After the much anticipated release of James Cameron’s movie Avatar on Dec. 18th, 2009 it became a breakthrough for special effects, set the bar high for innovation and use of new technology. The film is a box office hit and continues to attract large crowds of all ages.
Cameron utilized a new generation stereoscopic cameras. In other words, strapped two cameras together providing a different perspective on a scene which would mimic how the human eye perceives the world in three dimensions, according to MailOnline.co.uk. Cameron went on to design a new technology with the use of virtual camera that allowed him to move through the 3D terrain. In Cameron’s words, create an ultimate immersive media for the viewers of his film.
Cameron had written Avatar at the time when he was completing Titanic, which was a box office hit as well. However the technology at the time was not sophisticated enough to accomplish the richness and complexity of his envisioned film
The movie filled with computerized graphics used WETA digital, company based in New Zealand and leader in visual effects that was behind the Avatar (remotely-controlled biological body that survives in the lethal air). The Avatar is a supposedly genetically engineered hybrid of human DNA combined with DNA from the natives on Pandora.
From start to finish, the movie contains themes and elements from Cameron’s movie collection. From thrilling movies like Aliens, True Lies and Terminator, Dances with Wolves which resonates with the story of Avatar. The list goes on and on. In addition, the movie grossed $1 billion after three weekends, the only movie to reach that feat, according to the L.A Times.
Avatar, a force to be reckoned with surpassed sales generated from Peter Jackson’s popular Lord of the Rings and Return of the King. With a thirst for innovation and creativity Avatar will create the footprint and galvanize other films to come.
Some interesting facts about Avatar:
· James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of “Titanic”, first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist.
· It took more than four years of production and the movie claims to have a new generation of special effects delivering a never seen before cinematic experience.
· According to Cameron, developers of proprietary Fusion digital 3-D camera, the film is composed of 60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action.
The director planned to create photo-realistic computer-generated characters by using motion capture animation technology. Unlike previous performance capture systems, where the digital environment is added after the actors’ motions have been captured, Cameron’s new virtual camera allows him to observe directly on a monitor how the actors’ virtual counterparts interact with the movie’s digital world in real time and adjust and direct the scenes just as if shooting live action.
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