Avatar: The New Face of Filmmaking

I think I might be the last fan standing but I really am looking forward to Avatar almost more than any other film, despite the potentially smurf-like characters. Every little bit I read about it (these days coming almost exclusively from the Los Angeles Times) makes me want to see it more:

To observe Cameron directing “Avatar” is to witness filmmaking as it’s never been done before. Whereas most movies add all of their visual effects in post-production, Cameron was able to see fully composited shots in real time: The actors he was directing may have been performing in front of a blank green screen, but Cameron’s camera eyepiece — not to mention giant 3-D television monitors — immediately displayed lush, synthetic backgrounds.

The filmmaker has spent the better part of a decade developing the technology used in “Avatar,” which is set on a distant moon under siege by humans determined to pillage its natural resources. It required the reinvention of bulky 3-D cameras, which had to be downsized to fit into smaller spaces and move with fluidity, and lengthy experimentation with improvements in motion-capture animation, which superimposes animated characters onto real actors, as in the current Disney version of “A Christmas Carol.”

Author John Horn makes a good point that this is the perfect time for Avatar – no one has any funds to spare but they will probably shell out bucks to see this once-in-a-lifetime experience. That’s my guess. And the truth of it is, Cameron rarely disappoints. His films may be half brilliant and half cheesily written (Titanic the best example) but he delivers in a way most other directors don’t: he makes you get bang for your buck.