James Cameron's Avatar

Post by **Neal** » August 26th, 2009, 3:20 am

Just not convinced from the trailer. In fact, it popped my 'hype' bubble.

I'll wait for some reviews.

Post by **PatrickvD** » August 26th, 2009, 9:02 am

We're all familair with the "Uncanny Valley" right?

Afer seeing the trailer, I'm convinced Avatar is waaaay down there, right alongside Beowulf, The Polar Express and Final Fantasy.

Technologically impressive, but cold, creepy and unappealing.

To me, Davy Jones in the Pirates sequels remains the perfect blend between a human performance and astounding visual effects. It's a perfect balance.

Post by **Vernadyn** » August 26th, 2009, 11:29 am

I wouldn't go that far. After all, the creepy characters in Final Fantasy, Polar Express, and Beowulf were all supposed to be humans.

As for me, I'll do something radical and controversial and wait until I see the film as a whole.

Post by **spaz** » August 26th, 2009, 12:03 pm

The “digital prosthetics” in the case of Gollum or Davy Jones were great. I keep on thinking what Lasseter said regarding “who will make them act ?”. The principal motion of Gollum and Davy Jones came from an actor and was supplemented by digital. I’m certain much of this motion, especially in the case of Gollum, had to be invented of “re-acted” by the animator. During Jurassic there was a device called the DID. It stood for the “Dinosaur Input Device”. At ILM , we called it the “DIDN’T”, because it “DIDN’T” work. But the public was told it did. It was supposed to extract stop-mo animation into SI. The data was so buggered up, we just reanimated everything by hand and didn’t really say anything. Everything looked good, the top brass could still say it was the device that was responsible, everyone was happy. So, what I’m saying , is don’t be to convinced that a lot of mo-cap gets tossed and the acting choice is left to the animator.

Post by **spaz** » August 26th, 2009, 3:47 pm

sorry gang, what i meant to say was

" don’t be to SURPRISED that a lot of mo-cap gets tossed and the acting choice is left to the animator. "

morning toothpaste and coffee short circuit

Post by **Vernadyn** » August 27th, 2009, 11:30 am

Interesting that the DID actually didn't work after all. Weren't allowed to say that on the DVD, eh? Not to get too off topic, but I've always wondered what exactly Phil Tippett's contribution was after the move to digital, especially if the DID didn't work like it was supposed to.

Post by **spaz** » August 27th, 2009, 11:52 am

sorry pal, i'd love to take that bait, but the answer would be liable.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » August 27th, 2009, 12:08 pm

This 3-D film process has nothing to do about art.

It's all about forcing the big theater chains to switch to digital projection.

Hollywood producers/studios want out of traditional 35mm film cameras and projectors to save production costs.

Digital is supposedly cheaper in the long run than continuing to process rolls and rolls of film stock.

Sure, the image looks a bit cleaner -- it lacks the grain of traditional film stock -- but it's antiseptic, too. I kind of like things to look life-like with some dirt as opposed to video-ish.

To be frank, I still don't think the 3-D I've seen in theaters the past few years looks any better than the 3-D attractions I've been in at Disney World... It's still that plane-separated, very fake looking 3-D you need glasses for.

60 years and this is still the best that 3-D can do? Why bother wasting all that money on effects and projection (schemes) that doesn't pay off in the end for the audience? Why not, oh, improve things that really need to be improved === like better scripts and hiring directors who aren't buddies of senior studio personnel and getting actual actors as opposed to celebrities?

Post by **spaz** » August 27th, 2009, 2:07 pm

There are those who are driven to invent and those who are driven to take the credit for it. Usually they’re not the same person.

Post by **Vernadyn** » August 27th, 2009, 3:56 pm

I actually haven't seen any theatrical film in 3D. Though I was impressed with T2:3D at Universal Studios.

Oh, and my intention wasn't to be a muckraker, spaz--I guess there's a fine line between curiosity and nosiness. Sorry about that.

Post by **Ben** » August 27th, 2009, 4:19 pm

spaz wrote:There are those who are driven to invent and those who are driven to take the credit for it. Usually they’re not the same person.

Amen to that!

Post by **Sunday** » September 1st, 2009, 12:53 am

It's made the rounds now, the smoke is settling, the memes are falling by the wayside ... and I'm still ok with really liking what I saw in this trailer. You haven't beaten me Internet! Not yet!

Post by **Dacey** » October 23rd, 2009, 10:19 pm

Saw the new trailer today before "Paranormal Activity." I thought that it was MUCH cooler than the teaser trailer, but I was so excited that I was actually seeing the preview that I may not have been able to really "judge" what I was looking at, if that makes sense.

Post by **Meg** » November 1st, 2009, 5:09 pm

I also recently saw the new trailer, and while some of the visuals are very impressive, I can't help but be let down by the run-of-the-mill story the movie seems to feature. For a film that supposed to be so ground-breaking, it doesn't look like anyone spent much time coming up with a story that hasn't been done dozens and dozens of times before.

The designs of the natives are also pretty disappointing to me...Millions of dollars and complex computer programs for blue people with cat ears? I can understand low-budget sci-fi flicks resorting to using humans with added-on features as aliens, but I had hoped to see a little more imagination in this.

Also, I got a chuckle out of this, and those who have previously made Delgo comparisons might too.

http://img.denihilation.com/delgovatar.html

Post by **Dacey** » November 1st, 2009, 9:48 pm

Well, lucky for James Cameron, few people on earth actually saw "Delgo," so they probably won't notice that stuff.

Then again, I didn't see "Delgo" myself, yet I was still reminded of it from the teaser trailer, so...