Cameron's "Avatar"

[Cinemaman]

it'll come back after you see the first trailer.

We'll see.

 

[xwolverine2]

if theres one thing thats completely horrible about james camerons films its his films music...

the synthesized music worked for some of the terminator... but i just watched titanic the other day and the music was awful....celene dions song aside too. lol

 

[GL1]

abys was grounbreaking in the CGI deparment.
terminator 2 was VERY groudnbreaking. and this is what you will hear from the experts.

titanic used CGI humans on the ship in one scene .

people really need to realize that this movie will bring something new. and i really mean new.

I guess that it depends on what you mean by groundbreaking. T-1000 was groundbreaking... because, well... it just was. It was something we didn't know could be done. At this point, CGI, imho, can do anything. Holes in people, anthropomorphs, all photorealistic, given enough time. There's no new ground to break.

"Something really new" would need to be something not seen before, as opposed to a bigger better version of what we've seen before, and I'm not at all confident that Avatar will deliver that.

An immersive original world? Absolutely
CGI ahead of its time? Absolutely
Something groundbreaking - as yet unconceived by the masses? Not likely.

 

[dark_b]

cameron is using new technology. he is doing something new.
hes movie will be 3D.

 

[Bubonic]

Really? Sounds trippy as hell.
Maybe I should start doing drugs in time for the release of this movie.

Seriously though, is this going to be happening in the next 5 years?

 

[dark_b]

one of the reasons why this movie is coming out so late is because cameron waited.
at the time when he was ready ...the technology was not ready.

 

[terry78]

If I see one of these Avatar creatures and honestly have the impression it could exist in our world and doesn't make me think it's CG, then he'll have convinced me.

 

[GL1]

cameron is using new technology. he is doing something new.
hes movie will be 3D.

Well... I buy new film from the store when I take photos... that doesn't mean I'm doing something 'new' just different, perhaps better, but not necessarily groundbreaking.

There's a logic you seem to have about this whole thing that you're not communicating. New Technology does not equal groundbreaking in my experience.

 

[dark_b]

i agree. i am not using the right words.

 

[dark_b]

If I see one of these Avatar creatures and honestly have the impression it could exist in our world and doesn't make me think it's CG, then he'll have convinced me.

why would you think that a fantasy creature that is glowing would exist in our world?

 

[Bubonic]

why would you think that a fantasy creature that is glowing would exist in our world?

I think the point he was making, possibly, was if the effects are so good that when you look at it, you actually become convinced that it is totally real.

Because so far with CGI or prosthetic effects there has never been an instance where an organic creature was so well made and moved so naturally that people had no complaints about it.

There are always flaws, and things never look quite right.

But achieving this wouldn't be groundbreaking, it be just getting to the point where we wanted to be.

But thing that might be groundbreaking... I guess, is that he wants the creatures to look as if they've evolved in their own environment, which is a very ambitious task and requires one to know a lot about biology.

 

[dark_b]

I think the point he was making, possibly, was if the effects are so good that when you look at it, you actually become convinced that it is totally real.

Because so far with CGI or prosthetic effects there has never been an instance where an organic creature was so well made and moved so naturally that people had no complaints about it.

There are always flaws, and things never look quite right.

But achieving this wouldn't be groundbreaking, it be just getting to the point where we wanted to be.

But thing that might be groundbreaking... I guess, is that he wants the creatures to look as if they've evolved in their own environment, which is a very ambitious task and requires one to know a lot about biology.

davy jones.

people thought that it was a guy with prostheic with combination of CGI. CGI artist who do this for a living didnt know that eh was 100% CGI.
so i guess they already crosed the line.

 

[DorkyFresh]

There's a logic you seem to have about this whole thing that you're not communicating. New Technology does not equal groundbreaking in my experience.

Titanic didn't have anything in that movie that hadn't already been do to some extent. the only thing that was really new was the usage of 3d stunt doubles but a few films before that had already tried that technique. there was nothing NEW about Titanic as far as special effects were concerned, everything was just bigger and better.

however, i doubt anyone here will argue that Titanic WASN'T groundbreaking. when you consider what makes Cameron's movies so special isn't the action, the effects, or the music, but his devotion and heart, it's hard NOT to imagine Avatar being groundbreaking.

imo, Avatar will be groundbreaking the way LotR was groundbreaking. LotR didn't have any original effects (other than using 'Massive' to generate large numbers of Middle Earthlings) but it mastered most of their effects. if LotR had a masters degree in special effects, i would say that Avatar will probably have a doctorate.

 

[Space Moose]

Check this out. It describes the camera James Cameron is using.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-241532803911842846&q=3d+camera&ei=GKQLSJipPIaIjQLU07msBA

This and the photorealistic effects should make this movie most astounding.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/avatarnews.php?id=45317

James Cameron Talks Avatar
Source: Search Engine Watch
May 20, 2008


Titanic director James Cameron talked today at Microsoft Advance '08 about his highly-anticipated Avatar, which 20th Century Fox will release in theaters on December 18, 2009. Search Engine Watch has a great rundown of what Cameron talked about and here are just a few clips:

"'Avatar' will make people truly experience something," said Cameron. "One more layer of the suspension of disbelief will be removed. All the syn-thespians are photo-realistic. Now that we've achieved it, we discovered CG characters in 3D look more real than in 2D. Your brain is cued it's a real thing not a picture and discounting part of [the] image that makes it look fake."

"'Avatar' is the single most complex piece of filmmaking ever made," said Cameron. "We have 1,600 shots for a 2.5 hour movie. It's not with a single CGI character, like King Kong or Gollum. We have hundreds of photo-realistic CG characters. We were Microsoft's sandbox for filmmaking beyond the cutting edge."

Check out the full article here

 

[Rezzo]

Here's the full article for those that don't want to click on the link.

James Cameron Live on "Avatar" - His New 3-D Film

The theme of Microsoft Advance '08 is "Connected Entertainment:" mobile, music, TV/video, gaming. The big Live Search announcement will be covered live tomorrow.

Today, filmmaker James Cameron's producing partner at Lightstorm Entertainment, Jon Landau said the abundance of digital information and the ability to use technologies opened up a whole new window for Jim didn't know e3xisted.

James Cameron started making films when thy were photochemical emulsions. Now, films are digital.

"The essence of stroytelling stays the same," said Cameron. "Intense CG (computer-generated) sences with multiple shots. My greatest horror was the best thing we create would end up like Ark of Covenant and put in a warehouse somewhere. I will make all my films in 3-D. I've been banging on the door at Microsoft since I introduced Windows Media 9 with LL Cool J and Bill Gates in 2002. Now I tell them, this is what you guys need to be doing. I'm going to continue to
surf that wave."

His new film, Avatar, features a man who tries to become a miner by combining his being with an alien during an interplanetary war in which aliens can manifest themselves through human bodies — avatars.

"'Avatar' will make people truly experience something," said Cameron."One more layer of the suspension of disbelief will be removed. All the syn-thespians are photo-realistic. Now that we've achieved it, we discovered CG characters in 3D look more real than in 2D. Your brain is cued it's a real thing not a picture and discounting part of image that makes it look fake."

Part of the movie is subtitled because it takes place on alien planet.

Avatar will have a human heart beating at its narrative center. It's an emotional journey of redemption and revolution; the story of a wounded ex-marine, who's thrust into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity. He eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

Cameron has created an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language. The film has a December 2009 release date.

"I don't know whether will be great film from narrative and critical standpoint," said Cameron. "The experience of Avatar will be an experience unlike any other movies."

He started with Microsoft Research looking at the way people see. The project soon moved out of the realm of speculation.

"'Avatar' is the single most complex piece of filmmaking ever made," said Cameron. "We have 1,600 shots for a 2.5 hour movie. It's not with a single CGI character, like King Kong or Gollum. We have hundreds of photo-realistic CG characters. We were Microsoft's sandbox for filmmaking beyond the cutting edge."

During the film he would grab chairs, gather his team, and talk about what they were doing wrong, how to do it better. That just isn't done on a film set.

The heart of the film technology is a digital asset management system created by Microsoft, which was praised by Cameron and Landau for understanding the arts and filmmaking. The system can track every cloud and every blade of CGI grass in the film.

Cameron noted that Titanic was about how technology let us down. He has always tried to be on cutting edge of what's going on. The Abyss featured the first photo-realistic CG character. Then "The Terminator" combined CG and human actors. "True Lies" pushed the bar even higher with composite technology.

In "Titanic" as a filmmaker, I struck the perfect balance of technology and the human heart," said Cameron. "I haven't forgotten that lesson with Avatar. It's the best lesson for any filmmaker."

Cameron also noted the radical changes in film distribution and made a prediction for the future:

"I'm on the fourth screen. The giant screen. Then it scatters down to other screens. It gets more interesting as more means of digital distribution become available to us. The interesting thing the actual movie business going strong. If valued up revenues of what's lost to piracy, movies doing better now than they ever have. You can have HD screen in your home.
He noted, "Windows organized things spatially. That gave it its power. But we're not displaying things spatially. What could happen is now that digital cinema revolution has taken place is killer app is 3D. Dreamworks has announced all its animated films will be made and projected in 3-D. Gaming will be changed by 3-D. Consumer electronics people will need to make players stereo-enabled monitors. Future version of Windows should be fully stereoscopic. Smaller devices already are 3D enabled without glasses. If you play "Avatar" on a 50 inch monitor, you're in the game."

Cameron said, "This is the ultimate immersive media. It's my fundamental belief that when you're viewing media in stereo, more neurons are firing, learning rates are higher. Engagement levels are higher. As advertisers, you need to think about how you're going to use this new dimension. How will you use the deeper levels of engagement?

 

[Crook]

When are they gonna release an image or video for this? I'm incredibly excited to see what Cameron has up his sleeve here. But I must admit there's a small cynic inside me that doesn't think it'll be that amazing, despite Cameron pioneering many of today's sfx technology.

 

[Mr. Credible]

i really don't see how this could turn out to be more than just an above average movie (probably even a pretty good one, given cameron's involvement) with 3-D effects similar to beowulf in IMAX... and even then, it's only going to be good in the theater, right? because it won't be 3-D on home video.

they say it's this whole new technology... but it just sounds like a 3-D movie to me. i guess we'll see.

 

[Crook]

To be honest, 3-D hasn't really been "3-D" in the way that I had imagined it. It sucks actually.

 

[Symbiotic]

I'd love to see the visuals for this.

 

[DorkyFresh]

i know it's kind of hard to imagine that it'll look any better than the best CG we've seen so far, but coming up with things that no one can imagine is what Cameron does best. Cameron may be getting up there in age, but it's not like he's trying to make a come back from a stroke or anything. if BOTH Spielberg and Peter Jackson were so impressed by Cameron's visuals enough for those 2 amazing directors from totally different backgrounds to collaborate with each other on a movie based on a 79 year old comic using Cameron's technology, it can't be all that bad right?

 

[SapphirePrima]

God damn every single press release is the same thing! We know it's going to be ground breaking technology! We know that it's going to be a new experience! We know! Tell us something new Cameron.

 

[Octoberist]

it's true.

 

[Nightmare]

It will top Terminator!!!

 

[The Shape]

if theres one thing thats completely horrible about james camerons films its his films music...

the synthesized music worked for some of the terminator... but i just watched titanic the other day and the music was awful....celene dions song aside too. lol

The music from Titanic is beautiful. One of the best things about that film.