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This can’t be another case of the Monday Blues
Avatar is the latest big-budget Hollywood product to hit theatres worldwide. It tells the story of ex-Marine Jake Sully and his adventures controlling the body of an Avatar, a genetically-engineered body of an alien, set on a faraway planet called Pandora.
Movie critics out there will remember Avatar director James Cameron from Titanic (1997) a whopping twelve years ago. TWELVE! That’s almost as old as some of us! Apparently, Cameron spent a good amount of this time (and USD$237 million) researching, creating and even inventing a breakthrough in the history of film technology – which culminated in the eventual birth of Avatar.
If even the best tools fail you… build your own!
Way back in 2000, Cameron had a dream. He wanted to build the “holy grail of cameras” – a camera that would mimic how our eyes see the world – or stereoscopic vision – and deliver accurate 3D images without giving us a headache. In other words, Cameron wanted to build the ultimate 3D High Definition camera system that was also portable... and he did, with the help of underwater camera specialist Vince Pace and industry experts at Sony.
The result was the Fusion Camera System where Cameron and Pace are credited for developing. You can read the full story here. Here’s a look at how the 3D camera technology behind Avatar works:
It's like Machinima, but with real people
If you have dabbled in directing your own movie using the game engine of World of Warcraft or The Sims, you will be familiar with Machinima. This was roughly how Cameron filmed Avatar, but he used real actors. It’s a gigantic RPG-esque way of directing, which explains the unprecedented realism of Avatar.
The maestro at work
For a month, Cameron worked and lived with the entire cast and crew at the massive Hughes Aircraft sound stage, six times larger than any sound stage before it. Almost 140 digital cameras were rigged around the stage, capturing information on the actors’ movements. The information would then be used to generate 3D records of scenes, resulting in realistic renderings of the CG sequences.
In addition to the electronic bodysuits which allowed cameras to track their movements, actors also wore head gear with tiny HD cameras to capture every expression and emotion made. Cameron further developed a system that allowed him to preview the finished scene LIVE with the actors’ movements and expressions translated onto their CG-ed characters, with the glorious landscape of Pandora in the background.
His amazing camera system not only packed awesome processing power, but gave him total control. Cameron could actually revisit the footage, and just like playing a Machinima, controlled the camera angles and movements until the scene was perfecto. Additional pictures and explanations here.
Build yourself a planet too, while you are at it
Cameron was serious about creating Avatar – from the language and naming of its dominant life-forms, to the whole ecology and physical laws of the planet, and even the music of its people. He hired experts in linguistics, astrophysics, archaeology, scientists and even a music professor to work on transforming his dreamscape from pure fiction to perceivable reality.
Say “Hallelujah” to these aptly-named floating mountains – a result of the planet’s magnetic field.
Detailed documentation of the planet’s flora and fauna did not make it to the theatrical release. However, everything has been compiled into a 350-page manual that is endearingly referred to as the Pandorapedia. Word has it that parts of this amazing compilation will be made available online in the near future!
So, will James Cameron emerge from the curtains as a man on top of the world, or a man on a sinking ship? You either love or hate the story; but the visual effects, twelve years in the making, will definitely keep you glued to your seat!
If you can’t get enough of Avatar, check out the official game here.
Woohoo! Let's go watch Avatar...!!
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