The sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all time will be called The Way of Water and there is a new trailer out for it. The film is visually spectacular and also dives a bit deeper into the family-first story at the center of the film. Here it is, it is enjoyable.
If you don't remember the story at all, there's no denying the technical achievements the crew made to make these movies happen. In an excellent new GQ profile, Cameron explains the technology behind this one.
The process for how Cameron builds the Avatar films is complex; it involves creating a data-rich but visually undistinguished package that Cameron calls a template—on which he captures the lighting, performances, and camera moves he wants—which then gets handed over to Wētā to apply algorithms and layers of animation to bring the template to life. “It’s not animation in a Pixar sense where they’re just making stuff up,” Cameron told me. “The actors already defined what they did, but it has to be translated from the captured data to the 3D-CG character. And there’s all sorts of AI steps in there.”
The new camera system was built with multiple high-end cameras and was used to create a 3D system. The cameras have a high dynamic range. Motion capture is done simultaneously above and below the water.
For the first movie in the series, for instance, he built a camera rig that allowed him to see the characters in real time as he was shooting. He has strong feelings about technology and film. He has harsh things to say about how others have used technology, even though he was an early advocate of 3D.
A big reason the movie is expensive and late is because of the amount of work that has been done, according to the profile. This is only the second movie of five that he is making, the fourth of which he says is going to be the craziest one. It's a fun story with great details, but the most common moment is when a person can't figure out how to change the audio in a screening room.
“I’m always telling them there’s too many damn knobs,” he said. “I mean you could run a starship with fewer knobs than this.”
Even if you are the most successful director of all time, no one knows what those buttons do.
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