James Cameron Talks "Avatar" in DGA Interview
Hi, Michael here. James Cameron did a great in-depth interview with the DGA Quarterly, and he says some really interesting and hype-inducing things about Avatar.
Check out the excerpt below for a taste of the interview:
Q: "Obviously CGI has advanced a lot since you created the waterpod in The Abyss. How much have you been able to push the envelope on Avatar?
A: We’re doing effects up to a certain point, and then we throw it over the fence to the guys at Digital Domain to go to higher resolution. They’ve devised lighting software for Avatar that I think is going to revolutionize CG. It’s what they call global illumination. And it’s actually lighting the way things are really lit. If you’re doing a day exterior, you have one sun. Normally you might have 40 or 50 lights to create the effect of sunlight by breaking it up into different areas. They just showed us 11 finished shots for the movie in the last couple of weeks and I showed it to friends who had no direct day-to-day contact with the production, and they said, ‘That’s incredible. How are you doing that makeup?’ They’re not even asking the right questions. They’re not even understanding that every single thing they’re seeing is ones and zeros. It’s all pixels. There’s no tangible, physical reality to it whatsoever, but it looks real."
Q: "Obviously CGI has advanced a lot since you created the waterpod in The Abyss. How much have you been able to push the envelope on Avatar?
A: We’re doing effects up to a certain point, and then we throw it over the fence to the guys at Digital Domain to go to higher resolution. They’ve devised lighting software for Avatar that I think is going to revolutionize CG. It’s what they call global illumination. And it’s actually lighting the way things are really lit. If you’re doing a day exterior, you have one sun. Normally you might have 40 or 50 lights to create the effect of sunlight by breaking it up into different areas. They just showed us 11 finished shots for the movie in the last couple of weeks and I showed it to friends who had no direct day-to-day contact with the production, and they said, ‘That’s incredible. How are you doing that makeup?’ They’re not even asking the right questions. They’re not even understanding that every single thing they’re seeing is ones and zeros. It’s all pixels. There’s no tangible, physical reality to it whatsoever, but it looks real."
I find it fascinating to hear the reactions people are having to the footage. I myself have been hearing nothing but awestruck reports from everyone who has seen finished footage, and I'll be very curious to see the impact the first teaser makes when it is released.
My guess? People will be completely blown away by it, and many will have an emotional response similar to what many movie fans felt when they saw that first Phantom Menace teaser back in 1998. Hopefully we'll see something in front of Monsters Vs. Aliens on March 27!
Thanks to I_am_Chris_G over on IMDB for pointing me to the interview!
