“Avatar: The Way of the Water”: The Great Return of James Cameron

The Canadian director spent 12 years preparing and filming Avatar: The Way of the Water, the second installment in one of cinema’s most prestigious franchises. And for that matter AvatarJames Cameron’s team had to develop not only the narrative and visual universe, but also the necessary technology.

Avatar: The Way of the Water A titanic job. In February 2010, James Cameron and producer Jon Landau decided to hold a mini technology summit with the “Avatar” teams, reviewing the technical aspects of the feature film and identifying strengths and weaknesses. “I don’t think so Waterway I would have seen the light if we had not engaged in this exercise”, hinted the filmmaker after the meeting, who started thinking about the sequel.

Note pages

As soon as James Cameron arrives at work, he fills notebooks. In total, the director and producer also have a plot that could have filled 1500 pages. At this point he realized that it would take him more than two films to tell the story of Pandora, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). in WaterwayThe couple now have children, Neteum (James Flatters), Loack (Britton Dalton), Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), an adopted teenager.

But humans are coming back. Apart from mining Unbtanium, they also want to colonize Pandora to settle there, as the Earth is on the verge of becoming uninhabitable. The Sullis and the Omatikaya tribe flee to the mountains to join the water-dwelling Metkaina clan, whose leaders Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) have no choice but to help them. But that doesn’t stop Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Long) from chasing them.

The time spent has allowed the team to refine the story for this and subsequent installments Waterway Developing the technical tools necessary for this filming, in other words finding a way to shoot underwater performances, was a first in the history of cinema. “The key is to actually shoot underwater, but not just on the surface to have the actors swim properly, come out of the water properly and dive properly. And it feels real because the movements are real and the emotion is real,” said the filmmaker.

An extraordinary shoot

Stephen Long returns as the villain – thanks to technology made by transferring DNA and memories – even though his character died in the previous episode. QMI agency was asked about his preparation for this Avatar: The Way of the WaterThe actor says the months leading up to James Cameron’s first directorship were intense.

“It was very physical. I had to work on my flexibility, my strength and my strength. I did a lot of parkour, a lot of archery, a lot of martial arts. For fights, I studied sword fighting, stick fighting and obviously automatic weapons. I was on everything in the water. Also had to work, it’s no secret that this “Avatar” takes place in an amazing amount of water.

“With Jim Cameron and Avatar, you never know when filming is going to start or when it’s going to end, laughs Stephen Long when asked how long he’s immersed in a feature film. Jim can call anytime and tell us what we need.”

“If I remember correctly, the filming went on for a few years. We started shooting in 2017 and started our preparations in 2015. We took a break before coming back and starting again. 2017 to 2019 things are very intense. The schedule was so intense that I don’t even know how long I spent on set, between 100 and 200 days. I admit I lost count. I showed up and worked.

The revival of cinema in theatres

Using Performance Capture Technology – “Motion / Performance Capture” as used by Peter Jackson Lord of the RingsHis remarkable trilogy by Andy Serkis The Planet of the Apes -, the Academy of Oscars struggles to recognize this type of game as an actor’s game, systematically snubbing actors who use it.

“Performance capture is very common in movies today. How people receive it and how it is perceived is out of our control. I knew it when I saw the first one Avatar Zoe Saldana’s performance is one of the most impressive in the history of cinema. Capturing service is its own service. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“It’s a game very close to a theater stage because of its minimalism. It is a technique that requires full use of all the tools available to the actors. Is it more difficult? No. “It’s easy to play bottom, but it’s a very difficult art,” underlines Stephen Long.

Cinema attendance in the United States and Europe has declined significantly since the pandemic. The first one Avatar It created a rush for 3D technology and not only increased the box office collections, but also broke all records as moviegoers flocked to the theaters to watch the film. Avatar: The Way of the Water Can he convince the masses to reconnect with the dark rooms?

“It’s hard to say, but I’d say ‘yes’. It’s complicated to predict what the public’s response will be. Given the nature of the film, its importance and the expectations of the moviegoers, I believe Waterway A perfect movie to bring people back to the movies and convince new moviegoers.

I believe that the film will not come again. But cinema is constantly evolving. If we compare what movies were in the 1930s to what they were in the 1960s, we realize that it was completely different because of the democratization of television. It is important that the film returns. The big screen, sitting with strangers and communicating in front of the screen is impossible to replace the movie experience anywhere else than in a theater.

• Avatar: The Way of the Water Opened on 16th December