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AVATAR - Sci-fi epic by James Cameron @ COMIC-CON
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bluescreenoflife
Banned
Surprisingly, True Lies (and it's visual effects) still hold up very well considering how many years it's been, even in HD.Shrinnan said:
Also if you haven't seen Aliens, there's no time like the present if you're a sci-fi fan. The tropes it created really are ubiquitous in today's "space/military" games and films. Whether it's the marine designs and Sergeant Johnson in Halo 1, or direct lines spoken in Modern Warfare, there are few properties in that spectrum today that aren't "inspired" in some way by Aliens.
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Scullibundo said:
on that point, even with the theatrical cut, i never understood people claiming Aliens was nothing more than a big dumb action movie.
the action is no doubt spectacular and relentless (almost draining) but there is a good hour or more of build before anything even happens, and the tension and dread that is created before it does is incredible. even after all these times watching it i still get a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach in the leadup to the first encounter, where they
find the woman cocooned in the wall and all hell breaks loose.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Jtwo said:So I finished reading the scriptment.
It seriously such a great read, my mind has been reeling all day imagining it.
I actually do not think too much has changed. Nearly every scene we've read about on blogs after the comic-conference was there nearly verbatim.
Ah man, it was incredible. I want to read it again.
I'm usually a spoiler nazi too, and I don't feel even the slightest tinge of regret after reading it.
It seriously captured my imagination that much!
God, I am even more excited now than I was before!
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
DieNgamers
Member
Edit: nm
Here is an old article from 2000 about the scriptment. I skipped the parts to prevent spoilers but I love how he is spot on with his impressions and thoughts in the last paragraph for example (how expensive it would be etc.).
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=5169
Here is an old article from 2000 about the scriptment. I skipped the parts to prevent spoilers but I love how he is spot on with his impressions and thoughts in the last paragraph for example (how expensive it would be etc.).
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=5169
Scullibundo said:I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I'm a little under half way through. I'm still iffy on box office due to the worst marketing job I've ever seen....But this is going to be a tremendous work if they've kept things the same. Haven't made it to the points that I had issues with from the cliffs notes version though. Still, even I must admit that it's terrific so far.
DieNgamers
Member
In one interview he said he'd rather be there as a fan and not as a moviemaker. Maybe that's why.
JimiNutz
Banned
Jtwo said:So I finished reading the scriptment.
It seriously such a great read, my mind has been reeling all day imagining it.
I actually do not think too much has changed. Nearly every scene we've read about on blogs after the comic-conference was there nearly verbatim.
Ah man, it was incredible. I want to read it again.
I'm usually a spoiler nazi too, and I don't feel even the slightest tinge of regret after reading it.
It seriously captured my imagination that much!
God, I am even more excited now than I was before!
Fuck.
Now I'm, tempted to give it a read as well...
No I cant...
I am tempted though
Maybe I'll just read like the first few pages...
DieNgamers
Member
A bit off-topic but has anyone a link to the paintings/sketches for Aliens made by Cameron himself? As far as I remember they looked pretty good but I can't find them anywhere.
Game over, Sculli wins. This should make as much as everyone has said it will. The scriptment is actionpacked, the story is extremely well told, the points that I thought stood out like a sore thumb fit well. It works even without the incredible effects, if it was just standard CGI it would be just as great.
I need to see them pull this off. I can't even imagine some of the things Cameron describes.
The only bitch I have left is to say that Fox can, as usual, suck a bunch of cocks because of their outright horrid marketing. If this movie fails point the finger at whoever thought it would be a great idea to wait until 4 months to even get a damn teaser out.
I bow to Sculli's superior wisdom. Roll on December!
I need to see them pull this off. I can't even imagine some of the things Cameron describes.
The only bitch I have left is to say that Fox can, as usual, suck a bunch of cocks because of their outright horrid marketing. If this movie fails point the finger at whoever thought it would be a great idea to wait until 4 months to even get a damn teaser out.
I bow to Sculli's superior wisdom. Roll on December!
critch said:
Admit it, you were just sorta playing bad cop until now. You boarded the hype train a long time ago. :lol
Also, Jesus Christ you bastards are gonna make me read the damn thing. I believe I read a few pages all those years ago when AICN first had an article about the movie but I stopped. I shall be strong now. I must be.
FirewalkR said:
Seriously, having been burnt by directors before, and the out-of-context bits of the scriptment and story, and the HUGE EFFECTS HYPE...I hear all that I think this would be Cameron's prequels.
Then I read the damn thing and I'm a fool. I needed convincing, you don't, so don't read it
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Hahaha one of us, one of us. Why do you think I've been hyping it these past 4 years? Glad to see you finally came around.
Funny few days. critch come around and praises the story and jett becomes a 3D convert. There is something in the air.
Funny few days. critch come around and praises the story and jett becomes a 3D convert. There is something in the air.
Can someone help me understand how FOX is so goddamn incompetent? (Outside of Fox Searchlight) It's like, they gotta fuck up every opportunity for a good movie that comes their way, either financially or quality wise. X-Men comes to mind immediately, and AVATAR could be a huge bomb if they don't start cranking up the marketing! It just blows my mind.
At least if AVATAR bombs, it'll hopefully take FOX with it.
At least if AVATAR bombs, it'll hopefully take FOX with it.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
On the one hand I would love for FOX to be bankrupted, on the other hand, if AVATAR bombs that would mean no Battle Angel from Cameron. I want Battle Angel. I want AVATAR to do fucking well.
Scullibundo said:
I have no fucking clue why he went with FOX of all people. The way I see it, Cameron is just giving a big fuck you to Hollywood, and just making a blockbuster his way, with as big a budget as he wants. However, I think there are two things that could save this from being a complete bomb: FOX actually steps up the marketing (somewhat likely), or it has incredible WoM (much more likely), which gives it Titanic-esque legs, with a bigger opening and shorter tail. Still, who the fuck thought it was a good idea to make the first glimpse of the movie be in IMAX theaters only for just one hour in the middle of August!? I understand he wants people to see it "the way its meant to be seen", but will people really drive to a remote IMAX location just to watch 15 minutes of free footage? I don't think so. Bad idea, IMO. Actually, scratch that, downright horrible idea.
(edit: actually, the whole WoM thing is helped by its December release, so it has a better chance at having strong legs)
(edit2: The third thing that could save this is a delay to next summer, with a HUGE marketing campaign ramping up until then. That's really unlikely though)
Also, I had a question regarding special effects: T2 and Titanic used ILM right? If so, why doesn't AVATAR have ILM effects? You'd think those two movies did spectacularly, partially due to their awesome effects, so what made him choose WETA? Not that there's anything wrong with WETA, just seems odd...
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
bluescreenoflife said:
Oh, trust me, I'd believe that - especially since T1 held up pretty well as well (besides that one part with the full fledged Terminator, but even that wasn't totally unbelievable and the story was so strong that the effects really didn't matter because the way it was told was just so believable).
I can't wait to see it. I'm going to see Alien sometime this week and that's when I'll watch Aliens next. I'm only watching the first two, no Alien 3 or 4 for me.
Also, this talk about the Avatar script really makes me want to read it. I usually fall to spoilers but this is one movie I am taking a stand on - I really wish I hadn't read those impressions either but that's all the spoilers I'm going to take. I must hang on. I must.
Over the year, Cameron has quickly turned into my favorite director ever. Seriously, T1, T2, and Titanic are some of the best movies I've seen and all three would make it in my personal top 5.
There's a number or reason why specific post houses are chosen for films. Availablity is one, if ILM has already committed to projects over avatars production run then it will limit the amount of work they would be able to complete, and post houses typically book projects up quite far in advance.
Also WETA has a firm reputation in mocap which is used very, very heavily in this film, which is also one of the reason Tintin is being done with WETA.
Also WETA has a firm reputation in mocap which is used very, very heavily in this film, which is also one of the reason Tintin is being done with WETA.
Littleberu
Banned
the walrus said:
The Abyss, T2 and Titanic were a mutual effort from Digital Domain and ILM. At the time, Cameron was CEO of Digital Domain.
I see. Thanks for all the responses. I've never heard of Digital Domain though, what movies have they done? I mean, I don't have a really extensive knowledge of special effects and stuff, but I do know that ILM was Lucas' thing, and WETA is Jackson's. Was Digital Domain like Cameron founded or something?
Digital Domain was helped to be set up by an ex ILM staffer and Cameron, and another guy who had the cash. It was later sold to a consortium which includes Michael Bay. It's also famous for production the up and coming compositing software NUKE, which is on the verge of taking pover from shake as the dominant platform for vfx comp work.
Littleberu
Banned
the walrus said:
Most of the animation work from TF2 has been handled by ILM ; Digital Domain is often recognized as a great compositing place, if not the greatest.
They do quite a lot of 3D work, also. Mostly lately.
Well, no, your also right. Most big budget films are now spread out amongst various facilities since the vfx producer will be looking to play to the vfx studios strengths, and most houses don't have the ability to look after an entire film by themselves.
ILM was the main vendor for Transformers, but that doesn't mean they got the biggest shots, just that they got the bulk.
So you'll find some post houses will get alot of the particle shots for a film if they'be shown in previous work they can perform to a high standard with those types of shots. Same with mocap, creatures, face replacement etc.
ILM was the main vendor for Transformers, but that doesn't mean they got the biggest shots, just that they got the bulk.
So you'll find some post houses will get alot of the particle shots for a film if they'be shown in previous work they can perform to a high standard with those types of shots. Same with mocap, creatures, face replacement etc.
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
Yea, as far as the trailer not releasing yet, that might be, in part, due to James Cameron's insistence about perfection.
Every trailer that was given to him, he has apparently turned down because it doesn't do justice to his movie. This is why I know Avatar is going to be something special and I can see his need for perfection (or at least as much perfection as one individual can achieve) in his past movies.
Every trailer that was given to him, he has apparently turned down because it doesn't do justice to his movie. This is why I know Avatar is going to be something special and I can see his need for perfection (or at least as much perfection as one individual can achieve) in his past movies.
Man, today my mind has just been blown on how the Special Effects companies operate in movies! So, two last questions: Would these guys work on conventional effects (like most of the set pieces in TDK) or just the CGI stuff? And, who did the Special Effects for Terminator Salvation, because, even though it was a totally piece of shit movie, I was actually very impressed with the effects, much more so than TF2, tbh.
Stan Winston's company did all the practical terminators (he also did all the original movies) while ILM, Rising Sun, Asylum and a couple im forgetting did the vfx. ILM i believe was the lead vendor.
By these guys you mean the aforementioned companies? They would handle all the cg work, different companies would look after the stunt/practical effects like explosions on set.
By these guys you mean the aforementioned companies? They would handle all the cg work, different companies would look after the stunt/practical effects like explosions on set.
Meh, it's the Wachowski brothers who should do Battle Angel Alita. That's been my dream since seeing Speed Racer. The Wachoskis doing the motorball sequences would be so amazing. The techniques they experimented with in Speed Racer would be perfect for Alita, possibly even necessary to ever even hope to do the ideas behind the combat justice. I don't think Cameron is appropriate for Battle Angel Alita at all.Scullibundo said:
DancingCactus77
Member
I must admit I am an Avatard. Go Cameron! Prove the critics wrong once again.
I really don't understand why people are giving shit to Fox for this one. It's all Cameron on this one. Fox has given him something like a 250+million dollar Budget on a brand new property. SciFi even.
It seems more like Cameron is holding it back till it reaches the level that he wishes to show, Than Fox's lack of push. I'm sure Fox has been calling him up every day waiting for something to go with :lol
I think it just shows how much pull Director's like Cameron and Spielberg have in Hollywood.
It seems more like Cameron is holding it back till it reaches the level that he wishes to show, Than Fox's lack of push. I'm sure Fox has been calling him up every day waiting for something to go with :lol
I think it just shows how much pull Director's like Cameron and Spielberg have in Hollywood.
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
Zenith said:
I don't remember thinking much about that (when I was viewing it) as much as the full Terminator reveal - but now that you mention it, it was pretty bad for today's standards but, again, the story was so good that I just didn't care.
Tedesco! said:
I'll definitely take that into consideration. I'm just really wary of sequels that try to capitalize on something that doesn't need a sequel (Terminator 3/Salvation) although, to be fair to the Alien franchise, Cameron wasn't the director who came up with it.
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