The two storm sequences – one set in the dead of night, the other in broad daylight – saw Ang Lee diverge slightly from his naturalist approach to crank up the sheer malevolence of the ocean. His effects wizards delivered visuals that aped the vast size and scope of Pacific storms, but made nature's force a little darker and a little more emotive. In 3D, they practically leave you wringing out your clothes.

"Waves in Pacific storms are 40 feet high and 80 feet long – they hit every ten to 12 seconds – and there's spray and white water caused by the wind. But Ang told us multiple times that he needed the ocean surface to be scary and very dark [during the sinking sequence], so we removed the white water to make the ocean as black as possible. It's a bit different from reality, but it's the emotion of what Ang wanted. The Storm of God was even bigger and it's in full daylight so it's not about a black ocean. Instead, [we added] spray and mist to make it look very, very crazy. We took reality and amped it up."