This is great!
That was the Na’Vi line that probably millions of people have heard last night (or day depends on you world location). Prior to that the web was hitted by new shots from the upcoming James Cameron’s (JC) epic adventure called Avatar. There were a lot of buzz and hype around the movie taking the fact that nobody outside the film crew haven’t seen ANYTHING from the movie. No leaked shots, no spy shots, no official media… nothing. Yet the hype was really strong. It’s JC new movie after all!
The first shock wave came from screening at CinemaExpo, Amsterdam. We’ve got a couple of pictures with spaceship orbiting the planet [Pandora] and amazing, unearthly looking location with two humanoids walking on the tree in the night swamp. In addition to that the web was buzzed with impressions. The second wave came from ComicCon, San Diego where about 6,500 people were able to experience ~25 min preview from Avatar. The net go nuts again.
It’s been announced at ComicCon that August, 21 would be an ‘Avatar Day’ with ~16 min preview in as many 3D cinemas around the globe as possible. In addition the first official trailer was planned to release on the net right before the Avatar Day. Countdown clock was ticking at Apple Trailers page and last night I was checking how the numbers are goin’.
It was fun and exciting to see the clock ticks to 01 min, then 00 min and… nothing happened! I believe 10 or so minutes later Apple Trailers change the clock to Avatar banner linked to the trailers. Yay! But no one link were working. Duh! It was really fun to monitor some websites (like MarketSaw) updating almost in real-time with people buzzing about this sh*t. I don’t recall any other movies generating such vibration, besides maybe Phantom Menace.
I’m sorry for that long introduction but you can get an idea how much expectations and attention is going around Avatar. It’s not a big deal to describe how cool the footage is, how the scenery and characters looks like etc. just watch the trailer!
And considering the reaction, it’s quite mixed. Some believe it’s sort of advanced cartoon while others prise the JC’s effort and got really excited.
Where did you get your blog layout from? I’d like to get one like it for my blog.
Thanks very much for the lengthy introduction, it seems you’ve been keeping tabs on the hype buzzing around this film. I live on the other side of the planet and didn’t here about the trailer till this morning. I got up turned on my computer, lunched firefox, and boom right at my face on the cg channel homepage popped the link to the Avatar trailer. Clicked the link and was directed to the Quick time page, I punched the 1080p version and boommm!!!! my heart started thumping to the sound graphics. I began nodding to the beat, my breathing began to slow and within seconds my mind and body synchronized, yup, its the dopamine addiction! After the trailer was done, I momentarily detached from reality, my mind wondered off, I was dreaming with my eyes open. That might have lasted 10 second before I snapped back. I replayed the trailer 10 consecutive times before I could lay one rational criticism on the trailer. I hate the APU design, no cool factor to it, the one from the matrix makes this look like LEGO blocks. Yes the performances will be top notch but if the Science seems illogical, It will be Fu*king distracting. I want to know why humans can’t breath the atmosphere and how can there be floating Island in this Sci-fi movie.
Well I omit my impressions from the post, so the readers wouldn’t be affected and make their own conclusions. But for those who read and process the comments here are my thoughts…
First, it’s unconfirmed but someone from WETA have said that some shots aren’t finished in this trailer. And seems like it’s unavailable again at Apple Trailers.
Considering trailer reaction, I see the problem is that some people deny themselves from enjoying the footage. From the ordinary person’s point of view all those CGI, The Volume, performance capture etc. are just geeky terms, all that matters is storytelling. Is it fun to follow the hero’s storyline, empathize to characters, experience a whole spectrum of feelings? If you’re driven into the story the rest doesn’t matter at all. Just remember your parents telling or reading you stories when you was a kid. Do they use CGI or other hi-tech to get you excited? Adults aren’t that different. Love stories (boy meet girl) are the oldest and non-original yet we still enjoy them. I believe it would be fun to follow Avatar storyline.
Next, from the technical standpoint, nothing is perfect. Even the sun has spots. Maybe CGI wouldn’t blew your mind off but the performance is amazing. I remember I was in the production of ‘Nimbus’, an animated feature film [that never got made] and got a few shots of a CG teenage girl I’ve designed. There was a picture with her hand close-up and I thought, boy, it looks like real person’s hand! At the same time I was eager to see the performance of our CG actors, because the success is binded to it. If you’ve amazing digital people acting like dolls well…
In Avatar I see great characters, moving around, reacting to each other, expressing feelings and nothing seriously hurts my eyes. I admit I’ve to view the trailer a few times until I get used to Na’Vi look.
@T-Flux
Considering atmosphere, well maybe there are some bacteria or micro spores in the air so human bodies can’t stand it. As for floating lands in Sci-Fi, well check ‘Star Ocean’ videogame by Square for example. I dunno how it works though (maybe sort of low gravity or local anomaly). In Rainbow Dreams lands floating because of magic.
@Rick Boyer
It’s a standard wordpress theme called iNove that I’ve tweaked a bit.
yeyhay!! well I’m neither a writer, philosopher nor a poet, I am an aspiring digital artist, we have the ability to project our visions onto reality. And as we know, reality isn’t as flexible as fantasy. Reality is governed many rules diverging from Physics. We suffer the pain of knowing our physical limits, its debilitating. Sci-fi films should be theoretical, intelligent and innovative, and our society can only benefit from that. Any forward thinking nation understands that and serves as programing for each generation of people, the same way religion does.
Modern storytelling still follow principles and Archetype generated over hundreds of years, The intent of a story is to educate, entertain or to instill morals . Everything supporting this is important, from the narration, dialogue , visual storytelling. How far can the mind go without the body, Why do we seek perfection, why do we even care. Every nut and bolt, every scar, every expression every effect, every sound enhances and help sell the Idea.
Human being are remarkable creatures, we have a wide range of incredible characteristics. The good, bad, ugly, beautiful, intelligent, smart, the Aptitude to learn thing quickly are all derived from the genetic, chemical balances of the body. We Are not perfect but we have made great improvements to try and fix our limitations. It’s only when we we cant comprehend the gravity of our mistakes that we repeat them.
Why is it that we adapt so many trends, why do we think simplicity is the key to great design. Nothing that exist in the natural world is simple. I tell you we hit a wall we don’t have the tools nor the experience to cross we turn back and start back from square one.
I believe this film will become a global phenomenon, I have to clue how deep the story will be but based on the trailer I see indication of racial tension and possible Holocaust. I haven’t seen District 9 but I wonder if that part of it is similar. here is my nonsensical reply.
Leo, delete what I just said,
I looked up the premise from wikipedia, I feel like a dumbass, once again.
Premise,
The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully, is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will give him a healthy body. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush rainforest-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms – some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race that humans consider primitive, but are actually more evolutionarily advanced than humans. Standing three meters tall, with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora’s forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.
Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human ‘driver’ through a technology that links the driver’s mind to their Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora’s jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora’s beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is matched by her ferocity in battle.
Over time, Jake integrates himself into Neytiri’s clan, and begins to fall in love with her. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi – forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world.
Yo Leonid,
Can you email me, so that I can show you some stuff I’m working on once in a while and possibly get your feedback. Its scary posting in forums man. I have no clue what your email is?
@T-Flux
Just send you an email. Sure, you can share your works if you need a pair of fresh eyes or some input.
And back to Avatar, heh seems like all those critics now burning in hell after experiencing 16 min footage preview from Avatar in full 3D. On some forums I see a total reverse of comments.
Wow, There is a saying, never judge a book by its cover, I just Saw district 9, Amazing!! Strong story, very entertaining and got some good morals from it, not to mention the mech design near the end was wicked cool, those aliens made me almost cry, man kinds inhumanity to aliens. I have high hopes for Avatar, and though I do hope the art is as timeless as DUNE, I hope it gets a front row seat into the history of film making. I saw some interviews, and If Cameron and Sigourney thinks its Diamond!!!!!!I would brainlessly buy the ticket even if it cost $100.
I agree with you, one should give the story a chance to play out. I think Cameron Critics play there roll in the movie making process just by keeping the heat on the directors to make sure they don’t deliver shi*t. But it not like he needs them, his brain can compensate without them because he is so meticulous, a perfectionist and he is also a brilliant analogue artist.
I wonder if this could lead to a trilogy. Really exciting stuff