www.inverse.com: The films of James Cameron are known for many attributes that pop up time and again, but one of the most undeniable commonalities is the simple fact that a James Cameron film evolves the use of technology in filmmaking. From making one of cinema’s first fully CGI characters in Terminator 2: Judgment Day to innovating the “virtual production stage” for Avatar, James Cameron has always found ways to push the technological boundaries of filmmaking. Unsurprisingly, Avatar: The Way of Water is no different.
5 comments:
I never saw Avatar: Way of Water, but reading this makes me want to. Even when the first movie came out, they were revolutionizing the world of VFX. I love how they built everything in real life before it was digitized. That takes a tremendous amount of skill and work time, but it really helps to get a grounded vision before all the visual effects are implemented. It’s always crazy seeing the behind the scenes of filming for productions that rely so heavily on vfx. It’s completely unrecognizable from the final product. It’s also really cool that a lot of the animals were puppets, especially because I’m working with puppets for imaginarium. I didn’t realize until reading this that they actually filmed in water, but it turns out they had to use special ultra violet cameras to shoot underwater. In the end, the production team really created a whole new world using vfx.
I find this intersection between reality and the virtuality of a movie or production to be so interesting. Knowing that the same object will exist as two different versions, versions which must appear to be the exact same in terms of looks, weight, size, etc… I would love to work on a project like this at some point. I love that the virtual aspect of a film or show can enhance the physically constructed elements. On the stage we obviously do not really have that opportunity, and I feel as though getting the chance to have these elements taken to the next level via CGI would be such an experience. I also wonder how this affects the construction/creation of an element – as I am sure there are differences in construction for a stage vs for a film that will be as digitized as Avatar 2. I’d love to read more about more of those elements for the films and how they come to life.
This article is so fun and exiting to read. When I was watching avatar as a kid, I have always wondered how they filmed it and what it means to be part of this production. I have always thought about all of the characters in the movie are actually real person that would go to sleep in their costumes at night. Seeing this article is so magical and nostalgic for me. It reminds of the period of time where I would watch avatar 1 from beginning to end everything and thinking about how they would live in real life. The technologies mentioned in this reading is also very interesting, they are very creative and renovate in the way and method that they are being used. In addition when I was watching avatar2, I truly do remember that all of the VFX had created great effects in the movie to tell the story.
Avatar is one of the first movies to really experiment with technology and AI in such a intricate and revolutionary way. I have always been interested in the technicalities of creating such a movie and the process behind it. Firstly, I was completely unaware that puppets were used at all in this process. So I found the combination of incorporating both puppetry and digital technology to be such an excellent direction to go for the film. It elevates the sense of surrealism that the Avatar series provides its viewers. As well as showcases the directors and visionaries approach to utilizing mixed art forms to go about brining this story to life. Also I found it very smart to create a real world Pandora before digitalizing it as seeing something in person versus on a screen completely changes a persons perception and overall idea of how something is suppose to look.
God, the entire Avatar franchise is so fascinating. You go just to GO. It’s a three-hour movie with a relatively not intriguing or developed plot. I’ll reiterate: it’s THREE HOURS. I couldn’t get my family of movie-lovers to come see it with me because they figured it would be a less than pleasant experience to watch an Avatar movie that long. However, I still saw it, because I knew that it would be visually breathtaking, and I was right. Was Sigourney Weaver hugging Avatar Sigourney Weaver hilarious? Yes. Was the space whale loudly moaning subtitled with entire sentences hilarious? Yes. But I’ll tell you one thing - the movie was stunning. And arguably, it is invaluable for that. Right now, James Cameron is the one crazy enough to try all of the incredible new techniques and technology, and the man has even named a successor to continue Avatar after he dies. Why he loves this franchise so much despite it previously holding so little cultural relevance that no one could name a character from it for ten years? Who’s to say, but I cannot deny that it does have its place in cinema history.
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