James Cameron was confronted with one main downside whereas making Avatar: The Means of Water, and his work on a movie over 30 years in the past ended up being the important thing to fixing it. 13 years after the discharge of Avatar, Cameron’s sequel continues the story of Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as they cope with the return of human forces to Pandora. The sequel famously took a few years to make, with Cameron working with a devoted crew to not solely write the tales for 4 films however develop new expertise and filming strategies to tug them off.
Within the particular options that accompany Avatar: The Means of Water‘s digital launch, Cameron reveals that a number of the largest issues to beat concerned filming actors underwater. Reflections from air bubbles and the water’s floor, particularly, had been a significant problem. Whereas having actors free dive eradicated the air bubbles, a special technique from his 1989 film The Abyss was used for the floor reflections. Try Cameron’s remark under:
“It seems that to have the ability to seize underwater, you possibly can’t have a whole lot of air bubbles as a result of each a kind of air bubbles is slightly wiggling mirror. And the system that’s attempting to see all of the marker dots on the actors’ our bodies so we will get their physique movement can’t inform the distinction between a marker dot and a bubble.
“If you concentrate on each bubble being a mirror, what about that large shifting mirror referred to as the floor? So that you’ve received all these ultraviolet cameras underwater and so they’re attempting to see the markers, however they’re not solely seeing the markers on the actor, they’re seeing a mirrored image of the actor up there with a bunch of markers which are shifting round.
“The system simply received overloaded and the characters type of became like an octopus. We used black plastic beads on The Abyss to interrupt that mirror floor so it regarded like we had been 1000 toes down as an alternative of 60 toes down. That’s what gave me the thought [of using translucent ping pong balls to cover the surface] and I proposed that.”
Avatar: The Means of Water’s Underwater Filming Defined
With a lot of Avatar: The Means of Water happening both on or within the water, Cameron and the manufacturing was confronted with the distinctive problem of constructing an aquatic CGI atmosphere look actual. There was just one water-based scene within the first Avatar, and it was achieved in a dry atmosphere, with Worthington miming swimming whereas suspended on wires or being pushed round in an workplace chair.
Decided to make the sequel’s water-based scenes look extra actual, it was determined early on that actors doing efficiency seize for underwater scenes would truly do these scenes within the water. An enormous water tank was constructed and the primary solid all realized how you can free dive, holding their breath for a number of minutes at a time. Doing efficiency seize this fashion meant that actors’ actions and emoting underwater would now look extra real, thus resulting in extra life-like visuals when these underwater scenes had been rendered digitally.
Whereas filming the underwater scenes in Avatar: The Means of Water utilizing this technique was undoubtedly an enormous enterprise, it is clear that it paid off in an enormous means. The sequel is breathtaking to have a look at as an entire, however the underwater scenes, particularly, are a significant spotlight. Though it is not apparent on the floor that Cameron’s work on The Abyss benefited Avatar: The Means of Water, the latest sequel evidently owes an enormous debt to the 1989 gem.
Supply: Avatar: The Means of Water Particular Options