Every time James Cameron makes a movie,
it is often the most expensive and most ambitious production to date.
And if the current filmmaking technology doesn't match his vision,
he creates his own technology.
When he made "Avatar", it was a quantum leap forward
in performance capture photography.
And now with "Avatar 2", he's done it once again.
This is "How They Shot It".
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In this series, we've covered movies like "Titanic", "Top Gun: Maverick",
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Now, off to Pandora, we go.
"- Let's dance."
- We'll be using StudioBinder shot list feature to fully populate our shot specs.
James Cameron had been dreaming of "Avatar" for decades.
He wrote the original treatment before making "Titanic",
but the technology at the time could not match his vision.
"- I was on a quest for the Holy Grail.
The Holy Grail was to be able to reproduce full human emotion in a CG character.
So he waited, and over the next few years,
he oversaw the development of the tech and processes required.
In 2007, they finally cracked the code.
For Cameron's sci-fi epic, three different camera systems were used
for three different shooting scenarios.
CG Performance Capture.
Live action.
And a hybrid of the two.
The first was a virtual system used for motion capture scenes.
Basic motion capture technology works like this.
Actors wear suits with markers that reflect infrared light
back to stationary cameras.
This provides data points that animators can use to create a digital character.
For Avatar, this was done on a MoCap stage called "The Volume".
While HD reference cameras provided animators with detailed coverage
to complete the physical performance, a reported 120 stationary cameras
captured the actors' positions and movements.
All of this was standard procedure for motion capture.
But Cameron added two key innovations that pushed this process to the next level.
First, each actor wore a small camera rigged to the helmet
whose sole purpose was to capture the facial performances.
This is why Cameron prefers the term performance capture
and not simply motion capture.
Previous films tried to animate faces without these cameras.
But for Cameron, the results were unsatisfactory.
The helmet cam gave the animators the solid foundation they needed
to render the emotional spectrum he wanted.
"- I trusted you.
- Trust me now, please.
- You will never be one of The People!"
- Second, a virtual camera could render the actors as their eventual CG characters
and their environments in real-time.
They dubbed this the swing camera for its ability to shoot in any direction,
as Cameron explains.
'The virtual camera allows me to direct computer
generated scenes as I would live action scenes.
I can see my actors performing as their characters in real-time,
and I can move my camera to adjust to their performances.
But actors weren't the only elements recorded in "The Volume".
Models of the vehicles with the same infrared markers attached
could be manually flown to map out the aerial choreography.
The volume also played a key role in the production design.
While the sets were being built for the upcoming live-action part of the production
Cameron could use the virtual camera to rehearse the scenes in a virtual set.
In this process, changes discovered on the virtual set could be applied
to the actual set they would shoot on later.
The final task using the virtual camera was done
months after the initial performance capture.
With the actor's work done
Cameron worked alone in "The Volume" to choose the final shots of those performances,
including the close-ups that showcased the human emotions
in CG characters he was after from the beginning.
These shots eventually went to 'Weta Digital' for the final renders.
Once the performance capture was complete, the crew packed up and headed to New Zealand
to shoot all the live-action footage with the Fusion 3D Camera.
The Fusion camera rig had two Sony F950s cameras to shoot native 3D.
One was mounted horizontally and the other was mounted vertically
shooting through a beam splitter.
This meant that one camera shot left eye footage
and the other shot footage for the right eye.
Previous 3D cameras were locked in a rig,
but the fusion rig can articulate each camera to mimic
how the human eye adjusts to perceive depth and focus.
This creates a more natural 3D effect that matches our own vision.
The Fusion camera was also used for shots that combined
both CGI and live-action elements.
This was called 'The Simulcam System'.
Reflective markers were placed on the fusion camera rig
so that it could be registered by the motion capture system.
Through the camera monitor,
live-action elements could be composed and timed
with previously captured CG performances.
Today, we know this as augmented reality.
What 'The Simulcam' provides is more control and flexibility
when compositing live-action with CGI.
The more traditional process shoots actors against a green screen first.
Then the animators are forced to match their work to the actor,
which often creates compromises.
The Simulcam system reduces those potential compromises
by giving the actors and filmmakers more accurate reference points.
They could adjust the framing.
Or match the timing of both live action and CG performances.
The end product then is a more seamlessly integrated shot.
"Avatar" went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all.
Apparently, all the hard work really paid off.
"- Look at all that cheddar."
- But when it came time to head back to Pandora for the sequel,
these revolutionary techniques evolved even further.
"Avatar" saw a leap forward in technology and filmmaking.
And 13 years later, Cameron and his team did it again for the sequel.
Following the first film, the sequel would be shot in 3D.
But what about shooting 3D underwater?
The camera options at the time were large and difficult to operate.
They were also subject to distortions and artifacts
because they had to shoot through ports on the housing.
But then Cameron discovered DP and inventor Pawel Achtel,
who had developed a next-gen 3D underwater camera never before used in a feature film.
The Deep X 3D is similar to Cameron's Fusion 3D system
using two cameras and a beam splitter.
For lenses, Achtel used Nikonos submersible lenses,
meaning they can work outside the housing for supreme clarity.
Besides the 3D camera, the entire performance capture process
was also made to work underwater
which naturally gave rise to a brand new set of challenges.
For one, the performance capture stage was now set up inside a tank
with 900,000 gallons of water.
But the scale and demands placed on the actors for "Avatar 2" were unprecedented.
They could have shot these scenes dry for wet,
which they did for the original "Avatar".
This involves suspending the actors from wires and having them swim through the air.
But Cameron, being Cameron, it was the authenticity of being underwater
that would yield the most accurate references for the animators.
One problem they encountered involved how light interacted with water.
These reflections created false markers
that disrupted the performance capture cameras.
To counteract this, they covered the water surface with white plastic balls
to eliminate the reflections, but still let light through.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the actors was holding their breath.
As Cameron explains, 'Using scuba gear simply could not work.
Scuba bubbles would create too much noise in our performance capture system.
So no matter how long the scene took, if it took 2, 3, 4 minutes to shoot,
everybody was holding their breath'.
The cars trained with professional divers to be
able to act underwater for minutes at a time.
Sigourney Weaver was able to work underwater for over 6 minutes.
And Kate Winslet broke Tom Cruise's record for the longest breath hold for a film
with a staggering 7 minutes and 14 seconds.
With these two films, Cameron and his team created something out of this world.
Who knows what they'll come up with for "Avatar 3"?
All of this effort to make these films is solely driven by Cameron's quest
to infuse CG characters with human emotions.
The biggest complaint about CGI is that no matter how real it looks,
it still feels unnatural.
As long as filmmakers like Cameron push what's possible with these technologies,
that bridge between natural and unnatural gets shorter and shorter.
Whether your next project is set on Pandora or this planet,
you need to be prepared.
Write, schedule, and shot list like a pro with StudioBinder.
Until next time, no need to hold your breath until our next video.
We'll see you next week.
"- I see you.
- I see you."