Avatar- the WOW! factor

[Thomas W. Bethe]

I went yesterday to see AVATAR.

The theater is where I normally go to watch movies.

I saw it in 2 D.

There were maybe 20 other people in the theater at 11:00 am on on Sunday morning.

All I can saw is WOW!!! I guess 400 million and 10 years to make a movie is a lot of money and time but it was very well spent. The sound was GREAT! the special effects and CGI were AMAZING and the 2 + hours went by very quickly with a good story from beginning to end. What a completely different experience from 2012.

If I were an actor I would start being very afraid after seeing how lifelike all the animation characters were in this movie. It was almost like watching real aliens on screen and the modeling and animation were the best I have ever seen. It was light years ahead of Star Wars and the details were so well done I started to wonder if they had actually found or created a whole new species for the filming.

IMHO James Cameron has done it again...

Sorry to be so overwhelmed but it was amazing.

I get to see it again, this time in 3 D, with my niece over the holidays.

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

I went yesterday to see AVATAR.

The theater is where I normally go to watch movies.

I saw it in 2 D.

There were maybe 20 other people in the theater at 11:00 am on on Sunday morning.

All I can saw is WOW!!! I guess 400 million and 10 years to make a movie is a lot of money and time but it was very well spent. The sound was GREAT! .

Simon Franglen did another wonderful job! My kids saw it at IMAX a couple of days ago and have not stopped raving about it.

[Geert van den Berg]

I haven't seen it yet, but I thought the trailers on TV looked cheap...

[Tringboy]

just came back from seeing it in 3D its shockingly good. Far far beyond what i had hoped it would be.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by Geert van den Berg

I haven't seen it yet, but I thought the trailers on TV looked cheap...

Yes I saw those trailers and thought YUCK! but that is not at all what it looks like in the theater. Spend some Euros and see it in a good theater before passing judgment.

[foldback]

You don't see Avatar in 3D, you experience it, that's what we did yesterday. We went to the first show on Sunday morning, there were plenty of seats available.

It's an amazing piece of art and it did not seem too long, we thought it was just right.

Stay and read the credits, it's a who's-who of anyone who is any good in efx.

I don't know how you can possibly do what they did in visual effects for this movie, it's incredible.

The sound track is amazing too, never had that ice pick in the ears too-loud for too-long sound quality, it was incredibly good.

[charles maynes]

A friend of mine was doing effects for it at Camerons edit suites for a long time.... remember his name, becuase he is an outstanding talent... Addison Teague. As well Chris Boyes is phenomenal as are the rest of the Skywalker Sound team.

[njrsound]

I saw it on Saturday (3 days after Opening here in Australia), and was hugely impressed. I've got to go back to hear it again while less distracted by the visuals! I also found the Trailers a bit of a put-off, which might explain why at 2pm on the first weekend the cinema was less than half full. They've got to re-make them.

Contrary to Thomas' worries about actors being afraid, I'd say the clear advances made in this film with translating the actor's facial performances / expressions to the motion-capture CGI alien characters will cement the role of real actors in bringing such creatures to life - as opposed to film moving down the path of purely animated 'virtual actors'. More actors will be comfortable that their craft can 'survive' the motion capture performance. I heard one of the producers interviewed on the radio yesterday (Jon Landau?) who said that MoCap was now a better option for a performer to be expressive than filming live with extensive latex prosthetics, and I think that's not far from being true. Plenty of opportunity now for equally subtle sound work to support the vocals of such characters.

[gsilbers]

did not like it. it was ok imo. not a big deal. it was just like a regular animation but with well put live actors. i guess for those folks that are not into heavy sci fy stuff.

but final fantasy spirits within had as good as grafics less the human face/expression of course. which in avatar where carefull to avoid with sucess and in a good way.
and final fantasy was was 2001!!!


the only thing i didnt like that much was the save the rain forest/milatry is evil agenda that was pushed soo hard. great for those in right wing folks and 3rd world countries that need to see it and i m all for it but man it was really pushy/selling it too much for me.

music was burried in sfx but i think it did its job. sound fx where ok, they had to recreate an alien planet with similar sounds so its good they didnt go too wierd. (aka, star wars clone war with that lizard obeone kenoby was riding wtf was that sound?! yuk)

imo it has sooooo much marketing that as long its "ok" then everyone portraits like its the best thing ever.

btw.. when did that guy sleep? he was awake being that blue creature and was awake while being off the avatar machine.

[Gohanto]

I thought it was great. Seen it 3 times (different friends kept going, I kept not being able to say no).

Best movie I've seen in several years though.

Question though, did anyone else notice the VERY similar sound FX for the creatures as compared to Jurassic Park?

I know Gary Rydstrom didn't work on the film, although I also found it funny he was the main guy on Cameron films for a while and did JP as well... Homage maybe?

[musikwerks]

The actors have nothing to worry about. Motion capture still requires quality actors who can emote and move and express.

There's a cinema near me that has just installed a 3D projection system and took delivery of Avatar on a RAID hard drive device.... digital projection. A friend of mine has seen it from a regular 35mm print and the digital 'print' and says the digi slays the 35mm print. When I get through my next round of chemotherapy I'm going to see it for sure.

[glissando]

I was REALLY against seeing it in 3D....ridiculous concept I thought....just a fad...like 30 years ago....


I was wrong

This NEW 3d is excellent and will change movies. TV and DVD from here on out.

Wow does it ever put you right in the scene and JC did a fantastic job of not driving it down our throats.

Excellent movie...yeah the story is nothing new, but who cares. It was delivered impeccably.

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by Gohanto

I thought it was great. Seen it 3 times (different friends kept going, I kept not being able to say no).

Best movie I've seen in several years though.

Question though, did anyone else notice the VERY similar sound FX for the creatures as compared to Jurassic Park?

I know Gary Rydstrom didn't work on the film, although I also found it funny he was the main guy on Cameron films for a while and did JP as well... Homage maybe?

Chris Boyes was the Supervising Sound Designer/Editor as well as one of the Re-Recording Mixers- For the first JP, he recorded a lot of the animal source, and he was the Sound Designer on the 2nd & 3JP's as well as that other Cameron box office disappointment "Titanic", Also he mixed LOTR and many others....

[matt82aust]

Originally Posted by musikwerks

The actors have nothing to worry about. Motion capture still requires quality actors who can emote and move and express.

There's a cinema near me that has just installed a 3D projection system and took delivery of Avatar on a RAID hard drive device.... digital projection. A friend of mine has seen it from a regular 35mm print and the digital 'print' and says the digi slays the 35mm print. When I get through my next round of chemotherapy I'm going to see it for sure.

Heya musikwerks, what is the cinema with the 3d projection system?

and get well brother!

[The Elf]

A great film. What I liked most was the use of 3D to see '*into* the film, as opposed to the corny use of throwing things into our laps (which actually doesn't work for me, and a lot of other people). Within 5 minutes of the start I forgot all about 3D, CGI and the technicalities of it all and was just watching a good (if slightly overbearing) story.

I almost wanted the film to end on a dark note, before the 'cavalry arrive' moment - I think that might actually have been a brave move and more poignant.

[musikwerks]

Originally Posted by matt82aust

Heya musikwerks, what is the cinema with the 3d projection system?

and get well brother!

Thanks Matt. Getting better as we speak... just a real crappy road to get there.

The theatre in question is the Orpheum in Neutral Bay, on Military Rd.

btw... long time ago now but I loved Supersonic's work on White Collar Blue. Quality.

[soundguydave]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

Yes I saw those trailers and thought YUCK! but that is not at all what it looks like in the theater. Spend some Euros and see it in a good theater before passing judgment.

From James

I also said to Fox we gotta get awareness, then we’ll talk about how good the movie is. Let everybody in the world know this movie exists and think it sucks is a better condition than having a few people think the movie’s great before it comes out. So actually, if we had been smart enough, we would have orchestrated it to be exactly the way it was.

Rest of the article here

A Few Questions for James Cameron - Carpetbagger Blog - NYTimes.com

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by gsilbers

did not like it. it was ok imo. not a big deal. it was just like a regular animation but with well put live actors. i guess for those folks that are not into heavy sci fy stuff.

but final fantasy spirits within had as good as grafics less the human face/expression of course. which in avatar where carefull to avoid with sucess and in a good way.
and final fantasy was was 2001!!!


the only thing i didnt like that much was the save the rain forest/milatry is evil agenda that was pushed soo hard. great for those in right wing folks and 3rd world countries that need to see it and i m all for it but man it was really pushy/selling it too much for me.

music was burried in sfx but i think it did its job. sound fx where ok, they had to recreate an alien planet with similar sounds so its good they didnt go too wierd. (aka, star wars clone war with that lizard obeone kenoby was riding wtf was that sound?! yuk)

imo it has sooooo much marketing that as long its "ok" then everyone portraits like its the best thing ever.

btw.. when did that guy sleep? he was awake being that blue creature and was awake while being off the avatar machine.

Sorry you did not like it.

I asked the same question about sleep myself.

As to the overdone military vs science sub plot yes it was cliché but it really did not detract from the overall feeling of the film IMHO.

The film was AMAZING. It was a good story, it had good characterization and had great sound and visual effects. Not much more you can ask for in a movie made for today's audiences.

[b808]

The sound was stellar.
I loved how some of the missle explosions didnt sound like your average missle fx but more of the sound of... two planets colliding or something like that.

Other moments were the bullet impacts and the placement of the dialoge in the rear surrounds, all really cool and just at the right times.

[mgoorevich]

Unbelievable! Fantastic. Just like a good dream!
I like how the animals spoke, not only big but also smaller ones.
From the one side it had to be realistic and regognizable...from the other side - different.
All kids and their parents - it's amust see! (I don't say it's not well for adults, it's simply can help to form a great sence of beauty, imagination and love to kids).

[bluesky]

re sleep issue

The humans "drive" the avatars while they sleep. So, while the human is
"sleeping" the avatar is awake, and while the avatar sleeps, the human is awake.

That's the premise.

The movie blew me away, including the story. IMHO, this kind of story is only possible because of the incredible effects which, for me, made me believe in what I was seeing. And what I was seeing was the possibility of living a totally authentic life, in harmony with the community and with the environment. The thing is the Na'vi have something on us - the braid that allows them to biologically bond with the planet, other animals, and themselves. I can't even imagine the kind of intimacy that would be possible if we had such a device. No wonder Jake Sulley wanted to be a Na'vi. The Na'vi experience would be so much deeper than our human experience ever could be.

Unless, of course you believe in yogic, taoist, and buddhist alchemical practices (and the like), but I'm not going to go there. Even then, we don't have the kind of environment on Earth anymore.

This movie really hit home for me.

[loglady]

Originally Posted by Tringboy

just came back from seeing it in 3D its shockingly good. Far far beyond what i had hoped it would be.

ditto!

[Branko]

Seen it yesterday, 3D.
I liked it very much, it's not about special FX or CGIs, it is a good, well written screenplay, great acting and great directing. All the violence is non-explicit, as much as it is possible, and there's no credibility issue regarding visual FX - you just watch it as if it's all natural.
One thing that was important for me - the sound is mixed with a lot of taste. There are no unnecessary loud noises, the mixing team decided to use the upper part of the PPM scale for dynamics, not for loudness. Dialogues sit perfectly in the mix, sound details are carefully chosen and placed. Excellent dialogue panning, matching perfectly the 3D picture. A real pleasure to listen to!

[PlugHead]

damn,

We (wife and I) went tonight and were turned away from the sold out (3d) show...

We plan on trying again tomorrow - here's hoping we make it in!

[Steven1145]

I saw it last wednesday in 3D. This was my "let's give 3D another chance" movie, as I had seen Up in 3D a few months ago and it sort of ruined the experience for me. So I let James Cameron convince me into seeing Avatar in 3D.
OK, not bad. Certainly a better experience than Up was. But for me it's still not the best thing since sliced bread (or Vintage tubes as we are on GS after all).
Sound wise in the theater I saw it at the whole mix was too loud. Admittedly I was in the first few rows, but even the louder dialog parts were ear-bashing. It really reduced the listening pleasure for me.
Otherwise a masterfully created piece of work. The story is OK, a bit simplistic, but OK. Acting is good.

And around the middle of the movie, I was watching a Na'Vi on screen and wondering if it was CGI or not... Truly a photorealistic result on screen.

[Toro]

was there any people of color in this film? oh no yeah the alliens .. what was i thinking !!
great film !!

[errorspending]

movie was amazing! don't know how they managed to make it for 400 million...looks like it cost a lot more. I've never been so impressed by visuals in my life...

[musicmatt]

Visually, was the best film I've ever seen. A LOT of detail going on there. 3D was more stimulating than crack. Same headache after too.

Story, I thought it was a great concept, very political, but entertaining.

Characters, I didn't like the acting/development of the main antagonists. Really liked the pretty blue girl.

Music, I was a bit disappointed. James Horner didn't do anything special, it seemed like a mash up of titanic mixed with something else I've heard before. Music fit the vibe though, which is what is important. But still..

Great movie!!! (I was kidding about the crack bit).

[Jesse Peterson]

This was the first flick I've seen in a while where I wasn't saying to myself, I know how they did that, or, I wonder how they did that.. I just got totally sucked in. All they need to do now is add dynamic scent and temperature control to these films. Really fun and amazing experience.

go see it

[MC Blind]

I saw it this past Friday and really enjoyed Avatar. The story, the visuals and the sound where all stellar. The 3D was the best and most realistic 3D that I've ever seen. Some scenes at the end had a level of detail that I've never seen with effects, truly immersive. Some scenes here and there don't look as nice, it's as if they decided which scenes to really take it to the next level with.

I want to mention that the story is very touching and I don't mind saying that the girl is hot. She is just so cool in that natural un-fake kind of way. It is ironic because she is so organic and natural and yet created with digital tools. I guess that says a lot about the performance and the movie. I can't wait to go see it again.