The movie Avatar is one of the most
infamous sci-fi movies of this decade, grossing more than two billion during
its release. Although very lengthy, this movie always keeps you on your feet and
the technology and time behind its special effects are unprecedented. James Cameron wrote Avatar in 1996, but the
technology to begin making it wasn’t available until almost a decade later so
it was simply put away. Set in the mid 22nd century, humans are
mining an expensive mineral on the inhabited alien planet of Pandora. The main
character is the paraplegic soldier, Jake Sully, who ends up assimilating so
much into the aliens’ culture, that he switches sides and begins fighting for
them. In order to create a realistic world full of dragon like creatures and a
completely physically different alien race, a countless amount of very costly
special effects were necessary.
These special effects cost around a
whopping 300 million dollars and included a breakthrough stereoscopic film
making technique. One of the most powerful parts of the movie is the realism of
the aliens, specifically the fluidity of their faces. The facial expressions
and even the minute details of the eyes add to the portrayal of emotion are
amazing.
A
special type of computer facial animation was used to make the Na’vi aliens as
realistic as possible. Weta Digital was in charge of flawlessly creating the
Na’vi’s faces and bodies to look as fluid and lifelike as possible. Using
high-resolution mesh to sculpt the faces through new and complicated computer
technology, they executed this task perfectly. “If Shakespeare were alive
today, he would be enthralled by the ability of computer generated imagery to
create fantastic brave, new worlds” as we all are lucky to experience after
viewing Avatar (Understanding Movies 33.) The Na’vis show fear and anger but
also compassion and love towards not only each other, but also to humans. This
causes the viewers to soon side with the seemingly barbaric aliens over their
fellow conquering humans. Neytiri, daughter of
the leader of the Na’vi clan, and Jake becaome romantically involved, adding an
underlying love story to the surrounding combat. Their interactions are
important to the pathos argument as viewers feel are forced to see through
Neytiri’s qualities that she does not lack the wide range of human emotion.
The film has
often been called a directors’ movie as opposed to a actors’ movie because the
distinguishing feature of Avatar that left millions of people in awe, was the
animation behind creating a whole cast of Na’vis. Although the cast, including
Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington, were amazing, most of the awards of the movie
went to its director and its special effects as that was the most
distinguishing aspect of Avatar. Steven Spielberg himself says that the
animation and effects are merely “digital makeup”, and the actors still play as
big of a role as they always have. It won 9 Oscars as well as Academy Awards
for Best Director, Best Cinemotography, and Best Visual Effects. Avatar’s plot
kept viewers hooked and the astounding visuals just added to the interest and
concern for the characters’ in the viewers’ eyes. The special effects that
allowed for the aliens to be so lifelike and easy to relate to were the result
of years of digital processing and hard work by a group of 900 people in 6
different locations around the United States. Avatar is an all around great
movie including its actors, plot, special effects, and even moral lessons
learned from the story line. I give this movie 5 slurpees for sure!
No comments:
Post a Comment