This movie is so hot, millions around the world paid just to get a first look at it. When director James Cameron conceived the idea 14 years ago, the technology to make the film did not exist. FHM looks at the crazy technology that went into making the most advanced film till date!
The New 3-D
Cameron and a collaborator, Vincent Pace developed a the most advanced cinematography tool ever. This tool, a rig has a number of stereoscopic cameras assembled together. Each camera has a pair of lenses to resemble human eyes – positioned close together, and with a capacity to focus on distant and nearby objects depending on the need. The cameras capture two images simultaneously that align perfectly and provide an illusionary depth With this technology, there is no need to wear two-coloured plastic glasses ever!
THE SIMULICAM
Cameron developed a kick ass revolutionary camera that allows a film-maker to superimpose the CGI images over live images while they are being filmed. What this means is, earlier an actor wearing a bodysuit would be suspended by a wire and moved in front of the camera against a chroma (green or blue cloth) background. Once this is shot, the footage would be taken to a editing machine and the green or blue background would be deleted. CGI imagery would then be superimposed on the same footage and you would see Superman in space, thousands of mile above Earth and contemplating the future of the planet. With Simulcam, the process of going to the editing machine is done for. Cameron could actually see his Na’vi warriors flying on their pet creatures on his monitor though the actors were just suspended by a harness, or rather hanging on by poor balls!
THE BLEND
60 – 40. That’s Avatar’s CGI to live-action ratio. As he grows older, Cameron seems to be losing his faith in humanity and/or believing even more in technology. But Cameron’s computer generated imagery is not your Mani Shankar brand of CGI. Majority of the computer generated character animation in the film uses revolutionary state-of-the-art motion capture techniques with live actors forming the foundation of CGI characters. And even the live-action portions have been shot using the Fusion 3-D camera system co-developed by Cameron for his 2003 IMAX film – Ghost Of The Abyss.