The first computer-generated water sequence was used in James Cameron’s The Abyss. The 1989 science-fiction film featured a liquid-like alien pseudopod that rises from the ocean and imitates human faces.
Industrial Light & Magic developed the effect by combining computer graphics with live-action photography. The digital water surface was designed to behave like fluid, with changing waves and reflections, while the filmmakers digitally recreated the set so the effect could be composited accurately into the scene.
The sequence was exceptionally demanding for its time. ILM spent about six months creating roughly 75 seconds of computer-generated imagery, and the effect became an important milestone in film visual effects. The Abyss is sometimes confused with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, another Cameron film famous for pioneering CGI; however, Terminator 2 came later, in 1991, and its best-known digital character was the liquid-metal T-1000 rather than a water effect.