difficult, but he's a lot of fun,'' he said. ``He likes to do it right. It's nice to see a really good finished product. And nice to read that people think it might be an epic picture.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) A nine-tenths scale model was used for the ship in ``Titanic.''

(2) Tommy Fisher of Thousand Oaks served as special effects coordinator for James Cameron's ``Titanic.''

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News