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James Cameron Returns with Avatar

Vemsie

By Vemsie,
in Film, TV & Radio

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Earlier today, ComingSoon.net had a rare opportunity for an extended interview with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh for his upcoming film The Girlfriend Experience, a timely film about a high-priced Manhattan escort played by adult video star Sasha Grey.

We had a chance to talk to Soderbergh at length about the film as well as his next two studio projects, The Informant and Moneyball, which reunite him with Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, respectively, but the real surprise came at the end of our conversation.

We were asking why he thought recent films didn't have quite the impact or longevity as the classics, and he gave us a great response about how the volume of movies being made and seen made it hard for anything to have the cultural impact of a movie like The Godfather or be remembered. He was disappointed there weren't those sorts of benchmarks in the movies being made today, but he surprised us by adding that he thought James Cameron's Avatar would be one of those benchmarks:

"I've seen some stuff and holy sh*t. It's the craziest sh*t ever. That could negate everything I just said," he told us.

A lot of people are eagerly anticipating the film, being that it's Cameron's first narrative feature film since Titanic way back in 1997, but nothing has been seen of the movie beyond a poster and a brief report from TIME last month. To have a reputable and discerning filmmaker like Soderbergh give it such high praise certainly makes one optimistic that Cameron's return will be the stuff of cinematic legend.

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Vemsie

Vemsie

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Well, that's probably the Last Airbender trailer. :(

According to Fox, Comic Con is still the most likely place where something will debut, even though it's not certain to be footage. They're still hiring effects people as well apparently.

Michael here. Any VFX industry readers who would like to contribute to the most bleeding-edge film project ever may be interested in this job notice, posted yesterday on the 2-Pop forums.

It makes sense that they are still hiring. With a project like Avatar, work will continue on tweaking the incredible world Cameron has created until he gets every character, creature, alien tree, cloud, and blade of grass photoreal and animated like you are standing there underneath Pandora's twin suns.

This is why we haven't yet seen a trailer or still from the film. Cameron wants every shot that is seen in a potential trailer to be absolutely, 100% representative of the final product. So when will we see the trailer?

According to a Fox representative I spoke to today, "no trailer placement is confirmed at this time" and "we are nowhere near to having a final one." The rep also told us that "nothing is 100%" as to when we will get our first look at the film, although she did state that Comic-Con is still the most likely place for our first looks. Whether she was only referring to our first looks at a trailer or footage, or first looks at a poster or other marketing material wasn't made clear. I still think there's a good shot that we will see a poster well before the trailer, especially given what Fox Co-Chairman Jim Gianopulos told me at ShoWest.

This does not rule out Transformers 2 (and a 3D version in front of Ice Age 3 a week later) being the place we will see the first trailer, or the place where Fox would ideally like to debut it. Fox itself just doesn't know for sure yet - it all depends on when Cameron gets the shots he wants up to his standards. Multiple trustworthy sources (not the source of the fake trailer canister, by the way) have said that at one point at least - and maybe currently - the plan was for Transformers 2. Whether or not Fox makes that date is still up in the air.

Multiple people at Fox (including Gianopulos) and others elsewhere in the production have reiterated the unprecedented effort and time that this type of world building requires. So they are still in the thick of things as far as finishing the movie goes, and will be right up to December.

Here is the job listing:

Pandora Films (LLC) is seeking an Assistant Production Coordinators for work in the Virtual Lab and VFX Departments on James Cameron’s Avatar

Description:

Our project makes heavy use of motion capture as a means to creating performances and creatures for an immersive, 3D theatrical feature. We are looking for self-motivated, experienced VFX asst. coordinators for our VFX production crew in assisting the production team realize the strong creative vision of our director.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

You will be interfacing directly with the VFX vendors, managing information interchange between them and the VFX production, Editorial and IT departments. Duties include: note-taking during Director reviews, scheduling and coordinating review and meeting times, ensuring timely and complete delivery of needed work elements and assets to various VFX vendors, tracking shot and sequence progress through the vendors’ facilities, and a demonstrated aptitude for professional and accurate reporting.

Minimum Qualifications and Abilities:

Though not required, a four-year degree from an accredited college or university is preferred. Previous experience in the feature film or visual effects industry is required. Candidate will need to have demonstrated ability to interact well with VFX vendors, in-house departments and production staff, be detail-oriented and proactive, organize production information, take direction well and be willing to learn about cutting-edge technologies and pipeline processes.Previous facility-side experience and/or a high degree of familiarity with contemporary digital work process and pipelines are a huge plus.

Please submit resume to:

avatarhiring@lightstormla.com

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Vemsie

Vemsie

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Vemsie, you mentioned posting some in-depth tech articles earlier. Any chance you'll post 'em up soon?

Yeah, I said that and did look around for them. I couldn't find anything that I would call really in-depth though. I was pretty sure I read some geeky stuff, but lacking much knowledge of 3D technology and visual effects techniques, it becomes geeky for me rather quickly.

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Goose

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I did hear, regarding the Imax run, is that it's partly because there's nothing else due out in Imax during that time period? Like at the moment Star Trek is having to make way for Night at the Museum.

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lordcookie

lordcookie

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But what about A Christmas Carol? All the mo-cap films have had good IMAX runs haven't they?

EDIT: I keep forgetting Carol is coming out in early November rather than Christmas time. I guess Avatar won't have too much competition until something like Alice in Wonderland arrives in early April.

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Varnsen

Varnsen

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Yeah, I said that and did look around for them. I couldn't find anything that I would call really in-depth though. I was pretty sure I read some geeky stuff, but lacking much knowledge of 3D technology and visual effects techniques, it becomes geeky for me rather quickly.

ah well thanks anyway. i know a bunch of people who are/have been working on it so I'll ask them if they have any specifics on this on-set capture stuff. it's probably old news but 'ground breaking' to the directors. it's staggering how many directors know absolutely nothing about shooting for vfx.

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Goose

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But what about A Christmas Carol? All the mo-cap films have had good IMAX runs haven't they?

EDIT: I keep forgetting Carol is coming out in early November rather than Christmas time. I guess Avatar won't have too much competition until something like Alice in Wonderland arrives in early April.

Yes, the article I read said it would make way for Alice in Wonderland.

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Commander Jameson

Commander Jameson

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ah well thanks anyway. i know a bunch of people who are/have been working on it so I'll ask them if they have any specifics on this on-set capture stuff. it's probably old news but 'ground breaking' to the directors. it's staggering how many directors know absolutely nothing about shooting for vfx.

Heh. I don't think you could include Cameron in that. :o

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Varnsen

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I heard he has made one or two small FX movies in his time.

yeah sorry thinking about that, it was a stupid thing to say. It's just I work in vfx and avatar is one of the shows in right now, just finishing up on yet another frustratingly difficult project and you get very jaded to projects as they come in. Cameron has superb history in fx movies so hopefully it'll be top notch stuff from a work point of view. apologies again for the ludicrous post earlier.

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lordcookie

lordcookie

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A genuine shot of an Avatar powersuit?

powersuit.jpg

From /Film:

"Apparently, these 14-feet tall Powersuits are worn by human troopers on the surface of alien planet Pandora. One sequence is going to show a group of Powersuited troopers, led by Matt Gerald’s Corporal Lyle Waynefleet, laying waste to a Na’vi village, torching it with flamethrowers and even causing civilian casualties".

Loaders from Aliens with added flamethrowers. I can't wait.

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sammy

sammy

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A genuine shot of an Avatar powersuit?

powersuit.jpg

From /Film:

"Apparently, these 14-feet tall Powersuits are worn by human troopers on the surface of alien planet Pandora. One sequence is going to show a group of Powersuited troopers, led by Matt Gerald’s Corporal Lyle Waynefleet, laying waste to a Na’vi village, torching it with flamethrowers and even causing civilian casualties".

Loaders from Aliens with added flamethrowers IN 3D!!!1. I can't wait.

You missed a bit :wub:

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JohnC

JohnC

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I'm looking forward to this more than ever now, after experiencing 3D for the first time a couple of days ago. The old coloured glasses crap never worked for me, but to my surprise, the newer 3D stuff works great.

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