Production - Filming

Principal photography for Avatar began in April 2007 in Los Angeles and Wellington, New Zealand. Cameron described the film as a hybrid with a full live-action shoot in combination with computer-generated characters and live environments.

"Ideally at the end of the day the audience has no idea which they're looking at," Cameron said. The director indicated that he had already worked four months on nonprincipal scenes for the film. The live action was shot with a modified version of the proprietary digital 3-D Fusion Camera System, developed by Cameron and Vince Pace.

According to Cameron, the film is composed of 60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action, as well as traditional miniatures. Additional live action elements were filmed at Kerner Studios on Kernercam 3D systems and RED cameras.

During filming, Cameron made use of his virtual camera system, a new way of directing motion-capture filmmaking. The system is showing the actors' virtual counterparts in their digital surroundings in real time, allowing the director to adjust and direct scenes just as if shooting live action.

Reference: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/20/3d-film-avatar-james-cameron-technology

Production - Themes and inspirations

Avatar is primarily an action-adventure journey of self-discovery, in the context of imperialism and deep ecology. Cameron said his inspiration was "every single science fiction book I read as a kid", and that he was particularly striving to update the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter series. The director has acknowledged that Avatar shares themes with the films At Play in the Fields of the Lord, The Emerald Forest, and Princess Mononoke, which feature clashes between cultures and civilizations, and with Dances With Wolves, where a battered soldier finds himself drawn to the culture he was initially fighting against.

The look of the Na'vi—the humanoids indigenous to Pandora—was inspired by a dream that Cameron's mother had, long before he started work on Avatar. In her dream, she saw a blue-skinned woman 12 feet (4 m) tall, which he thought was "kind of a cool image". He included similar creatures in his first screenplay (written in 1976 or 1977), which featured a planet with a native population of "gorgeous" tall blue aliens. The Na'vi were based on them



Reference: http://fusionfilter.com/?p=6178

Marketing - Promotional Deals

As with all A-listed Hollywood films, Avatar underwent much promotional sponsorship both before and during the release of the film. Such companies involved were Mcdonalds, Panasonic and Coca-Cola.

McDonalds
McDonalds offered promotional materials both within their restraunts and online as well. This included Happy Meal toys of the Avatar characters that lit up with touch and sound and online games and short videos on their websites. In Australian restraunts competitions were avaliable to customers on their cups and tray liners.
On the website there are a number of "online experiences" on offer such as the McDVision", which reveals scences and characters from the movie, "PandoraROV" which lets you explore Pandora and "PandoraQuest" in which the player must explore Pandora to find hidden objects.

Panasonic
Panasonic offered a $25 rebate on the purchase of a Panasonic Blu-ray Disc plater or home entertainment system and a copy of the Blockbuster film on wither disc format.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola released special packaging of its Coke-Zero product in over 30 countries. The can and bottles would feature the AVTAR mark and promote their webpage which was conplete with Avatar games in 3D motion graphics. This game was only able to be accessed via holding the promotional pack in front of a webcam.

These were only some of the companies associated with the promotion of Avatar, but were probably the biggest.

Production - Development

From January to April 2006, Cameron worked on the script and developed a culture for the film's aliens, the Na'vi. Their language was created by Dr. Paul Frommer, a linguist at USC. The Na'vi language has a vocabulary of about 1000 words, with some 30 added by Cameron. The tongue's phonemes include ejective consonants (such as the "kx" in "skxawng") that are found in the Amharic language of Ethiopia, and the initial "ng" that Cameron may have taken from New Zealand Māori.

In July 2006, Cameron announced that he would film Avatar for a mid 2008 release and planned to begin principal photography with an established cast by February 2007.

The January 2007 press release described the film as "an emotional journey of redemption and revolution" and said the story is of "a wounded former Marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in biodiversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival". The story would be of an entire world complete with an ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language.

In addition, the cost of the film at about $280–310 million to produce and an estimated $150 million for marketing.

Marketing - Avatar The Video Game

Avatar the Video Game is set as a prequel to the movie. The game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Computer, Wii and Nintendo DS on 1st December 09 and on PSP on the 8th Dec 09. With mixed reviews, the versions developed for some platforms were better received than others, e.g. the Xbox 360 is regarded as better than the Wii and Playstation versions.

PLOT:
The game is set 2 years before the events of the film and starts with a new Sig Spec arriving named Able Ryder whose first mission is to save 5 marines and then another Sig Spec from the viperwolves. After the first few challenges are complete Ryder gets told to get in his avatar, with his mission being to get cell samples. Ryder eventually finds out that there is a mole amongst the avatar drivers, and finds out by following a Na'vi. Ryder must then make a choice between killing the mole or siding with the Na'vi by wiping out the marines.

You can view the promotinal video at:

James Cameron's Avatar The Game: Walkthrough Video

This video includes interview of James Cameron and scenes from the game in action.

Link taken from youtube.com

 

The official website for the game is:

http://avatargame.uk.ubi.com/
This website includes information on both the game and the movie and provides links to discussion boards, and their facebook and twitter sites.

Production - Origins

In 1994, director James Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for Avatar. In August 1996, he announced that after completing Titanic, he would film Avatar, which would make use of synthetic, or computer-generated, actors. The project would cost $100 million and involve at least six actors in leading roles "who appear to be real but do not exist in the physical world". Visual effects house Digital Domain, with whom Cameron has a partnership, joined the project, which was supposed to begin production in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 release. However, Cameron felt that the technology had not caught up with the story and vision that he intended to tell.

In February 2006, Cameron revealed that his film Project 880 was "a retooled version of Avatar", a film that he had tried to make years earlier, citing the technological advances in the creation of the computer-generated characters Gollum, King Kong, and Davy Jones. Cameron had chosen Avatar over his project Battle Angel after completing a five-day camera test in the previous year.

Reference : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/

Cast

Humans

• Sam Worthington as Corporal Jake Sully. Sully is a disabled former Marine who becomes part of the Avatar Program. His military background helps the Na'vi warriors relate to him.

• Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch. Quaritch is the head of the mining operation's security detail. Fiercely loyal to his military code, he has a profound disregard for Pandora's inhabitants that is evident in both his actions and his language.

• Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine. Augustine is an exobiologist and head of the Avatar Program.
• Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacón. Chacón is a combat pilot assigned to support the Avatar Program who is sympathetic to the Na'vi.
• Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge. Selfridge is the corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation.

• Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman. Spellman is a xenoanthropologist who studies plant and animal life as part of the Avatar Program.
  
• Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a scientist who works in the Avatar Program and comes to support Jake's rebellion against the RDA.

Na'vi

• Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. Neytiri is the daughter of the Omaticaya leader, the Na'vi clan central to the story, who is attracted to Jake because of his bravery while being frustrated.
• C. C. H. Pounder as Mo'at. Mo'at is the Omaticaya's spiritual leader, Neytiri's mother, and consort to clan leader Eytukan.

• Wes Studi as Eytukan. Eytukan is the Omaticaya's clan leader, Neytiri's father, and Mo'at's mate.

• Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey. Tsu'tey is heir to the chieftainship of the tribe, and at the beginning of the film's story he is betrothed to Neytiri.

Reference : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/

Plot continue

Despite Grace's argument that destroying Hometree could affect the bio-botanical neural network to which Pandoran organisms are connected, Selfridge gives Jake and Grace one hour to convince the Na'vi to evacuate. When Jake reveals his original mission, Neytiri accuses him of betrayal, and Jake and Grace's avatars are tied up. Quaritch's forces destroy Hometree, killing Neytiri's father, as well as many others. Mo'at frees Jake and Grace, but they are unplugged and imprisoned. Trudy, a pilot disgusted with Quaritch's brutal methods, breaks them out and flies them to an avatar link outpost. During the escape, Quaritch shoots and seriously wounds Grace.

The Na'vi fight back but suffer heavy casualties; Tsu'tey and Trudy are killed. Just when all seems lost, Pandoran wildlife suddenly join the attack and overwhelm the humans, which Neytiri interprets as Eywa answering Jake's prayer. Jake destroys a shuttle converted into a makeshift bomber before it can reach the Tree of Souls. Just before his own ship crashes, Quaritch dons an AMP suit and breaches the avatar link unit containing Jake's human body, exposing Jake to Pandora's poisonous atmosphere, before Neytiri kills him. She gets to Jake in time to save him. They reaffirm their love as she sees his human body for the first time.

With the exception of Jake, Norm, Max, and several other scientists, all humans are expelled from Pandora (including Selfridge). Jake is seen wearing the insignia of the Omaticaya leader. The clan performs the ritual dedicated to Eywa that permanently transfers Jake from his human body into his avatar.

Reference: http://www.avatarthemovie.com.au/

Plot

In the year 2154, the RDA Corporation is mining a valuable mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a lush, Earth-like moon in the Alpha Centauri star system. Pandora is inhabited by the non-technological Na'vi, ten-foot-tall (3 m), blue-skinned, sapient humanoids who live in harmony with nature and worship a mother goddess called Eywa.

To learn about the Na'vi and Pandora's biosphere, scientists use Na'vi-human hybrid bodies called avatars that are operated via mental link by genetically matching humans. Jake, a paraplegic former Marine, replaces his twin brother, a scientist trained as an avatar operator who was murdered in a robbery. Dr. Grace, head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement and assigns him as a bodyguard. As Grace, scientist Norm, and Jake collect biological samples and data in the forest in their avatar forms, a thanator (predator) appears and attacks Jake. Neytiri, a female Na'vi, reluctantly rescues Jake. Seeing portents from Eywa, she takes him to her clan's dwelling, Hometree; there, Jake meets Neytiri's father, clan chief Eytukan. Neytiri's mother Mo'at, the clan's spiritual leader, orders her daughter to teach the "warrior dreamwalker" their ways.

The head of Sec-Ops, the RDA's private security force, Colonel Miles Quaritch, promises Jake the expensive cure for his paraplegia in exchange for intelligence about the Na'vi. Hometree is on top of the richest deposits of unobtanium for hundreds of miles. When Grace learns that Jake is passing information to Quaritch, she relocates herself, Jake, and Norm to a remote outpost. When Quaritch shows Administrator Parker Selfridge, the leader of the RDA colony, one of Jake's video diary entries, in which Jake admits that the Na'vi will never abandon Hometree, Selfridge orders Hometree destroyed.

Finally, Jake, Norm, Max, and several other scientists, all humans are expelled from Pandora (including Selfridge). Jake is seen wearing the insignia of the Omaticaya leader. The clan performs the ritual dedicated to Eywa that permanently transfers Jake from his human body into his avatar.

Reference: http://www.avatarthemovie.com.au/

Movie Overview

Release Date: 17th December 2009
Details: 162 minutes, Drama, Sci-Fi, Action
Starring: Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Zoe Saldana
Directed by: James Cameron
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Synopsis
The story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people.

Official website: http://www.avatarthemovie.com.au/

Trailer
Watch below for movie Avatar trailer