Avatar & Avatar 2 Behind the Scenes — How James Cameron Evolved Motion Capture in the Avatar Films

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Avatar and Avatar 2 Behind the Scenes — a look back at how James Cameron revolutionized motion capture technology on Avatar and how shooting Avatar 2 underwater forced him to break new ground all over again.

The Making of Avatar 1 & 2 ►►
StudioBinder Blog ►►

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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro — Avatar Behind the Scenes
01:45 - Chapter 1: Innovating Motion Capture
04:52 - Chapter 2: Pushing 3D Further
05:37 - Chapter 3: The Simulcam System
07:06 - Chapter 4: Again, But Underwater
12:57 - Takeaways

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Special thanks to:
All Games Network ►►

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THE MAKING OF AVATAR & AVATAR 2

Writer/director James Cameron has been dreaming of Avatar for decades. After years of brainstorming, the initial treatment was completed before he made Titanic. But motion capture technology was nowhere near able to manifest his vision. In this video, we’ll explain the making of Avatar, the evolution of motion capture technology, and how the making of Avatar 2 brought a whole new set of challenges.

AVATAR BEHIND THE SCENES

James Cameron’s goal for Avatar was to create a CG character with a full range of human emotions. Up to this point, animators would “copy” performances shot with motion capture, but for Cameron, this never quite hit the mark. His solution was to attach a small camera to the actor’s helmets to record their facial expressions at all times. Now the animators could tweak or augment these performances instead of having to create them themselves.

Another innovation made during the making of Avatar was the ability to use a “virtual camera” that could render the actor’s CG characters and the environment of Pandora in real-time. Now the blocking and compositions could be more refined and specific at the capture stage rather than have to compromise later in post-production.

Cameron was also able to use his 3D Fusion Camera System to shoot live-action footage. Unlike previous 3D cameras with fixed lenses, the Fusion camera could manipulate each camera to mimic human vision for a more natural and realistic 3D experience.

Finally, the SimulCam system also used the Fusion camera but could be “tracked” in the motion capture stage so that live-action footage could be shot alongside previously recorded CG elements. Thus reducing the number of compromises when compositing in post-production.

AVATAR 2 BEHIND THE SCENES

When filming Avatar 2, the biggest challenge was moving all of these systems underwater. The motion capture system required two additions — the first was a layer of white, plastic balls on the water’s surface to eliminate issues of reflections interfering with the infrared system. The second was that the actors couldn’t use scuba gear because the bubbles would also throw off the marker system. So, they just learned how to hold their breath while acting. Kate Winslet was able to do a breath hold for over seven minutes!

The making of Avatar and Avatar 2 will go down in history as defining moments when art and technology came together to produce something truly out of this world. And, of course, the man behind all this innovation (just like he is for every one of his movies) is the inimitable James Cameron.


#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking

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♬ SONGS USED:

"Becoming One of 'The People' / Becoming One With Neytiri" - James Horner
"The Bioluminescence of the Night" - James Horner
"Scorched Earth" - James Horner
"You Don't Dream in Cryo. ...." - James Horner
"Still Need Syndrome" - Yarin Primak
"The Destruction of Hometree" - James Horner
"Quaritch" - James Horner
"War" - James Horner
"Assembly Line Dreams" - Ostin Drais
"Binary Love" - Stanley Gurvich
"Jake Enters His Avatar World" - James Horner
"Morning Sunbeams" - Yehezkel Raz
"Jake's First Flight" - James Horner
"Glass" - Claudio Laucci
"Avatar: The Way of Water Official Trailer Music"
"Climbing Up Iknimaya - The Path to Heaven" - James Horner
"Pure Spirits of the Forest" - James Horner

Music by Artlist ►
Music by Artgrid ►
Music by Soundstripe ►
Music by MusicBed ►

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