In the widely successful film Avatar, audiences worldwide were introduced to what technology and film could achieve when juxtaposed.
This film definitely made a large leap in the production of animation and CGI by using motion capture devices in brilliant accords.
Although other movies have featured a character or a few characters using the same type of technology, Avatar did it in great amounts with almost every character documented this way.
On top of the highly advanced techniques used to create Avatar, the extraordinary detail and creativity that went into the world of Pandora are absolutely refreshing.
The artists behind the computers that brought these characters and the world they live in to life are some of the best in the industry.
If somehow you did not enjoy the storyline, then the visual beauty Avatar has to offer is enough to arrest your attention for eternity.
It’s no surprise that this film is one of the most successful to date.
What’s In-store for the Future?
So what now? Will there be a sequel? A trilogy? Or is this the only one?
The creator of Pandora and Avatar, James Cameron, has finally answered these questions.
Released in the May 5th edition of the New York Times, James Cameron is quoted saying, “I’ve divided my time over the last sixteen years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking.
I’ve made two movies in sixteen years, and I’ve done eight expeditions.
Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm.
So I’m not interested in developing anything.
I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making ‘Avatar 2′, ‘Avatar 3′, maybe ‘Avatar 4′…”
Stating this at the Beijing International Film Festival in April, the incredibly successful filmmaker is stirring a lot of attention as he also declared his retirement from Hollywood to pioneer the realms of Pandora.
“I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them.
I’m not interested in taking scripts.
And that all sounds I suppose a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the Avatar landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said.
In terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it.
And doing it in an entertaining way.
And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing.”
Avatar 2 and 3
Getting straight down to business, James Cameron and his crew have been working hard on the Avatar sequel: “We’ve spent the last year and a half on software development and pipeline development.
The virtual production methodology was extremely prototypical on the first film.
As of then, no one had ever done it before and we didn’t even know for two and a half years into it and $100 million into it if it was going to work.
It was a very, very uphill battle on the first film.
So we’ve been mostly working on the toolset, the production pipeline, setting up the stages in Los Angeles, setting up the new visual effects pipeline in New Zealand, that sort of thing.
And, by the way, writing.
We haven’t gotten to the design stage yet.
That will be next.”
With Avatar raising the bar for future films, the visual aspects of the sequel are sure to meet the expectations if not surpass them.
One of the greatest attributes to the world of Avatar is the brilliant imagery used to engulf the story.
Late last year Cameron was documented explaining what Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 will hold in a Dateline interview.
“It takes place on Pandora. I’m writing the second and third films together. It completes a three-film story arc.
We will see the ocean of Pandora, which we haven’t seen at all. That is an ecosystem that I am dying to design.
It’s going to look spectacular.
It narrows the spotlight.
Instead of the rainforest or nature, it focuses on ocean issues.
Because we have a planet that is a blue planet.
If you look at it from a distance, the earth is a lot bluer than it is brown…Then it is landmass.
We are making the oceans unsurvivable for a lot of the species right now.
For a lot of reasons.
This is the chance to focus a little bit of energy in that direction.
And there will be other planets as well, aside from Pandora.
It will be a cornucopia. It will be a treat for the eyes.”
As the information builds so does the anticipation.
Knowing that James Cameron will be 100% devoted to the next stages of Avatar is exceptionally thrilling.
As the days pass and the months follow, the realms of Avatar’s second and third features are building incredibly high anticipations.
With brief insights over the past few months from Cameron, the sequel and its counterpart are sure to meet all expectations.
With James Cameron and his crew already hard at work on the production of this film hopefully, it will not take nearly as long as the first one did to create.
Currently, Avatar 2 is projected to release sometime in 2014 while Avatar 3 is scheduled for 2015.
As the release dates draw near make sure to pay close attention, as Cameron and others involved will give more information about the brilliant world of Avatar.
