Avatar –
I have to say, a group of people from work just got back from Avatar in Imax digital 3d…. We were blown away. Hats off to all the amazing artists that were involved with making that film. You guys really set the bar high. I was immersed in the story and characters. The animation/motion capture was superb. You could tell every frame was touched by an animator, mocap or not. I have not felt like that since I was a kid… The facial animation was so believable… Every eye dart, every movement of the brows communicated things so clearly. The world was so lush. I can’t wait to see it again! Some of the guys saw it in 2d and liked it just as much. The way to experience it in my opinion is 3d Imax. Cameron really knows how to push and pull the depth. Also, I hear that Imax digital 3d has the least eye fatigue because of the large format and because they use two projectors. Anyway….. Hats off again to the crew!!!! Finally!
-Andrew
Alex Curtis
I whole heartedly agree! Totally blown away. I walked out of that movie feeling like I did seeing Star Wars for the first time. Maybe even more so. What an amazing job, in every single aspect of production. Of all the brilliant elements, one stood out to me the most. The pacing. What a perfectly paced movie.
The story flowed so naturally that I remained drawn in for the entire 2hrs and 40 mins, never even leaning back in my seat.
One thing I noticed, having seen it in both 2D and 3D is that the motion flowed more smoothly in the 2D version, especially with fast camera movement and deep space. In the 3D I noticed a strobing/stuttering effect with very close objects However, the beautiful environment truly shines in 3D, and I can’t even imagine it in Imax. This is one you have to see on the big screen!
Kevin Scott
I totally agree with you guys. i love it when i go to see a movie that’s 2 hrs 40 mins and i still want more! i cant wait to see it in 3d! i bought in from the beginning and never looked back. the story, the beautiful world, and the ani-mocap was just outstanding. this one shot right up my chart for my 3 fav movies this year, up and star trek being the other 2. great job from James cammeron and his crew!
Aron
Avatar in Imax = Beautifully Epic Mind-Blowing Awesomeness
Rhoda
I really loved the character design of all the Na-vi/Avatars, and how they made Jake/Grace/(the other dude)’s Avatars look like them. The environments were outstanding as well! I saw it in IMAX 3D and it was really epic, but a little choppy for parts like when Jake is being chased by that carnivorous creature. I’m excited to see it again
Charles
Hi,
Well I just saw it a couple of days ago, and I may highly contrast with you guys but with all the buzz, budget and expectancies, I found it weak, story wise.
That’s just my personal opinion, I didn’t care for the main characters, the na’vis looked like stock characters from 4chan (the furry syndrome?) found the dialogues a bit out of place (or close to being dispensable like “terror on terror”,and b-movies actioner quotes…) and well… It seemed like I’ve seen the movie before.
Sounds harsh, but that what I felt. And yes, on a technical standpoint it’s a corner stone, or maybe I’m too spoiled…
(JJ. Abrams’ Star Trek had both great scenario and FX)
Cheers.
C.
Omar
Well i’m on the majority here, I actually felt i scammed the theater when i paid only ten bucks.
I thought I should have paid at least 30, it was superb.
Best movie.. ever imo.
Lluis
Agreed. Pure AWESOMENESS!!!
The Buzz: Filmmakers React to Avatar « MovieDriver – Hollywood Teamster
[...] Animator Andrew Gordon: “We were blown away. Hats off to all the amazing artists that were involved with making that [...]
spiteful
but haven’t you heard the director and actor’s talking? there’s no such thing as animator’s
“To me, it’s the exact opposite,” Producer Jon Landau says. “Our goal on this movie was not to replace the actor, it was to replace the animator. If you think about it, what a great actor does and what a great animator does are antithetical to one another.” http://tinyurl.com/yca85ht
“It’s performance capture. It’s not like any other animation, I didn’t lend my voice like you do on Shrek and you just get some inspired mannerisms and have some illustrators and animators ‘try’ and figure out what YOU were trying to do ” Zoe Saldana on Letterman at 3:01
http://tinyurl.com/yedy4zv
I mean obviously this picture of Andy Serkis vs Gollum (http://tinyurl.com/y8zkuen) shows how 1 to 1 the actor’s performance is captured. He definitely should have gotten an Oscar, while all those hack cheater animator’s are lucky they were in the credits at all, I mean obviously the craftservices people contributed more to the film then them, that’s why they are earlier in the credits.
…
I know everyone here knows all this. Just putting down why if I do watch this overbudget, weak plotted (let me guess, the evil military wants to destroy the noble savages for greed), video game it’ll be off some torrent. It seems detrimental to any future animation employment to support a system that is trying to marginalize the essential artists required. If everyone is convinced animator’s aren’t needed, then animator’s will have no power and be forced to work even longer hours for less money.
Dr. Gordon
Spiteful… Thanks for these links… Its a shame they dont seem to respect animators in these articles… I’d love to hear what the animators working on these films have to say about it…
-Andrew
The Buzz: Filmmakers React to Avatar | /Film
[...] Animator Andrew Gordon: “We were blown away. Hats off to all the amazing artists that were involved with making that [...]
Anonymous
http://tinyurl.com/yjkhzhe
here the producer says the animators used the video recordings of the face as a reference for animators to stay true to the performance of the actors. So I guess, they might be misquoted before.
Anonymous
and not to mention the animators had to animate the ears and tails which perfectly complimented the actors performance and attitude.
Kristine
I’m beginning to want to see this in theaters….
Brian
Girlfriend and I saw it for the second time in 3d 35mm today. I enjoyed it much more in 2d. This was the first movie I’ve seen in 3d. Don’t know if it was the length or the projector, but I started feeling a little nauseous by the end. Anyway, this is the best movie I’ve seen in years. The richness of the characters and the world is what makes this movie. Eagerly awaiting the bluray.
Nathan
My thoughts entirely Andrew, the eye darts and believability of the skin and mouth animation where awe inspiring. I felt like a kid again when I watched it. The lighting was fantastic also, the bar has been raised, that’s for sure!
Reeling ‘Tween the Years - The Mac Lab
[...] Update: Seems some of the folks at Pixar liked Avatar in IMAX 3D, too. I concur. :inspiration 48 comments for this [...]
Sam
If animators aren’t that desperate for work and can choose not to work for the companies doing these films, I’m wondering if the directors would ever change their perception towards animators when they are needed to get a lot of work done…
I’m on the fence on the subject because in one of Keith Lango’s article, (http://keithlango.blogspot.com/2009/08/replace-animator-i-agree-100.html) he pointed out things that I am totally agreeing with. Realistic animation should be left done by the actors while letting animation do what they can do best that mocap cannot achieve due to time and practicality. So I can see years down the road that any human proportionate CG Characters will no longer need the animators to handle their performance and acting, only the ‘cleaning up’ on things like tails, ears, perhaps a little facial/ eye stuff here and there and that’s about it.
Avatar’s story was pretty much a Sci-Fi Ferngully also so I am not too drawn into the story, besides, I’m also tired of people making the whites so evil, they really aren’t always the bad guys and things are never always easily black and white that simple. The being oppressed parties are not always the ‘innocent’ group too.
I did enjoyed it for the pacing and visuals for Avatar, so it’s still a great movie for me.
Blaue große Männchen/Weibchen « StevyGee's Project Blog
[...] computergenerierte Charaktere wiederzugeben. Es funktioniert alles auf so vielen Ebenen und wirkt selbst für das geschulte Auge technisch perfekt [...]
Max
LOL @ second comment
Garrett
Re:Spline Doctors » Blog Archive » Avatar –
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Seth
Take a look at this behind the scenes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2_vB7zx_SQ
James Cameron said in this behind the scenes, “This is not an animated film”. I think that mentality carried through the whole production crew where the animators get little credit. Im not a motion capture guy, but if the animators don’t touch it, won’t it look like plastic? Just think “Polar Express”. In the behind the scenes, its the actors taking 100% of the credit leaving no thanks for the animators. Im interested in what other people think about this.