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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

"I just saw Avatar" Thread

I just saw the 2D version and I thought it was awesome. I'll check it out in IMAX 3D next time to compare. It's just a damn good story very well done. I think it lends itself to 3D. But would Titanic really be better in 3D? I dunno.
 
Visually spectacular. Real and CG elements seamless... by FAR the best mesh I've seen.

The character eyes and facial expression also amazing. Skin had a bit much "sheen" for me.

The environment, was perhaps the hit of the movie. Incredible detail, endless layers, and fabulaously realistic physics. I was _NEVER_ taken out of the suspension of disbelief when water was flowing, waves were hitting the rocks, the downward thrust form the ships whipped thru the foilage, etc. Awesome.

The musclature on the animals was likewise incredible. The breast muscles of the flying creatures would heave as they expended effort to flap their wings. The "chest nostrils" of the "horses" looked and behaved as you know they should.

While the story was a bit too much "Dances with Aliens" for me, it was nonetheless a visual tour de force that had sufficient story to hold it together.

-sc
 
I watched it last night. What a great movie.
It is realy a game-changer.
Make sure you sit in the first half of the theater so the 3D effect will be much greater.
The only thing that bothered me was that the movie looked like one stop to dark throug the 3D glasses. When I took of the glasses from time to time, the movie looked better exposed. Maybe the operator messed up, I dont know.

How ever, this movie rocks big time.
Now think Star Wars in 3D the way Cameron does it. That would be awsome.

As we all said it many times on this forum, it ist maybe the best time ever for us cinematographers. Everything is possible now. Just look what Cameron did.
Damn.

Sempre Fi
Tim
 
Tom L said:
Neytiri = :001_tt1:

I saw this on IMAX 3D last night. Far superior to even a huge, standard 3D screen. Sure, you lose a little bit cropped off the sides, but it doesn't matter. It's worth it to get that huge screen filled. The film absolutely holds up on the giant screen. I was looking for pixelization... zero. Avatar is exquisite in IMAX 3D.

People who are saying that this film is not a game-changer don't understand what they have seen. The game is changed.

Just for my own career I was thinking I would jump from my first picture right into an IMAX film if I can. Now there is no doubt in my mind -- that IMAX film will be in 3D.

I bet my last dollar that phonelines around the globe are on fire with conversations between directors, DPs and producers about how to convert their current pre-production projects into 3D -- maybe even some in-production films.

Also, consider the impact of 3D on piracy. Does anyone really want to watch a non-3D, VHS-quality "cam" copy off bit torrent of AVATAR?? No way.
Click to expand...

Yeah, 2nd time around...where are the nipples?

Ditto on the game changer. Just made me think about the overheads I would have to budget for to have a stereo production on my next film. I really hope that RED goes full steam ahead with their 3D rig rather than leaving it on the backburner and that Adobe implements an end to end stereo workflow throughout CS5.

Off to go through some AE projects and rig them up with stereo cameras now...
 
Tim Lüdin said:
...
It is realy a game-changer.
... it ist maybe the best time ever for us cinematographers. Everything is possible now.
Click to expand...

Game changer is more the budget pumped in and the hundreds of people/artits working in the dark...

I don't know if this kind of movie is really the best time ever for us cinematographers?

If you like to work this way, it is up to you... and the money you find.

See you.

Patrick
 
Tim Lüdin said:
...
The only thing that bothered me was that the movie looked like one stop to dark throug the 3D glasses. When I took of the glasses from time to time, the movie looked better exposed. Maybe the operator messed up, I dont know.

...

Sempre Fi
Tim
Click to expand...

Most 3D glasses block light via polarization, so they do tend to look darker. Some theaters will double-stack projectors ot make up for this, but not all.
 
I went to the Irvine Spectrum IMAX 3d for the 9 am show today, that was unbelievable! I went by myself, and so I sat next to 2 strangers. Both guys were in their late 20's and both wanted to talk about the movie as soon as it was over. We all agreed we felt like we had just had a work-out. I originally thought the theater was too hot but mid-way through I realized the experiance was so immersive that my adrenaline was up. I actually got vertigo when they would look over some of those cliffs.

I predict people that see this movie in IMAX 3D will get sort of addicted to the experience and want to go back over and over. The guy next to me said "I don't want it to be over!" If you see it in IMAX I suggest you sit about a 1/3 of the rows down from the top of the theatre, that is supposed to be the sweet spot of the screen.

I have never liked 3D movies previously and didn't understand all of the hype about it in the last couple of years, but there is no way you could see that effect in a movie without that huge screen. The 3D work was amazing, I got used to the glasses after about 10 minutes. I still wish they would make glasses with better optical quality, I sure those wavey lenses are not good for your eyes.

I also couldn't stop thinking about James Cameron and what a brain that guy must have to have all of that inside of it. This will be the movie that is a new yardstick for the future. Just as an alternate reality and E-ticket ride it was worth every dollar, and with the sur-charge to buy online it was $18.50.

The only line of dialouge that bugged me was the Colonel says something to the effect of - the indigenous humanoids have bones reinforced with a naturally occurring form of carbon fiber. Yeah and maybe they have kevlar toenails. That just was a weird comment.
 
Ace said:
Im going to see a 35mm film print of Akira this friday on the big screen... Akira is one of my alltime favourite films of my youth. I fear that after watching Avatar, everything is going to look and feel boring in comparison. Its a bit like trying Meth or something!

And I think for the first time, I really get the idea of what 60fps projection would add to the viewing experience. If the art is good, it will aid the immersion.
Click to expand...
No film can make Akira pale in comparison. Seeing it on the big screen is something that I would absolutely love to experience. Akira is in both visually and philosophically spectacular, a masterpiece in so many ways.

I saw Tarkovsky's STALKER not so long ago on the big screen. That was a dream come true.
 
I saw the movie this morning in digital 3D.

Overall, it was very impressive, probably the best sci-fi fantasy/adventure film since, well "Star Trek" (my personal bias on display here) or "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". There are many "oh my god" sort of moments during the movie where you get goosebumps from seeing such amazing imagery.

Also easily the best-done 3D movie I've ever seen. Cameron really has taken the technology up a major step.

I also liked that the wild imagination on display was tempered by a notion of making the technology and the biology plausible, as long as you didn't ask too many questions. It was nice to have an alien planet where the air wasn't breathable and the gravity was different, though not much different than Earth. That and the fact that the aliens didn't speak (much) English.

The colors and the lighting effects were beautiful.

Now the downsides:

#1 The story, despite the level of imagination involved, was fairly predictable. Not always a problem with genre movies, especially when the set pieces are so impressive as they are here, but I rarely was surprised by any plot development.

#2 As impressive as the 3D CGI landscapes were, they rarely reached a level of photographic realism as would a movie shot in real environments, giving big stretches of the movie the feeling like I was watching the most expensive video game ever made. The 3D helped take the edge off of the animated look by creating believable depth cues, so I suspect that in 2D, this movie is going to feel even more CGI-ish.

#3 I think this IS the most expensive movie ever made, which is going to make copying its technical level and approach hard.

#4 Shooting the movie in HD and doing the efx at 2K just didn't seem like there was enough resolution. Although I have this problem with 3D movies in general, they always seem a bit blurry. But it's amazing that Cameron had such control over the 3D process that I didn't get eyestrain after nearly 3 hours.

I would be hard-pressed to call the movie "revolutionary", though 3D filmmaking has been taken to a higher level -- I mean, overall the impression is like more of the same wall-to-wall CGI-driven effects movies ala "Revenge of the Sith", just improved upon, done much better (in fact, the final battle kept reminding me of "Return of the Jedi" but with better effects and directing). "Evolutionary" may be a more accurate word.

--

By the way, I saw the trailer for "Piranha 3D", which was shot in 2D and converted to 3D in post... and looks it. It felt like someone took chunks of the frame in post and decided whether to make the foreground, midground, or background, it looked like some old Viewmaster slide.
 
"The story, despite the level of imagination involved, was fairly predictable. Not always a problem with genre movies, especially when the set pieces are so impressive as they are here, but I rarely was surprised by any plot development."

quote of the thread.. we the screenwriters should change our job if it was any different ehehehehe
 
Avatar... 0 Star

Avatar... 0 Star

Avatar… 0 Star

Consider my 4 objections first before you write your review...

I give it 0 stars because I felt conflicted while and after watching the movie. Yes, Jim Cameron is the Cecil B Demille of our time, but I can't recommend anyone go see this movie, hence the 0 rating because...

1. I morally object to Jim Cameron's $500 million Wicca celebration and I don't want my young daughters to see this movie and confusing this foul soup of moral nonsense to be truth, ever...

2. I don't believe 3D is intended for viewing past a 1.5 hour period unless it can be done without the goggles. It was painful after that point, and many scenes didn't work at the beginning of the movie in 3D, unless that was my eyesight going out of phase with Cameron's subliminal mind control experiment...

3. PLOT SPOILER: This movie is nothing more than Aliens, Terminator and Titanic (even down to the soupy soundtrack) rolled up in a 3D Apocalypto meet Tree Hugger wrapper, with 3D effects and "Hate America First" themes running throughout. Oh, and by the way, the Navi tribe are only not screwed because they look like tall blue humans, not because all life is precious. If they looked like aligators or insects, people would have less feeling for the alien lifeform... and here's the TWIST- the ALIENS are the HUMAN / American military contractors this time!!

4. After sitting thru 2 Wiccan forest rituals and prayers to a Pagan Mother Planet life-force, I wanted to walk onto the IMAX 3D screen and say: Navi, have you heard of the Navajo or JC and salvation? Because I know the director of this flick has, and he thoroughly rejects JC and the apostles.

So, in conclusion, to Hell with You Jim Cameron and your $500 million Digital DEMONS…

Nick
 
Yes, that was my...

Cameron's Avatar: $500 million

Pair of Imax 3D Tickets for two: $24.50

Taking off my 3D Goggles, Leaving the theater and going into the real 3D world and going home with my wife to see my two daughters ... PRICELESS

moment.

God bless 2D!!!

Nick
 
Saw it this afternoon. I enjoyed it, but am curious to see it in 2D as well. The 3D here is better and more subtle than any other 3D movie I've seen but the glasses and slight eye-strain are still slightly distracting.

The story was extremely predictable, and I'll even say politically skewed, but not terrible for all of that.

I agree with David Mullen that especially the wide shots felt like an awesome video game. The really, really, impressive, 'real' feeling CGI for me was the shallow DOF shots of the Navi faces, which seemed incredibly sharp. For all of the 'realism' in the jungle, etc, it just seemed too fantastic to really seem 'real' if that makes any sense. Even though it was perfect...it felt animated.

Overall, very cool movie, but I wonder what else might have been accomplished with nearly a decade and four hundred million dollars, given half a chance...
 
I hear a lot of people keep repeating the idea that Cameron spent nearly a decade working on this film - He spent nowhere near that. Most of that decade and a bit since Titanic he was doing deep sea adventures and developing tech in a generic way. Avatar is probably a 5 year deal all up, in terms of actual tech development through to screenings.

The money aspect I don't care about, because the money IS on screen. And the fact that he got from where we were 5 years ago, to what has been achieved now, when others were content spending half as much on crap like Transformers 2... Well in my estimation it's pretty obvious what got better value for each dollar - clearly Avatar.
 
LOL @ Nick D.

I thought the Christians wouldve taken the most out of it... Wierd. Infact I saw a lot of prayer if anything...

Also, Alien lifeforms can still be Humanoids, you know that right? Do you honestly think Earth was the only world created by God?
 
Its quite funny, Letterman made a joke the other day along the lines of:

"They spent 400 million dollars on this amazing technology, and with this technology, theyre able to actually get the actors to appear on the screen!!"
 
Ace said:
LOL @ Nick D.

I thought the Christians wouldve taken the most out of it... Wierd.
Click to expand...

I hope this thread doesn't head off in a weird direction, but I thought Cameron did a pretty nice job of working a positive message into the movie without hitting everyone over the head too hard.

The basic plot may have been predictable but there are constant bits of visual poetry, action, comedy and other surprises that aren't predictable. A lot of little things keep happening to keep the viewer interested. To me that's good action writing. Ultimately this is an action romance... or as other have said "Dances With Aliens".
 
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