Blog 4: Avatar

Director James Cameron's Avatar is this year's blockbuster hit! It is the highest grossing movie of all time, beating out the former title holder, Cameron's Titanic. It includes revolutionary animation and crystal clear 3D. Avatar is a must-see cinematic masterpiece.

Avatar is set in the future on a foreign planet called Pandora. This planet is inhabited by beautiful humanoid creatures called the Navi. The humans are on this planet to excavate and collect the extremely rare and value stone, Unobtainium. The conflict begins when it is explained that the largest deposit of this stone is directly beneath the Navi village. Jake Sully, a paralyzed former marine, is sent to infiltrate the Navi village disguised in an Avatar Navi body which he remotely controls (when controlling the Avatar, the person is put in a machine which allows them to feel, move, and live as if they were actually in that Navi Avatar body). Jake soon becomes entranced by the beauty of this world and the connection that the Navi have with it. He falls in love with his Navi teacher, Neytiri, who is the princess of the people. As the excavation date nears, Jake must choose between this magical new world and the home he came from.

Segourney Weaver plays the off beat and tough scientist who developed the Avatar program. The handsome Sam Worthington, known for his role in the latest Terminator, plays Jake Sully. The Navi people in Avatar were made to look incredibly real using the latest performance capture technology and Cameron's own creation of the image based facial performance capture. These technologies mean that that every movement of the CGI characters on the screen was performed by the actors. They are put into suits with sensors on them and they perform every stunt and every movement that the character does. There is also a little camera attached to the actor's helmet that records their facial expressions and then transfers every nuance of emotion to the Navi person. Therefore, what you are seeing on the screen is an almost exact performance and interpretation by the actors in the body of a Navi.

This movie is an amazing visual and cinematic experience that will leave you in awe. Avatar is the start of a whole new movie generation. Be sure you don't miss the epic film, Avatar!