Cameron’s Avatar Re-Affirms That He...

...Is “King of the World”

BY COLIN ENQUIST

James Cameron’s Avatar has been a decade long project. One that began shortly after he proclaimed himself as “King of the World” during his Oscar speech, one of the many awards Titanic (Cameron’s last feature film) won, way back in 1997. Since that time the world has seen 6 Olympic games, the September 11th attacks, Michael Jackson’s death, Hurricane Katrina, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a final Harry Potter book, Barack Obama becoming the first African-American U.S. President and the threat of global warming. In between all of those moments the film industry has grown to having most films utilize the blockbuster formula that brought Titanic its 11 (of a possible 14) Academy Awards. Although, it’s arguable, none have changed cinema in the way Titanic has.

It is only fitting that the next wave of change is brought upon us by Cameron. But after a twelve year hiatus, aside from a few documentary films, is Cameron still “King of the World”?

The keys to the success of Avatar will be how well the new technology works, but Cameron still needs to tell an engaging story to keep us planted in our seats. As Cameron begins working his magic, you get the sense this story has already been told. Even with the comparisons to Fern Gully, Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves, Avatar is so unique that the similarities are forgivable.

Written by Cameron, Avatar delves into the alien world called Pandora, and its beautiful natives, the Na’vi. With no desire to forge any bond with the Na’vi, SecFor is only looking for Unobtanium. “This is why we're here, because this little grey rock sells for twenty million a kilo,” reminds Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), head administrator of the operation. Although we are never meant to know what Unobtanium does, it does not matter. Unlike Parker, who wants the Unobtanium at whatever cost, be it diplomatic or war, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) only wants war. Colonel Quaritch enlists one of the newest Avatar recruits, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), to infiltrate the Na’vi people once linked up to his Avatar. Sully, a marine paraplegic with no Avatar training, is only on Pandora because of the death of his twin brother, leaving him as the only person capable of piloting the expensive Avatar. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) is the lead scientist that helped write the book on the creation of Avatar’s, which are cloned after being mapped out by the pilots human genome, making Sully an asset, due to having the same genome as his now deceased twin. Don’t think Sully fails to notice this could be his last chance to walk again either.

As Sully commences to learn the ways of the Na’vi, the predictable nature of the plot begins to show. Once fully accepted into the Na’vi clan, and only then, does Sully realize exactly what the sky people (what the Na’vi call humans) are doing to the planet.

Cameron paces this film so well, when the third act begins, the all out war does not seem to be an action centre piece. Unlike other blockbusters, you feel the sense of urgency along with the Na’vi.

Not to shy away from any minute detail, Cameron immerses us completely into this new world, just as George Lucas did with Star Wars and Peter Jackson with The Lord of the Rings. Cameron places exotic wildlife all around us, enhancing the experience is the marvellous use of the 3D technology. During some scenes, you almost wanted to reach out and brush aside the forest, truly creating a magnificent experience.

This film was made for 3D, and Cameron is the director that is not going to just use it as a gimmick either. Rather then make you feel like you are watching a movie, Cameron almost tricks us into believing we are actually on Pandora. He does use the 3D technology very conservatively at times, but when Cameron wants your eyes trained on something specific, it is just beautiful.

Not only did Cameron create a new technology for the film, he also created a new language. With the help of Prof. Paul Frommer, a linguistics professor at the University of Southern California, they created a 1000 word language for the Na’vi, based off of the Amharic language of Ethiopia. Cameron himself created at least 30 of the words for the Na’vi vocabulary.

James Horner did not want to waste this new language either, using it in one of the songs he composed for the film. This was Horner’s third collaboration with Cameron, the others being Aliens and Titanic.

Surprisingly with all that is going on in the film, Cameron manages to get very life like performances out of the actors portraying the Na’vi. Zoe Saldana does a wonderful job of playing the blue skinned Neytiri. You could argue, if Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in LOTR) deserved an Oscar nomination, Saldana might as well. Will that happen? The safe bet would be no but she really carries this film at times. Weaver and Worthington’s blue skinned counterparts were impressive as well, although Weaver’s was the least believable of the three.

After seeing Avatar, Cameron still holds his “King of the World” title, at least until someone can take it from him. Avatar was filled with stunning imagery of an extravagant world that requires multiple viewings. The predictable story does not bring the film down at all either, this is due to Cameron’s ability to place enough doubt in the viewers mind during the film that they will be unsure of what happens next. Whether the budget was the reported $200 million or the rumoured $350+ million, it is all up there on the screen, waiting for you to reach out and touch it.

IMAX Success Is Rising

Is IMAX taking over the movie theatre industry?

BY COLIN ENQUIST

Jumping into your seat, staring skyward, wondering exactly where the screen ends and the ceiling begins, you sit, waiting patiently for the film to start. A flash of light, sound bursting inside your eardrums, you can almost hear a drum roll playing as the film is about to start. Extra money well spent you tell yourself, not on the popcorn or the drink but the ticket stub that says The IMAX Experience.

For those who don't know, IMAX is short for Image MAXimum and it is a motion picture film format and projection standard created by Canada's IMAX Corporation which debuted the new technology at Expo ‘67 in Montreal, Canada. IMAX screens have the capacity to display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems. Standard IMAX screens are 22 metres (72 ft) wide and 16.1 metres (53 ft) high, but they can vary. As of April 2009, there are 320 IMAX theatres in 42 countries (65% of these are located in Canada and the United States). About 60% of these are commercial theatres with the other 40% being located in educational venues. Cinesphere (pictured above right), is the world's first permanent IMAX theatre, opening its doors in 1971 at Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The intent of IMAX is to dramatically increase the resolution of the image by using a much larger film frame. To achieve this, 65 mm film stock is run horizontally through the cameras. While traditional 65 mm film has an image area that is 48.5 mm wide and 22.1 mm tall, in IMAX the image is 69.6 mm wide and 48.5 mm tall (comparison pictured left). In order for the film to expose at standard film speed of 24 frames per second, three times as much film is needed to move through the camera each second.

An IMAX projector (pictured below left) is therefore a substantial piece of equipment, weighing up to 1.8 tonnes and towering at over 70" [178 cm] tall and 75" [195 cm] long. The xenon lamps (pictured right) used are made of a thin layer of quartz crystal, and contain xenon gas at a pressure of about 25 atmospheres; because of this, projectionists are required to wear protective body armour (yikes!) when changing or handling these in case the lamp breaks (so they better not drop them!) because the flying shards of crystal could be extremely deadly when combined with the high pressure of the gas within.

Disney produced Fantasia 2000: The IMAX Experience, the first full-length animated feature released exclusively (on January 1st, 2000) in the IMAX format (the film would later have a conventional theatrical release). Many other films would later open in IMAX the same day they debuted at conventional theatres such as the two Matrix sequels, Superman Returns, Spider-Man 3, Watchmen and all the Harry Potter films released since 2004. Almost all these films had successful runs at the IMAX.

The most successful was the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight which featured six sequences (a total of 30 minutes) shot using IMAX technology. This was the first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras. The film broke box office records for IMAX, taking in about $6.3 million from 94 theatres in the U.S. and Canada over the opening weekend. Star Trek debuted last week surpassing The Dark Knight’s IMAX take, cashing in for $8.3 million. During its second week, Trek’s IMAX portion of its gross was down 29 percent to an estimated $5.1 million at 138 sites, which was a record second weekend for the format. The IMAX tally is $17.4 million, accounting for nearly 12 percent of the overall total. Starting May 22, Star Trek is scheduled to relinquish its IMAX screens to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, who will have a tough time topping the Star Trek haul.

Slowly but surely IMAX is taking over the movie theatre industry. The only thing stopping them is their lack of theatres. Many people would rather pay the extra $2-$5 for a movie ticket just to see the film of their choice in IMAX. I know I would, the superior picture is nice for sure, but I can’t get over the sound difference compared to a conventional theatre. If the record openings continue we may get more IMAX theatres opening worldwide.

Check out some of these films upcoming in IMAX in 2009 and beyond that you may need to buy tickets for. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, A Christmas Carol and the highly anticipated Avatar are all being released in 2009 under the IMAX 3D Experience banner. Around the corner in 2010 is Alice in Wonderland, Shrek Goes Fourth, The Tree of Life and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part I. Three films have already been announced for 2011 as well, Spider-Man 4, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Part II of the Deathly Hollows.

3-D Films Galore

"Alice" coming to IMAX in 3-D along with many other films over the next few years.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and IMAX Corporation jointly announced that the new Tim Burton film, Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice, will be released to IMAX theaters simultaneously with the film's wide release on March 5, 2010. The special IMAX 3-D release will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. This is the third film confirmed out of the five-film agreement between IMAX and Disney, which was announced on November 19, 2008.

Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, spoke fondly of the idea of "Alice" in 3-D, "If ever there was a film that cried out to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D and the premium IMAX 3-D format, Tim Burton's fantastic interpretation of 'Alice in Wonderland' is that film. This is going to be an eye-popping cinematic experience as Tim takes moviegoers down the rabbit hole and into the dimensional world filled with incredible characters, sly humor, and wild adventures. Disney's partnership with IMAX is taking shape with two amazing films already on the schedule. We look forward to working with them in bringing exciting new experiences and quality entertainment to IMAX screens around the world."

"We think that Disney's new 'Alice in Wonderland' is exactly the type of 3-D story telling that will resonate with IMAX audiences," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We believe our worldwide commercial theatre network will be approximately 50 percent larger by the time this film is released, giving more and more people a chance to experience the magic of Disney in IMAX."

"'Alice in Wonderland' is a fantastic addition to our 2010 film slate," added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "Combining a beloved Disney classic re-designed through the imagination of Tim Burton's creative vision with these incredibly outrageous characters and world class actors certainly makes for an event-status film, and we're pleased to add another level of excitement to this highly-anticipated movie. "Visionary filmmaker Tim Burton will put his distinctive touch on the combination live-action and performance capture version of Lewis Carroll's classic tale "Alice in Wonderland." The all-star cast includes Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.

Walt Disney Studios announced that they are now releasing the 3-D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 together on October 2nd. The double feature will be the first place you'll be able to see the trailer for Toy Story 3 and the only place to see it in 3-D. No word yet if double feature means one movie ticket for both films or if the films will also be released in non-3-D theatres as well.

Disney also announced the 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast (of which the studio showed the opening musical number "Belle" in 3-D at ShoWest) is going to be released on February 12, 2010.

Avatar, the James Cameron brainchild is set to debut in 3-D December 18, 2009. Cameron has had the film in development for about 14 years, in 1995 he wrote a 80-page scriptment for Avatar. It should set the stage for 3-D films and more than likely raise the bar higher then ever thought possible by most viewers. Avatar tells the story of an ex-Marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival. The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi.

With many other films coming down the pipeline with a 3-D release. This could be the new wave of cinema or it could just be a flash in the pan if the first few films don't impress movie goers.